DANA POINT : Water District Again Rebuffed on Top Job

For the second time in four months, the Capistrano Beach County Water District has been rebuffed in its attempt to hire a full-time general manager.

Fritz C. Stoffat, a Laguna Niguel-based engineer, decided Wednesday not to accept the general manager’s job only a day after he had been chosen by the district’s board of directors.

Stoffat, who could not be reached for comment, told district officials he could not accept the job for “personal reasons,” according to Director Bonnie Streeter.

“When we called him to tell him he had been selected, he said he couldn’t accept it,” said Streeter, adding that Stoffat’s decision surprised the board members.

Stoffat, who spent 11 years as a manager of an irrigation district in the Oroville area, was selected by a unanimous vote of the board Tuesday over three other finalists for the job. All were interviewed by the board at a meeting Tuesday night at which time Stoffat “gave no indication of any problem,” Streeter said.

The district provides water to about 8,000 customers in Dana Point Harbor, the Capistrano Beach section of Dana Point and a small part of San Clemente.

In March, the person chosen for the manager’s job abruptly resigned just days after accepting the position. Donald Mischka quit because of what he called political infighting and turmoil among the district board members.

The district recently has been the focus of a two-month study by the Orange County Grand Jury. The panel issued a report on June 23 criticizing the district for its lack of emergency, safety, maintenance and strategic planning.

The district has been without a full-time general manager since Dennis A. Erdman left in March after a dispute with the board. Until a new full-time manager is hired, the district has employed the Meadows Consulting Group as its interim manager.

“This is only an unfortunate coincidence,” Director Jim Hayton said about the problems of hiring a new manager. “We have a good interim manager, so the district is not in any trouble.”