MISSION VIEJO : New Member Joins Water District Board

Sean Barrett, a vice president with Citibank in Los Angeles, was sworn in Monday as a board member of the troubled Santa Margarita Water District.

A resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, Barrett replaces John Van Dam, who resigned in May after 12 years. Barrett will serve the nearly four months remaining in Van Dam’s four-year term. The seat is up for election in November.

Barrett, who turns 50 in August, was selected by the district’s four remaining board members from a field of 28 applicants.

The district serves a population of 84,421 in Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, Coto de Caza and unincorporated areas of the county.

District board members are paid $100 a meeting up to a maximum of $300 a month, said interim general manager Dan Miller.

Barrett joins the district board at a time when it is re-evaluating its policies following a series of stories by The Times that disclosed lavish spending and gift-taking by former general manager Walter W. (Bill) Knitz, 61, and his former top assistant, Michael P. Lord, 49.

Last month, the district adopted a strict ethics code that bans district officials from receiving any gifts from vendors, including meals and entertainment.

The series of stories has prompted an investigation by a joint FBI-Orange County district attorney’s task force into possible conflict-of-interest violations at the water district.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Lord’s management of the district’s $150-million investment portfolio. Both men, who retired May 24, have denied any wrongdoing.