Santa Margarita Water District Director Resigns

A longtime member of the Santa Margarita Water District’s board of directors resigned Friday, but his name will remain on the ballot in Tuesday’s election.

Richard F. Boultinghouse, who has served as a director since 1980, said in a letter to the board that he is selling property in the district. Under the district’s regulations, members of the board of directors must own property in the district.

When the property closes escrow in November, Boultinghouse will be ineligible to serve on the board. Boultinghouse said he had intended to trade the Mission Viejo property for another parcel within the district but couldn’t work out a deal.

“I wanted to serve again, but I couldn’t make it work,” he said.

In his letter, Boultinghouse said he was “proud of the accomplishments the district has achieved” during his tenure.

Boultinghouse urged voters not to reelect him to the board Tuesday, when four seats on the scandal-plagued district’s board of directors will be contested. Three agencies--the FBI, the Orange County district attorney’s office and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission--are all examining the possibility of criminal wrongdoing at the district.

The probes began in March after a series of stories in The Times and are not expected to be completed until late this year.