WATER DISTRICTS : Dymally Minority Slate Wins Seats on 3 Boards

A coalition of minority candidates has captured seats on three obscure but powerful water boards, giving the challengers a foothold in an industry that for years has been the domain of whites.

The minority candidates, all affiliated with the political machine of former Rep. Mervyn Dymally, won five of eight seats they sought on the Central and West Basin municipal water districts and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California. The agencies store and distribute water for more than 70 communities stretching from Malibu to Long Beach and inland to East Los Angeles and Pico Rivera.

The candidates say their victories signal a profound change in water politics, where boards control multimillion-dollar budgets in virtual obscurity. The West and Central districts collectively spend about $10 million a month on construction programs and send six representatives to the powerful Metropolitan Water District board, which handles billions of dollars in contracts.

The minority candidates say their presence will bring needed diversity to boards dominated almost exclusively by whites who represent urban communities that are home to large numbers of Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans.

“Water will never be the same,” said Kenneth M. Orduna, Dymally’s former chief of staff, who won reelection to the Water Replenishment District. “The boards now reflect the populations they serve.”

Orduna, now the Water Replenishment District board president, became the first African American to join the board when he was elected four years ago. In Tuesday’s election, the replenishment district gained a Latino, Susan Carrillo, who was not affiliated with Dymally.

Two African Americans--Mervyn Dymally’s son, Mark, and Keith McDonald, son of Assemblywoman Juanita M. McDonald (D-Carson)--were elected to the West Basin board. Both defeated white incumbents. Two other Dymally-backed candidates, Richard Mayer and Charles M. Trevino, were elected to the five-member Central Basin district board.

Dymally candidate Clarence Wong, a member of the Water Replenishment District board, lost his bid for reelection.

The three water board elections, which usually are sedate affairs, attracted 30 candidates. Much of the campaigning was heated.

Some incumbents accused Mervyn Dymally of trying to stack the financially potent boards with his cronies. Critics also said the minority candidates were more interested in financial gain than social justice, noting that three board members of the Water Replenishment District--all with ties to the elder Dymally--voted themselves hefty car allowances and approved a lobbying contract for a business associate of the former congressman.

But the minority candidates accused the incumbents of raising smoke screens to avoid talking about the real issues in the campaign, including the diversity of representation, the agencies’ finances and the structure of water rates.