Running for Office and Facing Muzzle

* Re “Few Choosing to Answer the Call to Public Service,” Aug. 20:

Those of us who want to answer the call for public service face the dilemma of getting our message out to the electorate at the local government level.

After having served for 30 years in the water industry and wanting to answer the call, I decided to run for the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors.

One of the most effective means of communication to the electorate is the candidate statement on the voter pamphlet.

In my candidate statement, for which I paid dearly from my own pocket, I mentioned how the district was suffering from operating losses, but at the same time claiming to have the lowest water rates.

I also mentioned questionable real estate development ventures with builders and the board’s hoarding of hundreds of millions of dollars of cash collected from taxpayers.

The next thing I know, I was hauled out to Superior Court by the incumbents, who objected to my candidate statements, not because they were untrue, but because they were not part of my qualifications. Never mind the 1st Amendment!

All the while the incumbent, in his candidate statement, proudly took credit for the water rates being lower than they were 19 years ago, while completely ignoring the financial losses the district suffers.

It is difficult for people of modest means to answer the call to public service when the entrenched incumbents have the ability to choke off disclosure of their own transgressions in such a heavy-handed fashion.

The media are interested in sensational news and not necessarily the governance of an agency that spends close to $120 million every year.

ERGUN BAKALL

Tustin