2 Challengers Join Forces Against Water Panel Member

One of the more heated election debates is taking place in one of the least-known races.

Four candidates are angling for two seats on the board of the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District, which provides water to 1,700 customers in the harbor area.

All candidates agree that whoever controls the water controls the future of development in the harbor, but they diverge on whether the district is well run.

Incumbent Vickie Finan, who faces challengers Mary Ann George, Jim Estomo and Harvey L. Paskowitz, says the district is doing a good job.

“The sky is not falling, as my opponents claim it is,” Finan said.

George will be out of town until after the election on a family emergency, but Finan says the two are of like mind. George favors maintaining the district’s local control and independence.

Estomo and Paskowitz have joined forces in an attempt to change the direction of a district they say could soon become financially insolvent.

Finan says the pair has opted to blame her for all the district’s perceived woes.

“I’m one member of a five-member board,” she said. “I’m being criticized because I’m the one who’s running for office.”

Most of the present board members could be singled out for the same criticisms, Estomo said.

“We’re running on the issues,” he said. “The things that we disagree with, she voted for.”

Incumbent Diane Markham, whose term also is up, is not running for reelection.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors voted to continue studying whether to withdraw from the district. The county accounts for 48% of the district’s water business.

“I think that I could prevent them from doing it,” Paskowitz said, explaining that he would cooperate more with the county.

Finan said she does not think the county will withdraw. If it does, Estomo and Paskowitz say that residential rates could double to compensate for the lost business.

High water prices have also become a campaign issue. A July grand jury report indicated that an average business customer with the district pays $262 a month. According to the report, the same customer would pay $117.25 with Port Hueneme and $85.19 with Oxnard.

Likewise, a residential customer with the district pays an average of $33.17 a month, while Port Hueneme would charge $25.20 and Oxnard $12.56 for the same service.

But Finan contends that while the district’s prices are higher, its water is better.

“We improved the quality of water; we improved the method of delivery,” Finan said.

Paskowitz agrees, with an asterisk. The district has $2.4 million in reserves that have not been earmarked for anything, Paskowitz said.

“It is better water, but just because it’s better doesn’t mean we should be overpaying for water to build up reserves,” he said.

If elected, Paskowitz and Estomo promise an immediate 5% reduction in rates. Then, Estomo said, “I would see how much profit we’re making from the water” and reduce rates further.

Finan said the board has done a good job by keeping rates stable.

“We have not raised rates, even though they were projected to be increased,” she said.

Finan thinks her challengers plan to replace district General Manager Bill Higgins if elected, although Paskowitz and Estomo say they think he is simply doing the job that the board is telling him to do. The board members are the problem, not Higgins, Estomo said.

“The district has been run by people who are not business-oriented,” he said.

FYI

For more information on this and other political races in Ventura County, please see the Los Angeles Times’ Ventura County Web site at www.latimes.com/editions/ventura/elections.