Sanitary District

Re. "Wu: Endorsements have started to roll in" (Column, Sept. 29): The negative Art Perry-Jim Ferryman-John Stephens campaign-bashing column by Jack Wu has incorrect statements, probably attributable to a Sanitary District director or the lack of research on both of their parts. Because I have been researching trash contracts for about six years, I wanted to point out some untrue statements, which takes away from the rest of the opinion in the column. I got a copy of the Newport Coast trash contract when several Costa Mesa city councilmen began to tout the savings in monthly trash service costs that the Newport Coast (NC)

So we are more than a month from E-Day, one of the more pivotal dates in recent Costa Mesa history. Will status quo rule the day? Or will a new group take over the City Council and make Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer's life miserable until E-Day 2014, when he's up for re-election? As we get closer to November, the endorsements are starting to roll in. The Republican Party of Orange County and the editorial board at the Orange County Register have endorsed Councilmen Gary Monahan and Steve Mensinger and Planning Commission Chairman Colin McCarthy.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District was recognized with three awards earlier this month at the California Special Districts Assn.'s 2012 Annual Conference in San Diego. The association's Leadership Foundation, which recognizes special districts for their cautious fiscal practices and sound policies, awarded the Sanitary District with the District of Distinction award. As a result of having no workers' compensation claims in the last five years, the Sanitary District was also given the 2012 McMurchie Excellence in Safety Award for the Workers' Compensation Program from the Special District Risk Management Authority.

Four Costa Mesa Sanitary District board members hired a law firm to petition the California attorney general for a ruling on whether the offices of Sanitary District director and city planning commissioner offices are incompatible. The City Council decided to install Director Jim Fitzpatrick as a planning commissioner after he had been elected to the Sanitary District. The city attorney provided the council with a legal input and opinion. The district legal counsel had provided the district board members with a legal opinion that the offices were likely incompatible.

Political watchers speculate that if eight candidates with ties to the Republican Party of Orange County win office in November, special districts that provide trash and water services could be combined. Bob Ooten, president of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District's board of directors, said there's a possibility that his organization could merge with the Mesa Consolidated Water District. He believes the OCGOP, in an effort to shrink government, is backing some candidates and tacitly supporting others who want fewer agencies.

A political action committee (PAC) backed by a lobbyist for a trash disposal company has spent more than $10,000 on the reelection campaigns of two Costa Mesa Sanitary District directors, campaign disclosure forms show. Concerned Californians for Effective Government spent $10,843 supporting incumbents Jim Ferryman and Art Perry. Lyle Overby, a registered lobbyist for the district's solid waste disposal company, Stanton-based CR&R Waste Management, contributed $5,000 to the PAC in June.

Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Wendy Leece withdrew her request Tuesday for the council to reexamine the city's agreement with the developer of Banning Ranch. She said Newport Banning Ranch LLC, or NBR, asked her to do so until it could review the agreement, which the council approved and modified last month. The $4.4-million agreement would pay for street improvements the city needs to handle the proposed residential and commercial development's predicted traffic influx. Located adjacent to Costa Mesa in Newport Beach, the development still requires California Coastal Commission approval.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District will not pay embattled Director Jim Fitzpatrick's legal fees. Fitzpatrick's peers on the district's board are trying to remove him from his elected seat, arguing that his previously concurrent post on the Costa Mesa Planning Commission posed a potential conflict of interest. Fitzpatrick, who stepped down from the planning board, had sought compensation from the Sanitary District to help him pay the legal counsel who is helping him defend his seat.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District saved more than $700,000 when it installed an estimated 3,000 feet of polyethylene pipe near the Newport Beach Back Bay recently, said General Manager Scott Carroll. Aiming to replace an aging stretch of pipe on the brink of failure, the district had originally budgeted its replacement for $1 million. But a new method of installing the replacement pipe cut the project's cost by more than two-thirds, according to a district media release. The new installation will last another 50 to 75 years, Carroll said.

A recent customer satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District failed to ask ratepayers the right questions, according to one of the district's board members. "We spent $40,000. We bought a Cadillac of a survey," board member Jim Fitzpatrick said. "We failed to get critical information, and if they don't think that's part of this whole trash contract thing, then why did the directors use [the survey] as part of their support document to continue the status quo?"