The district fired Michael Eggleston without naming a cause at its board meeting March 4.
“We did it the way the lawyer recommended it,” Lois Henry, the board president, said.
Henry said the board could dismiss the district manager without notice because he was an at-will employee.
Eggleston, who worked for the district more than 20 years, declined to discuss the board’s reasons for letting him go, instead offering a positive view of the situation.
“The Lompico County Water District operates on a tight budget with a limited water supply and a very small staff,” Eggleston wrote in an e-mail. “In order for this district to function effectively, staff and board have to be on the same page. However, the current atmosphere at the district has been adversarial and divisive, which makes the management of a district challenging.”
Eggleston said he oversaw the district through six federal- and state-declared disasters, secured grants to pay for a water treatment plant and oversaw the building of a new well in the district.
“My tenure with the district has been long and rewarding, and I have the warmest regards for the district customers and former board members that have supported me over the years,” Eggleston wrote.
The district, which is under investigation by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury, nearly ran out of money in the fall before enacting a water rate increase. It is also looking for ways to repair leaky water tanks that provide water to the 500-connection system.
Henry said the board might hire a credentialed water consultant instead of replacing Eggleston with another full-time manager. The district has two full-time maintenance workers and a secretary.
“There are a lot of financial issues, so we’re trying to keep our head above water,” Henry said.
Eggleston’s dismissal came after the district’s secretary was fired amid claims that she stole money from the district. As of March 10, no report had been filed with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office in connection with that case, but the district attorney’s office is involved.
Board member Jane Wyckoff resigned from the board last month, citing health concerns. No one has yet been appointed to her place, and the district will take applications until April 7 to fill the vacancy.
An on-call manager (sort of) and a reckless, foolish board are a dangerous mix. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out, since the people who complained the loudest about the water district are now heading it up. Looks like they have done a bang-up job so far, eh?
Worrying about turning the district over to SLV Water because you lose local power & control? DO YOU HAVE LOCAL POWER & CONTROL RIGHT NOW? HAVE YOU USED IT? Have you gone to meetings third Tuesday of every month, 7:00 pm at the office, 11255 Lompico Road? Are you watching to see if the Frecks agenda is fulfilled? Will the water district become a Lower Lake Blvd. road repair district? Will your water bill go to repairs on Frecks' road? Do these people take seriously their responsibilities to provide clean, safe drinking water to everyone or are they more concerned with one particular road in Lompico? Who will hold them accountable?
We do have questions, but we at Zazoo are kinda just "mean" that way!!!!
References for John Ekizian
John has operated small water systems using surface water regulated by both Santa Cruz County Environmental Health (SCCEH) and Monterey County Environmental Health (MCEH). Staff from each office can provide information as to John’s ability and reliability. I do have concerns with him because John has operated drinking water systems covering an extensive geographical area from the Santa Cruz Mountains to southern Monterey County near the San Luis Obispo County line. In addition, I believe he has agricultural systems as clients although I do not know what he does for them. My concerns are that with that wide spread of a service area, he cannot be at Lompico as regularly as needed. Lompico’s raw water quality can fluctuate significantly with significant spikes of pathogens from upstream residents and it is not acceptable to have someone overseeing the plants from a distance – he needs to be there every time the surface water plant is online for the first couple of months while he is becoming familiar with the operation of the plant and for several hours multiple times a week after that."
From reading the lines above, it is clear that hiring a part time consultant isn’t acceptable.
Why is this board so arrogant, as to ignore the specific instructions of the department of public health, compromising the quality of the water supplied to this community?
But to give you a clue, Mr. Wharton stood in very loud direct opposition for MANY YEARS to raising water rates, back when Mike had a healthy savings account for the district. This was financial malfeasance. Mike had NO choice but to draw down that fund just for operational expenses, and there is nothing left now. It's the reason they are in financial disrepair. Research it. 'Nuf said.
If you put the same people back in that were the cause of the original problem, should you hope for any improvement? Those who know also are fully aware that Mr. Wharton is complicit with the Lower Lake Blvd. illegal private meetings with the Freck gang and has spread a lot of really bad info around the district to make himself look good. He is poison. And with the current motley crew running the place, he's sure to qualify for the next board position.
OH, but he's a REALLY NICE SWEETIE. I've got some land in Louisiana for sale.... not too damp.....
This HOSTILE TAKEOVER of the water district needs to be stopped IMMEDIATELY. Ed & Deb Freck have cleaned out all opposition by hook or by crook and fully taken control over the district. There is nobody left to stop them now. Mike and Jane are gone. Chris Kilgus is obviously compromised. Mindy Heath (the sticky fingers secretary) gave them the ammo they needed to get rid of Mike. The water district WILL be paying for Lower Lake Blvd. repairs. It's coming to a theatre near you, folks. You betcha.
Ed & Deb Freck, with their minions Lois Henry, Bill Smallman & Sean Wharton, will not be able to be stopped, unless authorities step in. We need help. NOW.
We predict the next step: have Sean Wharton step in for Jane's seat - then they have their full majority. HIDE YOU WALLETS, FOLKS! You now have one board member who doesn't pay his water bill (Hansel) - next thing you know, the rest will figure out they don't have to pay either. Who is gonna stop them? Corruption rules the day and Lompicans will have to pay.
The absolute kicker is Mike is fired because he hired Mindy & she ripped off the district BUT he's fired by people WHO HAVE CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS themselves to hide, and now they are hiring people who are criminals!!!! This board should be up on charges (at least) for malfeasance. If they are allowed to continue, there will be more - misappropriation of district funds, as well as health and safety issues regarding WATER, corruption, abuse of power, etc.
GRAND JURY, ARE YOU LISTENING? What other avenue do the people of Lompico have other than to turn to authorities. WE NEED YOUR HELP AND WE NEED IT NOW.
Once again, a big fat THANK YOU, Valley Press for allowing this forum to continue. You have been great about providing a way to get information out to the good people of Lompico.
Now let me get this straight. They fire the secretary, and should have, and hire another Lake Blvd. homeowner to replace her. Lake Blvd, Lake Blvd, Lake Blvd. Probably gonna have a new Lake Blvd board member and Frech's gonna be the new manager. Then they fire the only person who did any work for the district WITHOUT PAYING HIM, blatantly illegal, against all labor laws, but then we already know what kind of respect they have for the law. Read the following:
John Ekizian: San Lucas County Water District On December 13, 2006, John Ekizian was convicted on misdemeanor charges for operating a WWTP without a license as required by law. Mr. Ekizian contracted to operate and maintain the San Lucas County Water District's WWTP without the required operator certificate. Mr. Ekizian falsely represented himself to the Water District and to the Central Coast Regional Water Board as a certified WWTP operator. The California Central Coast Regional Water Board and the Office of Enforcement conducted the investigation and referred the case to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. The court placed Mr. Ekizian on 3 years probation, sentenced him to 30 days in jail and ordered him to pay $4,000 in fines and enforcement costs. The San Lucas County Water District was assessed $10,000 in administrative penalties.
This is who they hired to replace Michael license. Probably Chris met him in jail. Oh! that felony conviction wasn't supposed to be public knowledge. Actually how is a convicted felon holding a public office any way? I've never seen the form but if they asked then that's perjury. There's that law thing again.
And let me get this straight. How is it another director on the board owe 6 months on his water bill and hasn't had his water cut off yet. Oh I see he probably blamed it on the secretary. I want to see those receipts. I mean this is a guy who has proven his integrity, contracting without a license. And really dumb and dumber haven't done anything except show up when loewen tells them to to vote how she tells them to.
At this point it's all Lois, Chris and loewen. Drive by the office, you'll see the cars.
What a board we have!
Then to have to deal with their dysfunctional management and clueless board - no thanks.
You think we've had it bad here, they are much worse.
Yeah, now there's an idea...
Not only do we loose control of our water supply...
Now we're linked to a larger water system so no more worries about our limited supply. Oops, there goes the moratorium on new connections and here comes the trucks to build dozens (hundreds?) of new homes.
There are many low income people in Lompico. Start building McMansions and rising property values will force many of us out of one of the few remaining affordable areas to live.
And where is all the extra traffic going to go when Lompico Rd closes? On Lake Blvd, of course.
Looks like LLBRA has eliminated ALL the opposition now. Welcome to Lake Blvd. Water & Road Repair District. Who is going to be minding that store???? Lois? Hmmmmm.
If he broke the law, you may have something there. If you rip people off, you should be prosecuted. It would be like if you got donations to fix a road, and then used most of the money for personal things, and then lied about how much you took in, or where it went, and then refused to do any real accounting, and then cooked your books to cover it all up. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
If all is right in the world this former manager will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
sung to the tune of "clap your hands"
If your service goes to hell, thank Ed and Deb!
If your water starts to smell, thank Ed and Deb!
if your family all gets sick, and your water comes out thick, or your pipes all break like sticks, thank Ed and Deb!