Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 25, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Water district board members narrowly agree to reform measures
The San Jose
Editorial: Fish and Game: No longer a bit player?
The
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Water district board members narrowly agree to reform measures
Like a patient swallowing bitter medicine, the Santa Clara Valley Water District board on Tuesday agreed to ask a state lawmaker to submit a bill that would require it to adopt nearly a dozen reforms, from more open records to limits on revolving-door hiring.
If passed in
By a 4-3 margin, the water district board voted to ask Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, to submit the bill to the Legislature.
"It is the right thing to do. It is good governance," said board member Patrick Kwok, who voted yes.
Kwok, a civil engineer and former vice mayor of
Voting no were longtime board members Sig Sanchez, Larry Wilson and Joe Judge. Although praising some of the reforms, the opponents said they don't want them written into state law.
"It is not good governance for the state to dictate how local government should be run,"
Added Sanchez: "It would demean this district to where we were relegated to the role of some small district in the
Also Tuesday, board members delayed until March 10 a vote on whether to put a measure imposing term limits on themselves on the November 2010 county ballot.
Based in
The bill, which sparked a 90-minute debate, was first requested by the district's board.
Traditionally, five of the water board members have been elected by voters and two have been chosen by
The two board members who would lose their seats are Estremera and Sanchez.
The board asked Coto to write a bill allowing all seven board members to stay. Coto agreed, but insisted that 11 reform measures be part of it.
They include a one-year ban on board members seeking employment from the district after they leave office; a ban on board member travel unless it is approved in public meetings; and more transparency, including annual public hearings on the district's financial reserves; and regularly written summaries of the board's closed session meetings.
"I think they do some very good work in the area of flood control, environmental protection and water supply, from what I can tell," Coto said. "But I think the abuses that have occurred over the past couple of years are unconscionable and should not be tolerated. These are board-related issues, not staff-related issues."
Coto cited newspaper accounts and a 2006 grand jury report that noted the water district doubled its payroll between 2000 and 2006. The agency also ran into controversy in 2007 when its former CEO, Stan Williams, hired board member Greg Zlotnick to a newly created $184,000-a-year job without advertising the position.
When Coto demanded the reforms as a condition of carrying the bill, a board subcommittee at first agreed. But then last week Sanchez removed Kwok from the subcommittee, and its members reversed course, recommending that Coto be asked to remove all 11 reforms or kill the bill.
Coto told the Mercury News the bill — and its reforms — already have support from at least one other
"I think these are fair," Coto said. "The public deserves these type of laws to make sure we rebuild the confidence in one of our important public institutions."#
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_11777327?source=rss
Editorial: Fish and Game: No longer a bit player?
The
Californians who care about the outdoors should also care what happens to the California Department of Fish and Game in coming years.
This state agency has an annual budget of $475 million. It owns or manages more than 1million acres of land. It is charged with conserving fisheries and other wildlife. It responds to oil spills and reviews permits for various projects, from logging to the pumping of water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
More than any other agency, the Department of Fish and Game is the designated steward of
In the Delta, the department has been a bit player in preventing the decline of Delta smelt and other fish. Within the top policy circles of the governor's office, the DFG is consistently trumped by the Department of Water Resources, which is aligned with big water agencies that pump water from the Delta.
In
Today, the Senate Rules Committee will consider whether to approve the appointment of Donald Koch, the interim DFG director who made that dredging decision.
Some environmental groups are urging the committee to reject Koch.
Others are more supportive of his appointment, noting his depth of experience as a DFG biologist and administrator.
Frankly, we don't think Koch's confirmation should be based on a handful of recent decisions that displeased certain environmental groups. But we do think lawmakers should examine those decisions in assessing several key questions:
Did Koch make the dredging decision himself, or was he pressured to do so by higher-ups? If he claims it was his decision, and his alone, can he defend it? If he can, that's a point in his favor.
What is Koch's overall vision for modernizing DFG and making it more functional? Will he elevate DFG's standing in debates over the Delta and other high-profile issues? Does he have the support and ear of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger?
One encouraging sign is that, in reaching a budget deal, the governor dropped a disputed plan to borrow $30 million from a Fish and Game wildlife fund. If Koch had something to do with that move, that's another point in his favor. #
http://www.sacbee.com/editorials/story/1650367.html
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