Water rate reduction advocates
now have majority on LVMWD board

JOHN LOESING/The Acorn NEWLY ELECTED--Charles Caspary, left, and Glen Longarini take the oaths of office in their inaugural terms as members of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District Board of Directors.

By John Loesing

Acorn Staff Writer

Lower water rate advocate Vernon Padgett became the new president of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) Board of Directors in a vote last week that split 3-2.

Padgett, a Calabasas resident who joined the LVMWD board in 1998, received the backing of new members Glen Longarini and Charles Caspary, who were elected last November.

The three men joined the board as members of a grassroots organization known as Citizens for Lower Water Rates.

Under the opinion that current water rates should remain unchanged, incumbents Ann Dorgelo and Glen Peterson opposed Padgett for president.

But the Padgett-led coalition said the district’s 65,000 residents are paying too much for water and sewer services and that rates need to come down.

"I couldn’t tell you the dollar amount, but at every meeting with the district we expressed or heard a clear mandate from the voters," said Longarini, a 36-year-old civil engineer from Westlake Village.

"We’re going to make the voters proud."

Boardmembers serve four-year terms.

Longarini said he met with key district personnel and toured the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility and Rancho Las Virgenes Composting Facility. During the election, Longarini and Caspary criticized the $50 million composting plant for costing residents too much money.

Padgett introduced an across-the-board, 7 percent rollback in rates in 1999, but received no support from fellow boardmembers. Now the tables are turned, he said.

"The landslide victory of the new boardmembers is similar to the landslide victory I received," Padgett said. "These large votes give the board mandate, a very strong mandate, to change the policies of the water district."

Padgett said the new board would address problems in LVMWD that include the increased cost of energy, bloated legal expenses and a capital improvement budget that appears overly ambitious.

"This new board will not be chained to the past," he said.

Padgett promised none of the district’s 125 employees would be laid off, however.

Dorgelo, an 18-year board veteran from Agoura Hills, won election as LVMWD vice president. Longarini was named treasurer and Caspary, a 49-year-old Hidden Hills resident and the former owner of Atlas Refuse and Las Virgenes Disposal, became secretary.

Caspary said he’s ready to give Padgett his full backing.

"He’s got two years under his belt I’ve got to respect," Caspary said.

LVMWD serves commercial and residential customers in a 122 square-mile area from west San Fernando Valley to the city of Westlake Village.