Triunfo district bracing for wide open Nov. election

Four of five seats open


Due to a change in election rules, the Triunfo Sanitation District board of directors will have four seats on the ballot this November.

The filing period for candidates begins July 12 and ends Aug. 6.

Triunfo board members manage a $13-million budget and oversee sanitation services for Oak Park, North Ranch, Bell Canyon, Lake Sherwood and western parts of Thousand Oaks. They also administer delivery of potable water in Oak Park.

In 2009 the Triunfo board voted to change its governance to an all-elected board.

The move came following a 2007 Ventura County Grand Jury report that criticized Triunfo’s makeup and lack of independence from the Ventura Regional Sanitation District, a controlling agency.

Previously, two of five seats were elected by voters and three were appointed by various Ventura County governments.

“I’m really happy to see that we’re going to have an opportunity for ratepayers to vote for the people who set their rates,” said Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks, who was the leading proponent for an all-elected board.

Parks, who was appointed to the Triunfo board in 2002 to represent the county, was unable to gain a majority to support her until she obtained the backing of board members Janna Orkney and Michael Paule.

“It’s taken seven years because people who were appointed were reluctant to have elected people replace them,” Parks said.

Candidates for the Triunfo board openings don’t have to be experts in water and sewer issues, but they should be fiscally prudent and desirous of having accountability and open government, the supervisor said.

The two appointees in addition to Parks are Thousand Oaks City Councilmembers Tom Glancy and Dennis Gillette. Gillette represents the Ventura Regional Sanitation District and Glancy acts for the city of Thousand Oaks.

Paule, who was elected 2008, is the only incumbent who won’t be challenged. His term will expire in 2012. Orkney, whose term will expire in December, said she plans to run for a second term. Both members live in Oak Park.

Candidates who win the upcoming elections will replace the appointed representatives.

The three top vote-getters will serve four-year terms. The person receiving the fourth highest number of votes will start 2011 with a two-year term.

The only requirement for candidates is that they must be registered to vote in the district’s service area.

“It would be nice to have different areas of the district represented on the board,” Orkney said.

In general, Oak Park residents are more aware of the Triunfo District because they receive a monthly bill for their water supply, Orkney said. Customers in Bell Canyon and Thousand Oaks are not as familiar with the district because they receive sanitation services only, which are billed annually with their property taxes.

Ideally, Paule said, candidates for the Triunfo board should have some experience in business, finances or environmental engineering to shorten the learning curve.

“But there are no special requirement other then the willingness to serve and having good common sense and the desire to do what’s in the best interest of ratepayers,” he said.

Triunfo co-owns the Tapia Water Reclamation and the Rancho Las Virgenes Composting facilities with the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

In 1993, the agency expanded its service to provide water to the Oak Park area.

The district has no staff. It contracts with the Ventura Regional Sanitation District for management services.

Upcoming issues affecting Triunfo include ongoing water conservation efforts, the construction of a new water storage reservoir in Oak Park and the expansion of recycling and composting operations.

Board members receive a $218 stipend for each meeting attended and are compensated for optional conferences and monthly breakfast meetings.

Public meetings take place twice a month in the early evening and usually alternate between the Oak Park Library and the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District offices.


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