As part of Noozhawk’s Nov. 3 election coverage, we are publishing Q&As with board candidates for some special districts and education districts, including the Mission Hills Community Services District.
Candidate answers may have been lightly edited for spelling and formatting, but are otherwise presented as they were submitted.
The Mission Hills Community Services District in Lompoc has a five-member board and works to provide residents with reliable, high-quality water and wastewater services.
This year, five candidates are running for three seats on the board: Myron Heavin, James Mac Kenzie, Tom Murray, Steve Dietrich, and Walter Fasold.
Noozhawk: Why are you running for the Mission Hills Community Services District board?
Myron Heavin: I am running for a second four-year term as a Director of Mission Hills Community Service District (MHCSD). There are five such Directors. It is important to vote for a diverse slate of candidates as most of the tasks include management of water and wastewater, rapid response to line breaks, fiscal budget, needed capital improvements, coordination with builders, legal issues, and responses to state regulators. Directors need expertise in many of these areas.
James Mac Kenzie: I am a candidate for the Mission Hills Board of Directors. I am a strong believer in giving back to the community to make the community a better place to live and raise a family.
Steve Dietrich: Four years ago, I campaigned for the MHCSD Board based on my study of the District, the area, the development process, compromises which had been made in various MHCSD agreements, and the number of unresolved issues. The next four years are critical; my knowledge, skills, and uncompromised commitment to the District’s residents fit well with those challenges.
Walter Fasold: I am running for a third term on the MHCSD Board. I originally ran due to major concerns I had regarding what appeared to be deep systemic issues within the district and knowing that I could help fix these issues. The issues were generated by past board members who were responsible for the public. Many failures were uncovered including fiscal mismanagement (revenue exceeding income) and failed efforts to fix the issues, chronic failure to meet regulatory requirements, major concessions granted to the developers of Lanes End, and The Bluffs at Mesa Oaks which saddled existing customers with costs the developers should have paid, and major concessions granted to the developers of Burton Ranch which would further hurt our existing customers.
Thomas Murray: I am running because I feel that residents of Mission Hills, this neighborhood specifically, are not represented on the board. In relation, the majority of Mission Hills residents that I have spoken with over the last few years cannot afford rate increases. There are a lot of people in this community who are on fixed incomes or having to live paycheck to paycheck. With that being said, they do not have the extra funds to pay for higher rates, especially when they may not be necessary. When rates go up the residents of Mission Hills have to make tough choices on what to give up in order to cover the cost of these rate increases. The Mission Hills area makes up 800 of the 1,200 water meter hook-ups in the district, yet only represent one of the five board members. This is why I am running so my neighbors and I have relatable and relevant representation on the board.
Noozhawk: What personal and/or work experience would you bring to the organization?
Myron Heavin: I retired from Boeing Airplane Company after 50 years as an Aeronautical Engineer and Manager. I also have a recent master’s degree from a seminary, am the author of two theological books, and very active in my local church. I have worked with the board on upgrading the wastewater plant with new aerators that have dramatically reduced our environmental impact and lowered future pond draining costs and installing emergency backup generators in case of a total electrical failure. (Before these were installed in the last year, our water pumps and sewage backups could not have operated in an emergency). Other major accomplishments were balancing the budget every year and providing our customers with one of the lower average bills for combined water and waste-water services in Santa Barbara County.
James Mac Kenzie: With over 40 years of experience as a licensed professional civil engineer, I bring design, maintenance, and facility operations experience to assist and guide the District in both its capital improvement projects and daily operations.
Steve Dietrich: My background includes a bachelor’s of science from UCLA, a master of business administration from Harvard University MBA, and I was a guest lecturer at the UCLA Graduate School of Business. I also have a background in entrepreneurial real estate development. Over the last 40 years, my company provided consulting and development management services to developers, institutions, and investors involved in major commercial and residential projects. Clients included some of the nation’s largest banks and commercial developers plus institutions including LAUSD, The California Endowment, and LACMA.
Walter Fasold: I am a retired chemical engineer with significant senior management operational and engineering experience leading major cost reduction, process improvement, and breakthrough performance results. I excel at focusing teams and organizations to achieve significant results and resolve difficult chronic issues. I am pleased to report that many past issues have been effectively dealt with including proper budget management, achieving excellent environmental compliance, and ending unwarranted giveaways to new developments. The Purisima Hills development is rapidly proceeding with connection fees and terms that are fair to the developer and our customers.
Thomas Murray: I am a proud father of two children. My daughter is a sophomore at UCSB majoring in biochemistry, being the first in the family to attend college. My son is a senior at Cabrillo High School and is planning on attending Allan Hancock College next year to study business. My wife has worked in the restaurant industry for 30+ years. I have been in the transportation industry since being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1990. I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. My family and I moved to Lompoc in 2005 to get away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger city. Although I do not have any prestigious titles or degrees, I have worked hard to achieve my goals of homeownership and sending our kids to college, with the help of my wife who has worked holidays and weekends through it all. I have had to make tough choices in my household to make it through lean times. My family and I have sacrificed many things in order to achieve our goals. We don’t have the luxury of raising our income when bills go up, rather we have to make cuts which are not always easy. I want to approach the district the same way. In my opinion, raising the rates whenever the law allows is the easy thing to do. I’ve never taken the easy way out. If given the opportunity, I will make the tough choices on behalf of the ratepayers.
Noozhawk: What do you see as the top issue facing the district right now, and how would you address it?
Myron Heavin: Our board is determined that new developments will not be paid for in any way by existing customers. La Purisima Hills is currently building 44 new homes and is paying its fair share (a change from the past board). There is currently a lawsuit from the City of Lompoc where we are vigorously defending our water and wastewater rights – which a previous board wanted to almost give away at our existing customers’ expense. There are many areas for future improvements including examining solar energy (to reduce future budget at no cost to us), reduction in water pressure spikes which tear up pipes in streets, and better use of social media for better communication to customers.
James Mac Kenzie: The top issue for the District is to continue to replace and upgrade our aging infrastructure, so we consistently provide high-quality water service and environmentally sound sewage treatment. The second issue is to work with the City of Lompoc to bring about the development of the Burton Ranch housing project, we will do this while preserving and protecting the interests of the existing ratepayers in the District.
Steve Dietrich: The lawsuit filed by the City of Lompoc seeking to invalidate terms of the agreement under which the district has worked diligently to accommodate the Burton Ranch is the most important issue facing the district. It would be inappropriate for me to discuss the issues involved as those will be argued by the district’s special counsel. Outside the issues of the lawsuit it raises serious questions regarding whose interests the city is trying to advance. I will continue to support a strong advocacy of our Mission Hills Community Services District customer’s interests and their 20-year-old commitment to provide water and wastewater to the Burton Ranch Project. As a Director with decades of experience both working with major developer clients and also successfully working to protect the public’s interests in these matters, I hope to bring this to an end and see the District reach an agreement with Burton Ranch and the city for the benefit of our customers and our Lompoc neighbors.
Walter Fasold: The biggest issue facing our district is the Burton Ranch development. The developers were promised major concessions many years ago by the prior board. Your current board has assured our customers that new development will not be subsidized by the district. This is a marked change from past board offerings and protects our existing customers. The City of Lompoc has sued our district to break agreements that are over 15 years old and your district is defending you, our customers, against their attempts to take away basic water/sewer rights that the city agreed to. I will continue to defend what is right for our ratepayers/customers. I want the opportunity to get this issue resolved!
Thomas Murray: The top issue I see at the district is the rapidly rising rates and wasteful spending. Back-up generators were recently purchased at a cost of $50,000 to $60,000. Why? We have never, in the life of the water district, lost service due to an outage long enough to justify back-up generators. Also, a lot of the work at the district has been outsourced with no savings to the district. Why? Lastly, employee turnover is a problem. We invest money to hire and train them, then shortly after, they leave. This is a huge waste of the community ratepayer’s money. With that being said, I would address this issue by thinking out of the box with a common sense approach. I plan to shine a light on the excessive spending of the customer’s dollars and help keep a more stringent and rational method for future expenditures. I don’t feel that normally accepted business practices may always apply, especially to a small community’s water district. I will bring a different approach and an individual voice to the table.
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— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
