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Effort underway to recall three Palmdale Water District directors

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 15, 2008 at 10:51 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

Critics of Palmdale Water District directors Jeff Storm, Dick Wells and Dave Gomez are walking neighborhoods to collect voters’ signatures needed to demand a recall election against the trio. Recall committee members on May 14 received the go-ahead from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office to begin collecting signatures. The recall committee must obtain 7,061 valid signatures of citizens registered to vote within the water district boundaries by Sept. 11.

“The people we’ve spoken with have all been willing to sign, with one exception - someone who said he personally knew one of the directors,” said recall proponent Gordon Dexter, a former Palmdale Water District board member. “But he did sign the other two petitions.”

Dexter and Laura LaMoreaux, wife of Dennis LaMoreaux, the district’s ousted general manager, said they haven’t tallied the number of signatures obtained so far because the petitions were divided up between more than 100 precincts, with one person in charge of the group canvassing each area.

“We’re going to pull them all in at the end of July and see where we’re at,” Laura LaMoreaux said. “Then we’ll determine what approach we need to pursue in August.”

“We’re trying to maximize the number of people out collecting signatures,” Dexter said.

Asked to comment on the recall campaign, Wells said he appreciated the opportunity but added, “I don’t want to comment.” Gomez and Storm did not return calls.

In their formal responses to the recall charges, Wells, Gomez and Storm said the recall is an effort by district director Raul Figueroa and former directors Dexter, Ron Cunningham and Nolan Negaard to take over the water district. “This is not a recall. It is a coup attempt,” Wells wrote in his formal response. “It is an attempt to get by revolt what they couldn’t get at the ballot box.”

Recall proponents deny the accusation. They say the recall is also supported by former directors who have been off the board for years, as well as by district customers, by noncustomers who live inside the area in which the district collects taxes and by numerous district employees.

A majority of recall proponents say their main motivation is the ouster of Dennis LaMoreaux in a vote by Storm, Wells and Gomez. “I’ve known Dennis LaMoreaux for maybe 20 years. I think he’s one of the most knowledgeable people regarding water in this Valley. And we have a real water problem here,” said Joyce Freeman, widow of 12-year Palmdale Water District board member J.B. “Jay” Freeman. Freeman called LaMoreaux “one of the most conscientious people I’ve ever met. I went to a meeting. About 20 people got up and asked, ‘Why? Why do they want to replace him?’ To my knowledge, they never gave a reason.”

Get the rest of the story from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

July 15, 2008 · Filed Under Antelope Valley

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