East County News Service

February 27, 2017 (La Mesa) — Reducing water rates will be on the agenda at a special meeting of the Helix Water District board on March 8^th at 6 p.m.  Director Dan McMillan has asked the board to consider cutting rates; the special meeting workshop will include discussion of current finances, water rates and what adjustments can be made.

The issue of reducing water is also expected to be raised at this Wednesday’s meeting, March 1^st at 6 p.m. during director’s comments and review of future agenda items.  Both meetings are at the Helix Water District, 7811 University Ave., La Mesa.

Mark your calendars for our candidate forum with Helix Water Board candidates and Lemon Grove Mayoral candidates September 21 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Lemon Grove Library.

By Miriam Raftery

September 6,2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Mark Gracyk and  Dan McMillan both say they’re running for the Helix Water District Board to stop rate hikes –and roll them back if possible.  Both are running against incumbents (Chuck  Muse and John Linden) who have repeatedly voted for rate hikes. Hear our full interview, aired on KNSJ radio,  by clicking the audio link;  click "read more" and scroll down to read highlights.

Update:  Director John Linden has also done a radio interview with ECM. You can listen to our interview with Director Linden here.

Gracyk,  MicMillan, Director Linden and challenger Aaron Zajak have all agreed to participate in our candidate forum on Sept.21. Director Muse sent regrets as he is out of the country.  Erik Collins, another challenger, has not responded. 

East County Magazine

July 16, 2015 (La Mesa) – Helix Water District’s Board on Wednesday voted down a staff/legal recommendation for a tough new emergency drought action plan resolution that would have imposed a “civil volumetric penalty” for every unit of water over 30 used by residential customers.

East County News Service

Four candidates are running for two seats on the Helix Water District Board.  We invited all four to be interviewed on our radio show and two of them responded. In our radio interviews, we asked candidates their views on the drought, creating new regional water supplies, the tiered rate structure, budget priorities, the future of Lake Jennings, and transparency, among other issues.

You can listen to their interviews here:

Kathleen Hedberg interview: https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Steven Rotsart interview:  https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sites/eastcountymagazine.org/files/au...

Hedberg is an incumbent and civil engineer who is running as a ratepayers’ advocate. She voted against rate hikes passed by the board majority.  Her opponent is Maria Mariscal, who has worked for the County Water Authority. 

Rotsart says he’s running because rates are too high, having nearly tripled in the past nine years. He He believes his experience in nonprofits will help him bring financial accountability to the board. He is running against incumbent Deana Verbeke, whose website says she is a voice of ratepayers but who voted consistently to raise rates despite objections from the vast majority of ratepayers who submitted public comments.

October 13, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –Incumbent John Linden is running for reelection for Helix Water Board’s District 1 seat against Mario Tilaro.  ECM sent questions to both candidates. Linden’s responses are below. Tilaro, a small businessman and owner of Fletcher Hills Business Center, did not respond.  Linden’s responses are below.

September 26, 2012 (La Mesa) -- Lori Kern-Greenberg is running for  the Helix Water Board against long-time incumbent Chuck Muse.  In a questionnaire sent by La Mesa Citizens Oversight Group, she answers detailed questions on water rates and accuses board members of "lining their own pockets" while ignoring the needs of ratepayers in the district.

"Water is not a commodity. It is not bought and sold on the stock market. Water is a necesssity and the board has a responsibility to the ratepayers to keep all rates as low as possible," she states, adding that she wants to change the tiered-rate structure so that everyone will pay the same rate.