WATER AGENCY EXAMINED LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION COULD LEAD TO COMPLETE AUDIT.Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The state Legislative Audit Committee has launched a preliminary investigation into the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency, the Santa Clarita Valley's dominant water provider. The inquiry will determine whether the committee will launch a full audit of the agency and, if so, how detailed that investigation will be, said Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Scott Wildman Scott Wildman was a California State Assemblyman from 1996 until 2000. That year, he lost a State Senate primary to Dr. Jack Scott, an Assemblyman from a neighboring district. Wildman received 46.7% of the vote. , the Glendale Democrat who chairs the committee. ``We're in the process of making that decision right now,'' Wildman said Wednesday. He said the committee is primarily concerned about the agency's 1999 purchase of the Santa Clarita Water Co., the governance of the company, and water contamination issues in the valley. In an April 10 letter, former City Councilwoman Jill Klajic requested the audit and called on legislators to take immediate conservatorship Conservatorship A circumstance in which the court declares an individual unable to take care of legal matters and appoints another individual, known as a conservator, to do so. Notes: This is sometimes referred to as "LPS Conservatorship. of the CLWA CLWA Chip-Level Weibull Analysis CLWA Children living with AIDS (Lancaster, OH) after what she called a series of ``improprieties'' at the public agency. The request has been placed on the tentative tentative, adj not final or definite, such as an experimental or clinical finding that has not been validated. agenda for the committee's May 23 meeting. Klajic's letter also raised questions about the spending practices of CLWA General Manager Bob Sagehorn and the agency's purchase last year of the Santa Clarita Water Co. The CLWA formally responded to Klajic's allegations in an April 27 letter to the audit committee, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily News. It, Sagehorn and Bill Cooper, president of the agency's board of directors, call Klajic's request ``irresponsible'' and ask that it be given ``no further consideration.'' The CLWA's response letter attacks each of Klajic's concerns. It points out that two Superior Court judges have supported the agency's right to purchase Santa Clarita Water, one of the valley's two largest retail water providers. The response also said all but one of Sagehorn's expenses - a $250 ticket to a political fund-raiser - were ``found to be ordinary business expenses.'' Those other expenses included $162 for wine for a board workshop, $514 for a 1998 dinner with the agency's bond consultants, and $229.66 for a 1998 dinner with a landowner in the Devil's Den For other places or institutions named "Devil's Den" see Devil's Den (disambiguation)
Sagehorn and Cooper's response also questioned Klajic's allegation The assertion, claim, declaration, or statement of a party to an action, setting out what he or she expects to prove. If the allegations in a plaintiff's complaint are insufficient to establish that the person's legal rights have been violated, the defendant can make a that a CLWA plan to buy water rights specifically for The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. is illegal. The proposal would be paid for by Newhall Land, and the company's future developments would have first rights to the water. ``The Board of Directors has taken no action on the asserted allocation of 10,000 acre-feet of water,'' the letter said. ``The Agency's Act does not permit the allocation of water to housing projects or developments, but only to water service areas.'' The letter continued: ``No details have been defined nor agreements reached relative to the 10,000 acre-feet in question.'' The agency is preparing an environmental impact report on the proposed transfer, however. And the letter does not explicitly claim that the transfer is legal under state law. Wildman said he will meet with the water agency next week to discuss the audit request. ``The (CLWA) response answered some of the questions,'' he said. ``But I want significantly more detail on a number of issues.'' Klajic also said the CLWA's response was inadequate. ``Their comments are very misleading and not exactly correct,'' she said. Sagehorn and Cooper were unavailable for comment Wednesday. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion