Candidate for
Board Member; West Bay Sanitary District

I am not a politician and will not adopt politically correct viewpoints. I spent less than $5 running for this office in 1999, did not solicit endorsements or contributions, and will do the same for this election. I expect that my qualifications, as stated on this web page, will speak for themselves. If elected, I will serve to the best of my ability to benefit the District customers and the community.

Most politicians shy away from spending money on infrastructure. I believe that it is imperative to plan ahead for as many years as possible for maintaining and replacing, as needed, the underground sewer lines as well as the above-ground District equipment. Twenty percent of all of our sewer lines were installed between 1900 and 1935. Half of all the lines are older than 50 years. While the expected life of undisturbed sewer lines is perhaps measured in hundreds of years, our lines experience tree root penetration and breakage, occasional shaking from earthquakes and traffic, and even corrosion. Average expected life has been variously estimated to be from 70 to 100 years. Using the more conservative lifetime of 70 years, we can project the cost of replacement of failing sewer lines (in constant dollars) to rise from $1.5M/year at present to about $2M/year within 10 years; thereafter the cost may rise to $2.5M/year in 15 years and $3M/year in 20 years. We need to increase the fees for use of the sewer system, not only to match the increasing cost-of-living (not included in the above dollars), but also to put aside reserves (savings) to pay for the expected increasing cost of replacement of the sewers in the future. Increasing user fees is not politically popular, but I think that is required so that our sewer system continues to function adequately. The alternative is to wait for the collapse of major portions of the system (with sewage spewing into your front yard) and arranging for bonds to pay for repair of the system; this would be very much more expensive in the long run.