Incumbents lead for 3 CCSD seats; Farmer 14 votes behind

Cambria voters appear to have opted for familiar faces — and voting records — in their next set of services district directors, constituents having cast ballots to send three incumbents back into office.

With final, unofficial election totals for 100 percent of precincts having been counted, Cambria Community Services District incumbents Amanda Rice had 1,319 votes (or 19 percent), Greg Sanders had received 1,244 votes (or 18 percent), and Gail Robinette had 1,115 votes (or 16 percent).

However, only 14 votes separated Robinette’s total from that of challenger Harry Farmer, who gleaned 1,101 votes. And some votes countywide haven’t yet been counted, such as those cast provisionally or vote-by-mail ballots turned in at a poll Tuesday. The county Elections Office posted the unofficial North Coast results after midnight.

If the final election results keep the incumbents in the lead, the vote could be construed as an endorsement of the district’s efforts to convert into a permanent facility a water-reclamation project built as an emergency measure to be used during times of drought and severe water shortage.

Other candidates, in the order of their vote counts, were Dewayne Lee, 924; Tom Kirkey, 805: Jeff Walters, 288: and write-in candidates, 89 (Steve Kniffen was one).

The services district provides water, sewage treatment, in-town fire protection, trails and parks such as Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, facilities such as the Veterans Memorial Building, and the all-volunteer Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission in an area of close to 3,200 acres, or about 5 square miles.

The agency’s 2016-2017 operating budget is about $11 million.

The returning directors will continue to face issues that range from getting that permanent permit for the district’s sustainable water facility (formerly called the emergency water supply project, because it was built under a drought-triggered emergency permit) to having a wastewater treatment plant that either needs substantial updates and upgrades or a complete redesign/rebuild. Meanwhile, community members have set state records for water conservation.

The district has been under a self-imposed moratorium for issuing new water connections, but CCSD has more than 660 properties on an official wait list to build.

For details on the district, go to www.cambriacsd.org.

San Simeon

Voters who cast their ballots by mail from tiny San Simeon appear to have voted to retain incumbent services district directors Daniel Williams and Alan Fields for four-year seats but have added challenger Mary Margaret McGuire for a four-year post.

However, the vote spread at the bottom is small, with only five votes separating Williams and McGuire from incumbent Leroy Price. So the result could change again, as it did when the tally from the polls was added to the early vote-by-mail count posted about 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, because some ballots countywide hadn’t yet been counted. Those include ballots cast provisionally and vote-by-mail ballots turned in at a poll Tuesday.

After the early vote count, the three incumbents were in the lead.

The county Elections Office posted the unofficial North Coast vote totals after midnight, at which point Fields had 63 votes (30 percent), McGuire and Williams each had received 50 votes (24 percent apiece) and Price 45 votes (21 percent).

Appointed Director John Russell will serve a full two-year term; he ran unopposed and was appointed in lieu of election.

The district has had a water-shortage-triggered building moratorium since April 1988, and has negotiated unsuccessfully for years with the state Coastal Commission about rip-rap placed long ago at the shoreline to protect district infrastructure.

In June, staffers, board members and residents dedicated an approximately $925,000 reverse osmosis plant, a water-treatment process designed to filter out undesirable components, such as chlorides.

The 100-acre community includes 462 residents. The district’s 2016-17 budget, approved in July, projects income of more than $943,700.

The district serves about 180 residential accounts, six commercial accounts and 11 lodgings (although some motels have multiple accounts). There are six restaurants and about a dozen irrigation accounts.

For details on the district, go to www.sansimeoncsd.com.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Incumbents lead for 3 CCSD seats; Farmer 14 votes behind."