Where do candidates for Cambria Community Services District board stand on issues?
Three candidates are running for two open seats to the Cambria Community Services District board of directors this November.
Those candidates are Jim Bahringer, Michael Thomas and Debra Scott.
Here are the candidates’ responses to questions about their visions for the North County CSD, presented as part of The Tribune’s 2022 Election Voter Guide.
The responses are organized in alphabetical order. Some have been edited for length or clarity.
Jim Bahringer
What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?
Reliable, secure water and wastewater services. Environmentally friendly open spaces and services. Continued Firesafe community with emergency access plans active and practiced.Study the pros and cons of incorporating.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?
Spend the debt and rate income funds generated by the two recently approved Proposition 218 initiatives properly. Generate a planned and managed response to climate change with innovative systems and technology.
What do you see as the future of the district Water Recycling Facility or other supplemental water source?
With an instream study in hand and environmental mitigation measures in place, run the facility at least in a stand-by mode as recommended by the regional water control board, CCSD staff and the majority of experts. Implement existing and new technology to eliminate the need for brine discharge disposal.
Besides water supply, what would your three other priorities be for the district?
Meet the challenges of managing water resources in our sensitive ecosystem. Effectively upgrade wastewater treatment in an environmentally sensitive way. Develop plans to evacuate all residents, producing new evacuation brochures for visitors as well as residents, and identify possible new routes to cut the time needed to evacuate residents and visitors in the event of a major wildfire.
Debra Scott
What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?
Very little can be accomplished until the Cambria CSD board and Cambria’s citizens begin to work together for the good of our district. The board members are accountable to the citizens who elected them. My vision is that the board and Cambria citizens become partners in finding a shared purpose to protect and preserve Cambria’s natural resources, including our creeks, watersheds, forest and wildlife. Our work must result in the assurance of an adequate and environmentally responsible water supply for existing residents and visitors.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?
Cambrians have been saddled with exorbitant, overburdensome debt which has resulted in increased fees and a questionable financial future for our district. I have experience and documented success in being fiscally responsible and accountable to my stakeholders in decision-making and governance. My experience in regulation and running a state agency provide me the skills necessary to address this issue.
What do you see as the future of the district Water Recycling Facility or other supplemental water source?
The original Emergency Water Supply (EWS) project began in 2014 to provide Cambria with a reliable dry season water supply to serve its residents. In 2021, the CCSD Board voted to formally change the project name to Water Reclamation Facility (WRF). This facility continues to exist under a (temporary) emergency permit and is not currently utilized to increase the amount of water for Cambrians. Even today, CCSD has failed to secure a permanent permit for this facility. Cambrians have been paying off the $8 million loan secured in 2014 at a cost of $1.4 million per year. Why is this happening?
Besides water supply, what would your three other priorities be for the district?
1. Fostering a collaborative relationship between the district and its citizens
2. Addressing the very real threat of catastrophic wildfire in our community which requires not only the provision of adequate firefighting resources, including water, but a clear and workable evacuation plan appropriate to the narrow, winding streets of our community.
3. Limiting, or more probably preventing, further growth to preserve the unique qualities of our beautiful seaside village and protect our natural resources.
Michael Thomas
What is your vision for what your district should look like in five years? 10 years?
Being a skeptical optimist, I choose to hope for the best outcomes and work hard to achieve them. My vision, if we do most everything right over the next five to 10 years, looks like: Trust. The community trusts the board, because the board has sincerely engaged the community at each stage of decision making on decisions that the community really cares about, and made it clear how community input was considered; given full consideration to the appropriate alternatives, using meaningful, reliable information; provided clarity of the values and trade-offs, with sound, unbiased analysis, leading to decisions that are in the best interest of our community and planet earth for generations to come.
Reliable and affordable services — efficient operating practices, thorough maintenance programs and excellence in decision-making about capital projects, leading to reliable, sustainable, affordable delivery of water, sewer and other services to the Cambria community.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing your district today, and what will you do to address it?
Security of our water supply is our top issue. Global warming is causing greater uncertainty in rainfall distribution. If we do have a dry winter, there may be insufficient water in the aquifers to sustain water delivery for another year. By the time we recognize the need to run the WRF, it is uncertain whether this facility could sufficiently supplement water reserves to sustain even the current water users. Our water supply is limited, and that is unlikely to change. We need to continue monitoring technology developments, but until then, CCSD needs to be as consistent as the Cambria community in living within our means by limiting additions of new demands on the already challenged aquifers. It is essential that there be sufficient water in the ecosystem to keep Cambria the beautiful forest community we all love.
We need to aggressively pursue additional water storage options to increase our buffer against water shortages or operational outages.
What do you see as the future of the district Water Recycling Facility or other supplemental water source?
I think the CCSD will be successful in obtaining a permit for the Water Reclamation Facility. The CCSD needs to work cooperatively with the California Coastal Commission and other agencies to ensure we can operate the WRF sustainably in such a sensitive habitat. With the instream flow study and adaptive management plan, the CCSD is well on its way, but we’re not there yet.
We need to address how to handle the brine waste. The current plan to truck brine waste to Oceano is not sustainable. The zero liquid discharge pilot study looks promising, but much work remains so demonstrate that this is a viable solution.
The CCSD needs to make it explicitly clear that decisions regarding growth are independent from decisions regarding operating the WRF. With the ever-worsening climate crisis, there will be conditions under which it will be beneficial to operate the WRF to sustain existing customers. With all of the hard-earned money CCSD customers have paid into the WRF, they deserve this option.
Besides water supply, what would your three other priorities be for the district?
Fire safety — the threat of wildfires is ever present. I will work to continue the excellent efforts protecting our community from wildfire through sustainable forest management, evacuation planning and emergency response preparation. Regarding growth, I love Cambria just the way it is, the natural beauty of our Monterey pine forests, our rugged coastline — that’s why tourists flock to Cambria.
Without additional sources of water, it’s simply not responsible to add new demands on the system or further congest our limited evacuation routes.
Then let’s talk about how to make it affordable for the people who work here to live here.We need to ensure long-term viability of our wastewater system infrastructure. The tranche of projects recently approved will go a long way toward catching up from decades of deferred maintenance, but some of our sewer lines are older than I am. We know there will be more projects in Cambria’s future. We need to manage these projects well and keep costs under control.
And as a bonus, I will advocate that the board consider the impact on future generations in every decision we make. Specifically, I will advocate that in every decision we make, we search for alternatives that will reduce the climate crisis. This may lead to trade-offs. The most sustainable solution is not always the cheapest solution, but we need to do what’s right for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. I’m not saying any of this will be easy, and there will always be trade-offs, but we seek sustainable solutions in every decision we make, little by little, we will make the future a little better for our endangered planet.
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