For the first time in at least a decade, the Metro Water District governing board is facing a contested election.
Two incumbents are running against a former board member and a former Metro Water staffer to fill three board seats.
Board member James Tripp, who has served off and on since the district began in October 1992, isn't seeking re-election, said Mark Stratton, Metro Water general manager.
Metro Water District serves more than 45,000 people through 20,000 water connections - more than 16,000 on the northwest side, another 1,600 on the northeast side and about 1,600 on the southwest side due to the recent acquisition of a smaller water utility.
The district's biggest challenge in the past year has been covering the costs of moving water lines for county road-improvement projects while a down economy has resulted in lower revenues, Stratton said.
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Increased home vacancies mean less money coming in, he said, while many costs of running the district remain the same, including staff to maintain wells, plan for road projects and handle administrative tasks such as billing.
Because of that, the district asked the board for a higher-than-usual rate increase this year, he said.
To cover the cost of moving water lines for Regional Transportation Authority projects, the district last year implemented a $3 monthly fee that is set to expire at the end of June.
The new board will have to decide how to carry on from there, whether that means extending the fee, increasing it or something else entirely.
"I would be reluctant to recommend increasing that (fee) unless absolutely forced into it," Stratton said. "It's bad enough as it is. I can't see going in and asking for more."
He would suggest the district examine other budget cuts first.
Six RTA projects are scheduled within Metro's service area. One is almost complete, another starts in January, and they continue to domino with each other for at least the next two years, Stratton said.
Because district staffers are tied up with planning the line relocations, there are no resources for Metro's planned capital improvement projects, he said.
The new governing board will have to work out that challenge as well.
Jim Doyle
Age: 52
Occupation: Wastewater plant manager for Pima County Wastewater Management, where he has worked almost 34 years
Education: High school diploma and some college
Civic activities: Northwest Fire District board member 20 years, about 10 of them as board chairman; Metro Water board member for almost 16 years
Top priority: "A sustained water supply that's of a high quality. That's our goal, that's why I got on that board," he said.
Doyle said the water district needs to always be conscientious about water quality and quantity because the population of the Southwest will continue to grow. The public needs to be educated about conservation.
Contact: None available.
A.E. "Reb" Guillot
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired from U.S. Air Force; retired Raytheon Missile Systems engineer and program manager
Education: Master's degree in engineering from Arizona State University
Civic activities: Sabino Vista homeowners association, president 12 years; Metro Water board member four years total - he was chosen as a replacement board member and served for 18 months but didn't run in the following election. Two and a half years ago, he was chosen as a replacement again and decided to run at the end of the term.
Top priority: "To guide us through our financial issues that are very challenging right now. The biggest problem that we have is sort of two-fold," Guillot said.
Conservation efforts mean less money coming into the district, which is good, he said, but the district also is moving a lot of water lines to make way for road-improvement projects, and that is quite costly.
Also, the Regional Transportation Authority has moved up the timeframe on several projects to take advantage of lower construction costs, so the water district must come up with money to move the water lines faster than anticipated.
Contact: LO8X2@aol.com
Helen Ireland
Age: 55
Occupation: Database specialist for Arizona Geological Survey; she worked for Metro Water from May 2005 until November 2008
Education: Associate of Applied Science in computer programming from Pima Community College; Bachelor of Science in business and public administration from University of Arizona.
Civic activities: None currently; as a UA student, she volunteered at the Arizona State Fair and organized a German Club fundraiser.
Top priority: "I'd like to see more communication between the divisions and sharing more data in a digital format," Ireland said.
When she worked for Metro Water, she worked with databases in the engineering division and coordinated with customer service representatives and the utilities to get them to share data electronically. She found it was difficult to get the engineering division to coordinate with other divisions, and she hopes to bring oversight to coordinate them all, she said.
Contact: ireland@toast.net, 531-0719
Judy Scrivener
Age: 61
Occupation: Senior special staff assistant for Pima County Wastewater Management
Education: Attended California State University, Long Beach, for two years
Civic activities: Served on Metro Water board from 2004 to 2008, was board chairwoman for two years; also involved with the Jane Austen Society of North America.
Top priority: "The district is facing the RTA projects and the costs for the relocation of utility lines, and that's something that we have to be very careful of, carefully monitor what's being charged," Scrivener said.
"Sometimes governments are not the most efficient organizations when it comes to expenditures. One thing Metro has always been very good at is making sure costs are legitimate."
She said she is aware of the financial burdens people already are facing, and she wants the water district to be mindful of those burdens as it figures out how to proceed with the water line relocations.
Contact: judyscrivener@msn.com
Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at sshelton@azstarnet.com or 807-8464.
