FAIR OAKS, Calif. — A neighborhood election affecting less than 0.1% of California’s population — roughly 37,000 people — is one the most heated races in Sacramento County.
Campaigns for seats on the Fair Oaks Water District (FOWD) board of directors are smeared with misinformation. ABC10 spent weeks gathering information and statements from both sides.
Then, a list of claims made by both incumbents and challengers was sent to and verified by Tom Gray, the district’s general manager, without identifying who said what. Gray is prohibited by law to express opinions about candidates or issues while acting in his official capacity, and his contribution to this story was admitted based on a commitment to fact-based verification.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Wednesday it looked into a complaint alleging Gray and sitting board members violated the California’s open meeting law by holding 30-minute, closed-door gatherings on July 15 and Aug. 19 ahead of regularly-scheduled board meetings, but the DA’s office said no there was no violation.
“Upon reviewing…relevant agendas, meeting minutes, and board packets, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that a violation occurred,” the office wrote Tuesday in a letter sent to the district. “Accordingly, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office will take no further action on this matter.”
Here are claims Gray was able to verify:
Q: Is there a “recall and replace” campaign that you know of, where its goal is to remove incumbent FOWD board members in this election?
Gray: Yes… to date, no candidate that is running to replace the incumbent FOWD board members has attended a FOWD board meeting or contacted me with any water-related questions.
Q: What would happen if FOWD operations were moved from the Fair Oaks Village area? Would there be an effect on constituents?
Gray: Emergency response times would increase, customer service would decrease, operational costs would increase, the cost to relocate would be more than redeveloping on land that we already own and operate on, (and there would be) increased rates.
Q: Does the FOWD board have authority to make land use decisions?
Gray: No.
Q: Does the Fair Oaks Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC), designated by Sacramento County, have authority to make land use decisions?
Gray: It is my understanding that the FO CPAC makes recommendations to Sacramento County relative to land use decisions.
Q: What can you tell me about a maintenance yard renovation project?
- FO CPAC approved (the project) on Oct. 6, 2021
- Sacramento County approved (the project) on April 12, 2022.
- FOWD Board decided to slow (the) project until completion of the FORPD Community Center Project to reduce impacts to the FO Village.
- Please go to Spring 2007 FOWD Press Release on FOWD Fair Oaks Village Enhancements - Fair Oaks Water District for a spring 2007 press release related to the project.
Q: Does this maintenance yard renovation include plans for an employee gym and will the project altogether cost roughly $14 million?
- The preliminary design calls for an employee locker room that we hope to incorporate perhaps an exercise bike or treadmill for employee wellness — but no gym.
- Without approved plans to provide an engineer’s estimate on, the FOWD has never determined or published a project cost. At a public meeting, the project architect provided a rough estimate of $7 million — which the board hopes to control or reduce.
- All other numbers in various claims $10 million, $12 million or $14 million are merely made up by the author.
Q: In recent history, was there an effort to establish ratepayer and fiscal oversight committees? When was this? Was the effort organized by rate-paying customers, and who did the organizing group seek to oversee?....Is there an official reason/statement they gave in writing that you can send to me? Was any alleged rejection of an oversight committee done so properly?
- Please go to 08-19-2024+FOWD+Regular+Board+Meeting+Packet.pdf and locate “Staff Report V.3” titled “Discussion and possible action on a request to form a FOWD Customer Advisory Committee” (page 90).
- Please go to https://www.fowd.com/files/2bc8822be/08-19-24+Regular+Board+Meeting+Minutes.pdf for the approved minutes from the Aug. 19, 2024 public FOWD Board meeting.
- Based on community input at public meetings, Mr. Leon Corcos, of Corcos Village LLC, was the main force behind the effort to establish ratepayer and fiscal oversight committee — with the majority of the few people attending the Aug. 19, 2024 FOWD board meeting for proposed action on the idea opposed.
Q: Do board members receive a stipend of $100 per monthly board meeting, and has this stipend been raised within the last 20 years?
Gray: In accordance with FOWD policy 2040, board members receive a stipend of $100 per monthly board meeting. This policy was last amended on Feb. 11, 2013, and has not changed since. All FOWD policies are adopted during public meetings, and all FOWD policies are available on the FOWD website.
Election claims
One candidate claimed FOWD’s current board has been there for over a decade.
This is false, according to the Sacramento County voter registration and elections office. There are five board members: Chris Petersen, Michael McRae, Mark Dolby, Randy Marx and Misha Sarkovich.
- Petersen was appointed to the board in January 2022, and he ran unopposed to keep the seat in November 2022. His seat is not up for election in 2024.
- McRae joined the board in 2012. He was elected again in 2014, 2018 and 2022. He faced an opponent in 2018. His seat is not up for election in 2024.
- Dolby was appointed to the board in December 2022. He faces an opponent, Leah Parrish-Pane, in the election to serve a short term on the board this year.
- Marx was first elected to the board in 2004. In the last four election cycles, he faced an opponent in 2012 and ran unopposed in 2016 and 2020. In 2024, he faces Levi Newlin.
- Sarkovich was also first elected to the board in 2004. In 2012, 2016 and 2020, he ran unopposed. He faces Darryl Cragun in this year’s election.
Water and money
Gray provided ABC10 with the following information:
- The FOWD has no debt from borrowing money.
- The FOWD currently has over $10M in cash reserves to complete board approved projects on a “pay-as-you-go" basis.
- Over the last 20 years the FOWD has designed and installed five new groundwater wells.
- The wells provide FOWD ratepayers with both a redundant and emergency water supply.
- The wells help the FOWD contribute to regional conjunctive use programs that benefit the environment and California water resiliency — while adding revenue to offset ratepayer costs.
- The wells help FOWD ratepayers prepare for water supply issues related to climate change.
- The FOWD board adopted a rate adjustment for 2023 (10%), 2024 (10%) and 2025 (5%) at a Nov. 21, 2022, public meeting — after completing a “Proposition 218” public outreach process.
- The main driver for the rate adjustment was replacement of aging transmission mains.
- The FOWD increased rates 13% from 2006 to 2022.
Information from the FOWD website:
- Bimonthly water rates can be found HERE.
- There are roughly 37,000 rate-paying customers in the FOWD.
- The district receives 90% of its water from San Juan Water District wholesale.
- The remaining 10% is groundwater pumped from district-owned wells.
Claims over a parking lot
Sitting board member Misha Sarkovich, who is running for reelection, said property owner Leon Corcos created three successful and busy restaurants in Fair Oaks Village and seeks to seize a FOWD lot to build a parking lot for himself and other neighborhood businesses. Sarkovich alleges Corcos started a “recall and replace” campaign to build parking.
Corcos said the following on the subject of parking lots in response:
“...Here are the facts: I’ve completed just one improvement project in Fair Oaks in my lifetime. Yes, just one. I took a long-neglected, vacant corner and turned it into something that attracts people to the Village. Thankfully, it worked. I’ve lived in Fair Oaks for 29 years and simply wanted to contribute to the revitalization of our community…
“Let’s be real — a gravel yard in the heart of downtown Fair Oaks Village, on prime commercial land, is an absolute waste. This yard could be relocated anywhere, but certainly not at the entrance to our Village, where it’s nothing more than an eyesore. The board’s duty is to be responsible stewards of ratepayer money, and this is a flagrant mismanagement of funds.
“I have no plans to buy the lot — it’s beyond my skillset, and frankly, that’s not what this is about. This is about poor land use and the board’s reckless spending of public money on a project no one asked for. The FOWD’s claim that this is all about parking is nothing but ‘good ol’ boy’ propaganda meant to distract from the real issue at hand.”
On March 18, 2021, Corcos reportedly sent a letter to the FOWD requesting use of certain district parking areas on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings so a valet service he worked with could park business patrons’ vehicles there once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
On March 29, 2021, the district said it denied Corcos’ request for six reasons, including:
- Assuming the proposal included paid valet parking, it could violate rules for operating a public water system.
- Providing water is essential to health and safety, therefore all access to the district’s corporation yard (the area in question) must remain accessible at all times.
- The FOWD is an emergency command center affiliated with Sacramento County, and so the facility could not be routinely committed to another use.
- Multiple members of FOWD staff routinely worked beyond 5 p.m.
- Private use of the FOWD property could affect the district’s liability insurance.
“Due to the fact that the FOWD is not currently enforcing posted parking restrictions at our facilities after normal business hours — FOWD parking is routinely used by members of our community after hours and on weekends…,” the district wrote in its response to Corcos in 2021. “Granting your request would limit this parking to only members of the public that would be willing to pay and/or only customers of businesses within your property.”
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