Ka-Ching! Tardy Orange County Water District Directors Rake the Cash

Note: The Surf City Voice website was destroyed by hackers in December, 2019. This article was first posted September 11, 2016.

By John Earl

Surf City Voice

Director Steven Sheldon called me out at the August 24, 2016 meeting of the Orange County Water District Board of Directors.

He did so after I spoke during public comments about habitually tardy directors, including him.

Sheldon asked me a question. When I tried to answer, he got angry and cut me off, arguing that I didn’t know what I was talking about.

I’m going to answer his question, but first some background.

OCWD directors receive $250 per meeting, even if they arrive late and/or leave early, for up to 10 meetings per month at $2,500 per month or $30,000 per year.

Ka-ching!

OCWD directors also get 56 cents per mile for traveling to meetings, that’s hundreds of dollars per month for some directors. They get free food at their meetings, a collective value of thousands of dollars a year.

OCWD Director Steve Sheldon getting some shut-eye a…