March 10, 2025
By Brian Hews
A letter obtained by Los Cerritos Community News via a public records request sent to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) reveals that the DOJ roundly rebuked the Central Basin Municipal Water District (CB) Director’s corrupt scheme to unlawfully keep President Nem Ochoa and Director Joanna Moreno on the CB Board.
The DOJ’s rebuke essentially called the director’s letter stupid.
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THE LETTER to Central Basin from Marc Nolan, Senior Assistant Attorney General at the DOJ.
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LCCN has been the only newspaper that has reported on the scheme involving Ochoa, Moreno, newly elected VP Gary Mendez, and Director Juan Garza. Other media outlets and local law officials do not seem to care about the outright corruption inside a public agency whose members are blatantly violating the State’s Water Code (SWC) and CB Administrative Code (CBC) while depriving local water companies and residents of their rightful representation.
Under both the SWC and the CBC, Ochoa and Moreno should be off the CB Board; the two termed out in December 2024. A new nomination process should have started in December, culminating in new director appointments on February 28, 2025.
The two have attended two CB Board meetings, conducted regular board business, and voted and approved contracts that could be called into question at a later date due to Ochoa and Moreno’s lack of authority; and another meeting is scheduled for March 31.
But Ochoa, the GM of Golden State Water, and Moreno, who works for the city of Vernon, have defiantly remained. And Mendez, Garza, and CB GM Elaine Jeng have done nothing to start the replacement process.
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Sources tell LCCN that it’s all about handing out lobbying contracts, hiring questionable employees, and certain CB Directors wanting to retain their “seat” on the Metropolitan Water District Board, which those in the water industry call “prestigious.”
Currently, Garza is on the MWD Board – but he can be removed if he is not in the majority – which could happen if Ochoa and Moreno finally step down.
CB Directors Art Chacon, Jim Crawford, and Leticia Vasquez have been highly critical of the scheme, but Ochoa, Moreno, Garza, and Mendez own the majority with four votes, and have unlawfully stymied any attempt to begin the appointment process.
The latest is the costly (now rejected) letter to the DOJ to alter the terms, a letter that was never properly agendized, voted on, and approved by the full CB Board, a Brown Act violation.
The letter was “approved” at a CB Board meeting, but that is in question. Sources are telling LCCN that Directors Vasquez and Chacon had left the meeting and only Ochoa, Moreno, Garza, Mendez and Jim Crawford were present.
Given the letter’s content, Ochoa and Moreno should have immediately recused themselves from voting, leaving Crawford, Ochoa, and Garza; three at a meeting is not a quorum, so any vote to approve the letter should have been “tabled” and stopped.
Yet in a text, Mendez told LCCN that “the group voted to approve the letter,” and in an email, Garza stated, “Nonetheless, the ultimate decision rested with our board, and we voted to continue with our agency’s request for an opinion from the AG’s office.”
In an email sent to the entire CB Board after LCCN broke the DOJ letter story, Garza, who has appointed himself the board’s spokesperson, another violation of the CBC, stated, “We are not trying to alter the code; we are seeking clarification.”
Garza then threatened LCCN over the article, demanding “a front-page retraction within three days” or “face litigation.” He continued to answer LCCN emails with the retraction threat.
Garza, a known hothead, was evidently ignorant that a public agency could only sue a newspaper under extremely limited guidelines, and was chided by the CB attorney for threatening the lawsuit.
The letter to the DOJ read, “How long is the term of appointment for District Director Nem Ochoa, in light of the fact that he was appointed to fill a vacancy in an existing term of appointment? How long is the term of appointment for District Director Joanna Moreno, in light of the fact that she was appointed prior to the expiration of her predecessor’s term of appointment.”
LCCN has pointed out several times in the past few weeks that the State’s Water Code and CB Administrative Code are very clear concerning directors who assume the seat of a director who resigned, “A vacancy in an office of an appointed director shall be filled in accordance with the [normal] selection process.” (Chapter 1.6 – Central Basin Municipal Water District Section 71267 (h) ). The Codes continue, “where there is a term of office remaining, nominations for the balance of the term shall be valid.”
No CB Board member, including Ochoa, and Moreno, who took their seats in October 2024 when Directors Michael Gulatieri and Thomas Bekele resigned before their term ended, have ever argued they incorrectly appointed which means they agree with Chapter 1.6 – Central Basin Municipal Water District Section 71267 (h) which states, “where there is a term of office remaining, nominations for the balance of the term shall be valid.”
The letter went on (and on) for five pages, arguing that the State Water Code should be altered so Ochoa and Moreno could remain on the CB Board. In a few days, Ochoa, Mendez, Moreno, and Garza got their answer from the DOJ, basically calling them stupid.
“Unfortunately, we must decline your request for an opinion on behalf of the Central Basin Municipal Water District (District).
“Government Code section 12519 provides that the Attorney General shall give the Attorney General’s opinion in writing to any state agency…. when requested, upon any question of law relating to their respective offices.
“With regard to the term “state agency”…. the Attorney General interprets this as permitting opinions to be provided to state-level departments, agencies, boards, and commissions. This does not include local agencies, even though the local agency has been organized under state statutes.
“As the District is a local agency, we must decline this request.”
The DOJ letter was dated February 18, 2025, but was never made public until LCCN’s records request. Given the previous actions of the four directors, the letter likely would never have been released, leaving Ochoa and Moreno to extend their unlawful CB Board seat terms for years.
As of the time of the publication of this article, emails to President Ochoa, GM Elaine Jeng, and attorney Victor Ponto were not answered.
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