Water board lacks quorum, can't take action
Mike Lee
San Diego Union-Tribune
06/09/2010
The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board could not take action on Wednesday during a regular monthly meeting because it lacked a quorum. It was the second time since April that has happened to the panel overseeing water pollution in the greater San Diego area.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed six people to the nine-seat board, which has a history of coming up short on voting members. Terms for two board seats expire in September, raising questions about how the agency will address high-profile matters such as storm channel clearing permits.
“Almost all of the regional boards (in California) are in that position” of potentially having too few board members, said David Gibson, executive officer of the San Diego water board. “We are working assiduously to make sure that items we can put on the agenda sooner than later appear so we can take certain actions before we lose our quorum” in the fall.
On Wednesday, four regional board members attended the meeting and two did not citing business travel and illness.
“Unfortunately, when we have a short panel ... it only takes two to be out sick or something for us to lose a quorum,” Gibson said.
Those who were there could not act on a proposal to manage storm water that San Diego city and several other local jurisdictions had spent about 18 months and $2 million to develop.
