Politics & Government

Election: Ken Putnam Tells Patch His Knowledge, Experience

Before you vote on this election Tuesday, get to know Ken Putnam, a local vying for the Crescenta Valley Water District board director position.

is a civil engineer and current Crescenta Valley Water District board member.

He has lived in both Tujunga and La Crescenta for more than 40 years. The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works retiree served as a division head for more than 20 years in the Waterworks Districts. In addition, he worked as city engineer and director of public works for several cities and now provides specific engineering consulting for water and sewer systems.

This father of three women served as the parents chairman of the swim team for more than 10 years and coached softball in the Crescenta Sports Association for more than 8 years. He also takes statistics for the Crescenta Valley High School football team.

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Montrose Patch had several questions for Putnam, including the , infrastructure, water conservation and why he deserves your vote:

Do you think the Crescenta Valley Water District should issue a bond and subsequent water rate increase to fund it? Why or why not?

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I support the rate increase, which is tied to a bond issue, which will be the lesser of the interest rates for the rate increases. If you go pay as you go the interest is 8 percent if you go with the bond the bond is 5 percent.

What do you think is the most important issue that the CVWD board needs to tackle?

The most important one is the continuing problem. And that’s based on my experience... it’s infrastructure.

The basic issue is trying to pump as much water out of the ground as possible. That’s our deepest water source. If we can’t pump water out of the ground we have to buy import water from somewhere else. The imported water is significantly more costly than the ground water.

Limits on the ground water that we can actually extract. If we don’t extract our full amount then we’re having to buy water from an another source, which is the . Would have to buy from Foothill Municipal. Our biggest issue is how to sustain the infrastructure so we can pump as much as we need to and are allowed to by a court order. Number two, so that all of our other equipment works and meets the needs of the customers.

I have been in the water business, I’ve managed collectively over the years 32 water systems. Some very large. Some as large as La Crescenta. But the biggest issue is that you have to keep your water system running so that the time comes when people need water that you’ve got it available for them and you can deliver it.

How do you conserve water in your every day life?

Yes, here in the water business in southern California the hand writing has been on the wall for years. And that is that we all have to conserve. There’s only so much water available. The Crescenta Valley Water District has been, by court order, restricted on how much water it can extract.

As we continue to grow population wise in Southern California conservation is one of the ways we are going to meet the needs in the future.

Why should people vote for you?

I’ve got the knowledge and experience and that’s my platform. [Our goal is] to give our best service for the lowest cost. How to make sure your water system is going to be there for 10, 20 years from now. In today’s world, customers want water service. They want to be able to turn their water on. If they have a fire in their house the fire department can respond and put the fire out with water. It’s the business of being in the water business that gives me the experience and therefore I think I am the better candidate.

[Charles] Beatty was on the board for a couple years but he spent a good amount of his time going to conventions and he claims to learn about the business. The fact is that my background and my experience is that there are issues for the water district. We have some good people on the board and I complement that, support and give great ideas to help make a better water system and district for the service of customers.

Visit Ken Putnam's Website

Check out Patch's 2011 Voter Guide



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