Arrowhead Woods owners against LACSD/AWAC acquisition
“Your voice matters, and it has power, so use it,” State Senator Rosilicia Ocho-Bogh exhorted her audience. And use it they did. When word went out in a local magazine in June 2022 that Senator Ochoa-Bogh had sponsored SB 1405 and listed her phone number along, along with that of her aide Sid Sonck, their phones “blew up,” Senator Ochoa-Bogh said. She listened to every message and returned every phone call while her husband drove on the 6 ½ hour drive from Sacramento to their home in Yucaipa. She returned each phone call. Although she had blocked out the weekend of June 10-11, 2023 for her family, she decided she must hold a townhall meeting in Lake Arrowhead to air the issue of SB 1405 with her constituents. “A townhall is not political,” she said to the people gathered at Rim High School on June 10, “it is governance.” She represents 28 cities with 1,226,000 constituents and has tried to connect with as many as she can through town hall meetings, but it is challenging to reach them all.
The bill at issue was intended, as Senator Ochoa-Bogh described it, to give constituents (Arrowhead Woods property owners) the right to vote on whether or not to allow Arrowhead Woods Architectural Committee (AWAC ) to merge with Lake Arrowhead Community Services District (LACSD). One of the participants who was present handed out a flyer to those arriving which listed dollar amounts of some of the excessive fees assessed by AWAC to property owners who add improvements such as carports, fences, roofing, windows and doors, decks, retaining walls, stairs, and other improvements without AWAC permits. (Those figures are on the AWAC website.)
Although the 2 1/2—hour meeting did eventually get around to other concerns, the SB 1405 issue definitely dominated the conversation.
The SB 1405 lists other state entities to which its terms apply, along with Lake Arrowhead Community Services District. It must be voted upon by the homeowners to whom it applies, and various claims that this was approved by them were vigorously contested by participants in the town hall. Until June of last year there had been no opposition to the bill because Arrowhead Woods property owners were not informed, said a local resident.
There did not seem to be any dissent about SB 1405 among the voices of the attendees at the meeting. The bottom line from the residents was to rescind the bill. Among the opinions expressed at the downhill meeting were:
“I want to be able to vote (on the proposal to join AWAC and LACSD), because I pay taxes. Taxation without representation is tyranny.”
“Nobody wants this.”
“We have seen rate increases in the double digits in the last year…I think LACSD is looking for a way to augment their budget.”
“The management of AWAC needs to go back to the property owners.”
“If a private organization (AWAC) doesn’t have the support of its people, it should fail.”
“Dissolve AWAC.”
“The bill should never have been a Senate Bill.”
“Authority was taken from the homeowners. The water district is out of control.”
“If this goes through, LACSD will have more power, unencumbered, than AWAC ever did.”
“Having a police state is not what we want.” (This was regarding inspectors showing up and assessing fines for violations arbitrarily.) “We don’t want to be watched and monitored.”
“A lot of people are worried this will be another tax: $800 per year for water plus an LACSD ‘overlay’”?
“Contractual rights are being given to a government entity. This is dangerous.”
“The CC&Rs demand that the property owners resolve these issues, not the state government.”
“For a water utility to become a pseudo HOA is beyond anything any of us could have imagined.”
Senator Ochoa-Bogh was given grace by some who felt she had been used or duped by nefarious forces with something to gain from the merger of AWAC and LACSD. In her defense she said “This is not my bill. I carried it on behalf of what I thought it was what AWAC wanted.”
Crystal Upton, who just assumed leadership of AWAC in January, was in agreement with the consensus of the audience’s concerns. She said that AWAC had agreed to rescind its approval of SB 1405.
Attorney Ted Heyck, who attended the town hall, said to Senator Ochoa-Bogh, “You have enormous feeling and compassion for people, but you have been deceived.” He commented, “No one gave notice of this meeting. It was not sent by AWAC. It was not sent by LACSD, a $20 million dollar organization. Heyck, a part-time Lake Arrowhead resident, also had served as the president of the board of directors at LACSD.
“We are all after one thing - the truth,” Heyck added. “The original bill had no provision for anyone to vote for anything. The original bill was set up that AWAC would ask LACSD to take over. Then LACSD was supposed to have public meetings and have the public express their opinion. Then, no matter what the opinion was, LACSD is run by a board of three people, one of whom is Attorney John G. Wurm , who is the lawyer for AWAC). That is what people are afraid of.”
Senator Ochoa-Bogh said she had insisted from the time the bill was submitted that town halls be held in order for her constituents be able to express their opinions. She is on ten committees, she added, so her team is commissioned to be her ears and to report back to her what is going on in the field. Sid Sonck (916-335-0271) is her main contact for Lake Arrowhead. Nick Calero is her district coordinator (916-335-0271) is his district office number.
Ted Heyck attempted to clarify a “vote” taken by AWAC that started in 2010. The controversy that is still not resolved is the claim by some audience members that, according to the handout distributed to the audience by an attendee, in 2010 AWAC (whose charter required “approval by 55% of residents in each tract to keep them in business” because the organization’s authority was due to expire in 2010) reportedly took a tally and collected “votes” for four or five years, that started in 2010.
According to Heyck, many of the residents, meanwhile, sold their properties and moved off the mountain, signatures were not verified. The ballots were apparently not kept, according to two members who inquired about what had happened to the votes that had been submitted and were told they couldn’t be located.
Regarding the AWAC water rights - Heyck summed up the situation by saying, “The impetus of this bill has to do with money and water and power.”
Lake Arrowhead resident Garin Vartanian, who partnered with Ted Heyck in forming ArrowheadWoodsInformed.com, explained three essential concepts to be considered. “First, due diligence: Senator Ochoa-Bogh was told initially that “AWAC was insolvent and that LACSD was this great white horse that would come and rescue them. Their latest tax returns? They had $265,000 that came in. In the year before it was $216,000. Even though they didn’t file tax returns, they’re a non-profit public entity. They have to file non-profit disclosures,” He concluded. “It wasn’t because of money that they didn’t send letters to the homeowners.”
“Secondly is misrepresentation,” said Vartania “In 2010, the CC&Rs were scheduled to expire. Anyone can go to the county and find out who owns a property. Six years before they were collecting signatures; they started in 2005. They went around collecting signatures from homeowners.” He added. “In 2010, some whose signatures had been collected had moved away in the intervening years. The problem arose from those who submitted “yes” votes who were no longer the owners of the property in 2010. Looking at the signatures on file and matching them with the names of current owners of the property in 2010 would reveal invalid votes”
“Who are the stakeholders?” Vartanian asked. “LACSD (on behalf of AWAC) approached Senator Ochoa-Bogh on behalf of those with the mortgages and who pay the taxes and who occupy the properties. They told her everyone was in favor of merging the two entities. What is this about?” he asked. “Money, power, and the water rights to Lake Arrowhead. That’s what LACSD wants.”
Letting a government entity be in charge of CC&Rs is dangerous, he asserted. “Only people who live here full-time can vote for the LACSD board members, so over 70% of the people affected are disenfranchised. To join the AWAC board, “you have to send a letter to the executive director, and she has to approve you.” He concluded, “It’s a club, and we’re not invited.”
“If you guys are ok with having AWAC do the formal rescind because they’re the sponsor,” Senator Ochoa-Bogh stated.
Crystal Upton, executive director of AWAC said, “There is no vote that will be happening soon. Effective Friday, the Board put together a letter that it is not going forward. When we presented this idea to LACSD a year and a half ago, it was not to be taken over by LACSD. It was a partnership.”
“That is not how it is currently being viewed,” said Upton. “Now it’s not a partnership. It’s not even a merger. It’s an acquisition.” She explained that AWAC had reached out to LACSD, because AWAC does have water rights to all of properties under its jurisdiction.