(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Water District Board Puts General Manager on Administrative Leave Over 'Various Allegations' [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-14 After meeting in closed session for five hours on June 13, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California immediately placed General Manager Adel Hagekhalil on paid administrative leave for up to 90 days to investigate ‘’various allegations.’’ The board also named Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan’s assistant general manager and executive officer, as interim general manager. Chief Financial Officer Katano Kasaine made the allegations in a confidential letter to the board that Politico leaked and published. “Over the past year and a half, I have endured retaliation, harassment, and a hostile work environment. Microaggressions and systematic exclusion from core meetings and conferences have become a daily occurrence. As the Chief Financial Officer responsible for the organization's financial integrity, I am often left uninformed about key negotiations and agreements with significant financial implications for Metropolitan.’’ Board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. said. “I want to reassure Metropolitan’s staff and the public that our board is determined to act with strong unity and swiftness to protect everybody. We’ve made some very difficult decisions, but we maintain our commitment to the policies and direction of this organization as we continue our important work to deliver water reliability to the 19 million people we serve.’’ On the other hand, the California Water Impact Network, a longtime opponent of the Delta Tunnel, characterized the vote as part of an ‘‘attempted mutiny by pro-Tunnel hardliners on Metropolitan’s staff and board to stop even the possibility of a No Tunnel vote.” Under the leadership of Hagekhalil, Metropolitan is taking a close look at its long-term business plan, factoring in declining water sales, climate change, and anticipated regulatory actions on diversions from the Delta and the Colorado River. This analysis may lead to a recommendation to Metropolitan’s board of directors to not fund the tunnel project, according to C-WIN. “Metropolitan’s CFO, who sits on the board of the entity created to finance the Delta Tunnel, filed a complaint against Hagekhalil, claiming he created a hostile work environment by excluding her from meetings about the District’s business plan. These baseless accusations were reviewed by Metropolitan’s board in closed session this morning, while Hagekhalil was out of the country on vacation. The board’s move coincides with relentless pressure by Governor Gavin Newsom on Metropolitan to support the tunnel,“ C-WIN stated. Max Gomberg, a board member of the California Water Impact Network and a water policy expert, decried the move against Hagekhalil as a political power play designed to ram through a prohibitively expensive boondoggle that subverts both legal and democratic processes. “Weaponizing management disputes as a pretext for removing a political opponent is a new low for the Newsom administration,” said Gomberg. “It will clearly stop at nothing to pursue antiquated and ruinously costly water projects that enrich powerful people at the expense of ratepayers and the environment. The Tunnel will not create new water, nor will it protect Californians from drought. It’s simply a means to expedite the transfer of more water to powerful interests.’’ While the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has raised a lot of hackles over its proposal to raise water rates by 17% during the next two years, it’s also on the hook for something that could spike rates to stratospheric heights for a generation: the construction of the $20+ billion Delta Tunnel, a top priority of the Newsom administration, according to C-WIN. The group describes the tunnel as ‘the latest zombie iteration’’ of the Peripheral Canal that Jerry Brown tried to push through during his first term as governor in the 1980s. It would shunt water from the Sacramento River under the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta to Southern California farms and cities “The proposed Delta Tunnel shares the same problems that bedeviled the Peripheral Canal. It would be prohibitively expensive, burdening State Water Project ratepayers and California taxpayers; it would further degrade the Delta, the largest and most important estuary in the western continental United States; and it would devastate California’s already struggling salmon fisheries,” according to Gomberg. Metropolitan is the largest urban water district in the state and the biggest customer of the State Water Project. Without a funding commitment from Metropolitan, the Delta Tunnel will not be built. In a statement, Restore the Delta noted that the MWD Board “heard over an hour of public comments praising GM Hagekhalil for his efforts to reform the water agency to better collaborate with environmental justice groups, tribal communities, and Delta communities, who have historically been marginalized by previous general managers. The general plea from the comments was to allow due process to proceed and avoid taking aggressive action out of concern for losing progress on the positive policies and cultural and reputational improvements that Hagekhalil has diligently worked on.’’ Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore, responded to the MWD Board’s decision, urging the District to ‘follow the path of justice and equity’’ to resolve this matter: “To build equity in California water policy, transparency and inclusivity are needed in policy implementation and priorities. General Manager Hagekhalil has made efforts to work with people in the Delta from an equity lens and this is why we appreciate and respect his leadership. This is not to say that he and the people of the Delta agree on everything, but his efforts have led to a spirit of collegiality and collaboration on many fronts within this watershed because he understands that we are a majority disadvantaged region. The allegations brought forth are serious and the timing and unfolding of today's process is equally problematic. Both deserve a thorough and fact based investigation with transparent findings and due process. Governance by a rushed, lopsided process does not serve the future of California water, Southern California ratepayers, or the people of the Delta. We hope that the Metropolitan Water District follow the path of justice and equity to resolve this matter. Krystal Moreno with Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians said: ‘’What we know for a fact is that Adel is the very first MWD GM, in fact the very first MWD executive ever, to reach out to Delta-region tribes, engage with us, and visit our homelands all in an effort to better understand impacts of water mismanagement on Delta Tribal and Environmental Justice communities. Adel created inroads where closed doors once stood. We urge a full, fair and independent investigation. “We understand there have been alarming accusations made against Adel that should be justly, ethically, thoroughly and independently investigated. We also ask that the investigation include the questionable and concerning timing of these allegations and the Board’s swift attempt to remove Adel without any investigation while he has been out of the country.’’ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/14/2246570/-Water-District-Board-Places-General-Manager-on-Administrative-Leave-Over-Various-Allegations?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/