The district has made strides since 2003 when a deal to purchase the infrastructure from Cal-Am came to fruition. But the vexing problem of acquiring more water in a district that has had a decades-old moratorium on new connections has been challenging.
Perkovic has served on the board for years. He sees the job as balancing the costs of water with the health and safety concerns of residents. He is known as an independent thinker and, while in tune with the slow-growth board majority, he will listen to points of view not his own.
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Ptacek is likewise no newcomer to water issues in Montara and Moss Beach. He has been on the board since 1993 and says this would be his last term.
He is currently one of two MWSD representatives on the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside. SAM will have its hands full in the coming years as federal regulators continue to investigate overflows that damage the environment and could ultimately prove very expensive to rectify. His experience and business savvy - he is a technology specialist and bank vice president - will come in handy.
Both incumbents are pinning high hopes on a test well at the end of Alta Vista Road. It appears capable of pumping at least 150 gallons of water every minute. That isn't enough to end the moratorium, but it would be great to have that local source once everyone is sure pumping that water won't cause problems elsewhere.
Ruse thinks the well is important, too. She would like to see even more water come out of the ground there as fast as possible. She thinks eventually MWSD should seek to consolidate with the Coastside County Water District. Despite her frequent criticism of the current board, she speaks in conciliatory tones and we think she would work well with the current board.
Ruse alone presses for the potential of partnering with the North Coast County Water District in Pacifica. She thinks MWSD officials should invest in infrastructure that assures the potential exists to pipe water through the new Devil's Slide tunnels some time in the future. The incumbents, while not turning away from that possibility entirely, suggest such a connection would be too expensive.
That leaves Jim Harvey the odd man out. He was appointed to his current seat three years ago and generally agrees with the other incumbents on issues of planning and water supply. He has been a good steward; we simply found him the least strong of four good candidates.
- Half Moon Bay Review
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