Blog note: this article references a recent grand jury report on the Lamont Public Utility District.
LAMONT, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — Eyewitness News has learned that the former Lamont Union School District Assistant Superintendent Jose Cantu has applied for a new job as general manager at the Lamont Public Utility District.
Cantu resigned from the school district in March under pressure from a potential lawsuit after is was learned he did not have the proper administrative credentials to hold the post of assistant superintendent.
Cantu has thrown his hat in the ring for the top administrative job at the troubled LPUD, a post for which the current pay is listed at $150,000. LPUD interim general manager Peter Cosentini said 47 applicants from around the state have applied, and Eyewitness News has learned Cantu has been ranked as among the top 8 candidates. But some wonder how Cantu made the list of top candidates without any apparent experience in water and sewer agencies.
"There is a concern," said Camila Chavez, Executive Director of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Chavez added she's also concerned candidates did not wind up on the list "...because of friends that they might have on the (Lamont Public Utility District) board."
Chavez said top candidates should be well versed qualified candidates in working with water boards. LPUD is currently an agency in disarray as outlined in a scathing report issued last week by the Kern County Grand Jury. The report found a dysfunctional board of trustees, little to no accounting system of public funds that lead to $210,000 in missing money and a water line project built at a cost of $240,000 that benefited a local businessman said the Grand Jury Report.
Turns out Cantu does have allies on the school board who could be influential in his getting the job at LPUD. Among them are Miguel Sanchez and David Manriquez. Besides being a member of the school board, Sanchez is also a board member of LPUD and he is among one of five that will be voting who to hire for general manager. Manriquez is president of the Lamont Union School Board and was also chosen to serve on an LPUD advisory citizen's panel that will play a role in choosing the next general manager.
The citizen's panel consists of five community members. Each of the five LPUD board members names a person to the panel, and Manriquez was chosen by LPUD board member Jose Cruz.
Eyewitness News placed calls to Cruz, Sanchez and Cantu for comment. None have returned our calls. Manriquez said he couldn't comment. "I can't because I don't know whose applying," said Manriquez.
The top candidates are scheduled to be interviewed by the LPUD board at the end of the month. A second interview will follow on May 7. Cosentini said LPUD is expected to choose a new general manager by late May.
April 19, 2016
Bakersfieldnow.com
By Jose Gaspar
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