Ernie Garza doesn’t believe the Keyes Community Service District (KCSD) board needs to enact steep increases in monthly sewer fees.
Dismissed in August as the KCSD general manager, Garza said the board hasn’t listened to his ideas which he asserts would mean far less of an increase for the 1,500 households in Keyes.
The board is scheduled Tuesday evening to raise sewer rates by $38.16 per month, from $64.23 to $102.39 per month, in response to the city of Turlock more than doubling the charges for handling Keyes’ wastewater discharge.
Keyes does not have its own wastewater treatment plant and must pipe it to Turlock for processing.
Garza said he was stunned by his termination by the KCSD board in August, the same night he presented an alternative plan to its proposed rate hike which was rejected.
Garza, who hinted he’s looking into a wrongful termination lawsuit, said the board terminated him and had the gall to ask him to stay on until a replacement could be hired.
“I told them that night, here’s how we go about it and there will be hardly any impact to the people, and they disregarded it,” Garza told the Courier. “I need to get this out to the public because everybody is struggling. I just can’t keep quiet.”
According to Garza, the rate increase, scheduled to be adopted at the next board meeting set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, would allow the district to build sewer fund reserves from $500,000 to $3 million in 10 years. Saying that the district doesn’t need to build a reserve that high, Garza said an increase to $76.44 per month would allow KCSD to maintain a reserve of $500,000.
Garza also suggested the district can credit households with 1,500 cubic feet of free water ($25.95 per month) to offset the planned sewer rate increases.
“This way, the district gets the increase needed for the sewer department and the citizens will not be impacted as bad.”
Under his plan, rates would then be $76.44 per month from the $64.23 charge today.
He based that idea on actions the district took in 2020 in response the COVID stay-in-place mandates which kept families at home and using more water. Garza said the board waived the first 2,500 cubic feet of water before charges applied to save Keyes households an estimated $43.25 per month over a 15-month period. He said KCSD “revenues still went up even though the district allowed approximately $600,000 worth of free water.”
“They don’t want to listen to anything I say or whatever because they want to justify my termination.”
Whether such a plan is legal is unknown.
KCSD Board President Johnathon Parker would not comment on Garza’s suggestions for lower rates but stated that nobody on the board wants to inflict hardships.
“I’m doing the best I can for the community but hard choices are hard choices,” said Parker. “I also live in this community.”
Parker asserted that Keyes needs sewer reserves in anticipation of future infrastructure upgrades, which include two lift stations.
Before the district can raise rates it had to conduct a Prop 218 protest hearing after sending out ballots. When ballots were opened in September, only about 350 protested, which failed to garner the 50 percent plus one majority required to halt an increase.
Garza, who has been with KCSD for 12 years, said administration have been conspiring to get rid of him for years.
Garza claims Parker cited a “declining performance” and claimed he yelled too much – something he denies. He told the Courier that a few years ago he heard then board member Melody Chavez complain that he drew too big of a salary.
According to the Transparent California website, Garza’s salary and benefits package in 2024 was $132,486.40. However, the same website notes that KCSD administrative executive Michelle Harris cost the district a total of $163,930.56 in pay and benefits during 2022.
“I am just concerned about the impact on the rate increases to my community,” said Garza. “My family, we were migrants. I went to about 58 grammar schools, you know, just following the crops in all kinds of states all over the place, and they know how difficult it is. And to me, I’m going like, no, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t step up and speak out and say, ‘No, let’s look into ways to reduce this impact, especially in these hard times.’”
Garza also charged that the board conducted a meeting on August 12 which was in violation of the Brown Act, saying it wasn’t posted and noticed.
In July the KCSD lost a discrimination and wrongful termination suit brought on by Joann Sakurada after she was allegedly fired for taking medical leave for a knee injury. The lawsuit cost the district $1.5 million and $400,000 in legal fees.
