ELECTIONS : 6 Diverse Candidates Run Quietly for 2 Seats on Obscure Water Board Campaign: All express similar goals of obtaining inexpensive water supplies and preventing the spread of pollution in underground aquifers.

LONG BEACH —  A chiropractor, a cemetery manager, two congressional aides, a former Norwalk councilman, and a job counselor are vying for two seats to represent southeast Los Angeles County on the board of directors of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California.

The little-known district helps manage underground water supplies in a 420-square-mile area that stretches from north of Montebello to Long Beach on the south, and from the South Bay to La Mirada on the east.

Directors receive $162 for board meetings and $127 for other meetings related to district business. The board meets twice a month.

Municipal water departments and independent water companies pump water from underground aquifers to meet about half of the needs of residents, business and industry in the area.

The rest of the area’s water is imported primarily from Northern California and the Colorado River.

The Water Replenishment District, which is governed by five directors, is primarily responsible for making sure there is plenty of ground water. It buys water, including inexpensive reclaimed water, and allows it to seep into underground aquifers. The district runs on an annual budget of about $31 million, General Manager John W. Norman said.

If the Water Replenishment District is obscure, so are the campaigns for the two Southeast-area seats. Only two of the six candidates are running campaigns that will spend more than $1,000.

In Division 5, incumbent Timothy (Doc) Kelemen, an Artesia chiropractor, is facing challenges from former Norwalk Councilman Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez and Albert Robles, a Whittier resident on leave from his part-time position as an aide to Rep. Mervyn Dymally (D-Compton).

Robles, 23, who is running the most aggressive campaign, has spent $6,275, according to a spokeswoman for the county registrar-recorder’s office. He said he has been talking to area residents and distributing signs and flyers in Pico Rivera, Montebello, Norwalk, Cerritos and Whittier. Division 5 also includes Artesia, Commerce, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Maywood, Santa Fe Springs and Vernon.

“Most voters seem to appreciate the fact that we are campaigning and they are becoming aware of the Water Replenishment District,” Robles said.

Traditionally, Water Replenishment District candidates have avoided walking precincts and sending mailers because the district is large. Division 5, for example, has 264,749 registered voters, according to the registrar-recorder.

Kelemen and Rodriguez said they are relying on word of mouth and meeting with local groups.

Kelemen says he should be reelected to a four-year term because he knows the issues facing the district. Kelemen, 34, was appointed to his seat in 1990.

If reelected, Kelemen said he will work to secure additional supplies of water to protect against drought. He also will try to ensure that heavily contaminated water from the San Gabriel Valley does not flow into and pollute ground water supplies in the Southeast area.

He counts as one of his achievements a water treatment system that is purifying tainted water pumped from wells in South Gate.

Kelemen criticizes Rodriguez and Robles for not attending Water Replenishment District board meetings to familiarize themselves with the issues.

“Neither candidate has shown any interest in water,” he said.

But Robles said he has attended several meetings and has learned about water issues as an environmental adviser to Dymally.

Robles said keeping the San Gabriel Valley water pollution out of the Southeast/Long Beach area would be his primary concern. He said another of his goals would be to publicize Replenishment District actions and obtain more feedback.

“I intend to increase the public awareness,” said Robles, who proposed the formation of a community commission to work with the district.

Rodriguez said he had not attended board meetings but is familiar with the issues. As a former councilman, Rodriguez said he is better prepared than his opponents to publicize the issues and lobby in the Legislature.

Rodriguez said securing inexpensive supplies of water would be one of his priorities.

“Nobody has even heard of the Water Replenishment District. What does that tell you?” Rodriguez said.

Three other candidates are competing for the district’s Division 4 seat, which has been open since Director Wesley Sanders Jr. died in May.

Jean A. Sanders, a Compton cemetery manager, is seeking her late husband’s seat but is doing little campaigning. She is running against another Dymally aide, Clarence Wong, and Vernice M. Dredd, a Compton resident who is a job placement supervisor with the state Employment Development Department.

The division includes Bell, Bell Gardens, Carson, Compton, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Paramount and South Gate. Long Beach is represented by Division 3 Director Dan Glasgow, whose term will not expire for two more years.

Sanders said her priority would be to secure inexpensive water supplies for the district.

“I’m familiar with what’s happening with the district,” said Sanders, 46, who frequently attends board meetings. “It’s a worthy cause and it needs a person who is genuinely concerned.”

Dredd acknowledges that she does not attend Water Replenishment District meetings and does not know much about the issues facing its board. But she said her leadership experience would make her a good director.

Dredd said she has served on various boards of directors and is currently a board member of the South Central Community Child Care Centers.

“Once I get on there I will get the details,” Dredd said.

Wong, Dymally’s water conservation analyst, has frequently attended Water Replenishment District meetings.

The 34-year-old Carson resident said he would work to keep contaminants out of the ground water and to increase supplies of inexpensive water to the district. He said he plans to spend $2,500 to $3,000 on his campaign.

“I know the issues. I’ve worked with people around the issues,” Wong said.

Dymally’s chief of staff, Kenneth Orduna, already holds a seat.

Dymally was out of the country and unavailable for comment. But Orduna said the retiring congressman has no interest in the Water Replenishment District and has not contributed to the campaigns of Robles or Wong.

“It’s not an area of his concern,” Orduna said. “We’re staffers now but we will all be former staffers.”