Board gears up for another fight at upcoming meeting.

Things might get ugly at the next Marina Coast Water District meeting. Sept. 26 promises to be a contentious showdown between two boardmembers who want to renegotiate the contract of the water district’s recently-hired, highly-paid general manager and others who selected him.

MCWD Directors David Brown and Tom Moore want to cut out some of the perks in General Manager Jim Heitzman’s contract, which includes a salary of $205,000 with two 8 percent increases to come. The contract will be on the Sept. 26 agenda, but Brown and Moore will need a third vote to reopen it. If they are unsuccessful, at least one ratepayer has a back-up plan.

Paula Pelot, president of the Preston Park Tenants Association, threatens to complain to the grand jury and recall water board President Howard Gustafson and Vice President Ken Nishi. “If it is not overturned, I have the paperwork to start the recall process,” Pelot says.

Pelot is part of a chorus of critics who think Heitzman’s contract is too lavish, and accuse Gustafson and Nishi of skewing the hiring process. “It appears the whole thing was preset to begin with,” she says.

Nishi and Gustafson were appointed to the hiring committee after former general manager Marc Lucca announced his resignation at the end of June. Nishi says he immediately thought of hiring Heitzman because he was impressed by Heitzman’s work as assistant manager of the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency. Nishi, who also serves on the agency’s board, approached Heitzman about the job. “He fit Cinderella’s shoe,” he says.