News Blog

News Blog

In With the New: Board Member Wants Marina Coast GM Placed on Leave

So much for Marina Coast Water District board president Tom Moore's hopes that the embattled district would be smoother sailing after he and another new board member, Peter Le, unseated two members last November.

Le is requesting that Marina Coast General Manager Jim Heitzman be placed on administrative leave, alleging Heitzman threatened him and became hostile toward him.

"I am now concerned on my safety," Le wrote in an email late Friday to Moore and Marina Coast's attorney, Roger Masuda.

The email describes a series of encounters with Heitzman that escalated to a confrontation in the Marina Coast parking lot Friday morning.

The trouble started, according to Le's email, back in November when he was meeting with the GM. "At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Heitzman accused me of telling people 'he was a crook and a thief,'” Le wrote.

Le claims Heitzman then continuously pressured him into scheduling a private meeting with an unspecified agenda, an offer Le declined. Those meeting requests finally culminated in the Feb. 8 meeting attended by Moore, Le and Heitzman.

"At the end of the meeting, we left the office and entered my vehicle," Le wrote to Moore. "As we tried to leave the parking lot, Mr. Heitzman came to my car and gave you a letter…Mr. Heitzman then started to get angrier and accused me of 'harming his family.' He asked me 'how would I feel if he harms my family.'

"…As he started to get angrier, I backed my car out of the parking space to avoid his heated confrontation. As we left the parking lot, Mr. Heitzman shouted 'Fuck You' to us."

Heitzman says he hadn't seen the email and was not familiar with Le's allegations. "I don't want anything to do with it," he says.

Moore declined to confirm the confrontation, or provide any comment since it's a personnel matter.

Le's request to Moore is that the board consider placing Heitzman on leave at the coming Feb. 12 meeting.

Moore says he's not sure what's next in terms of procedure, since board guidelines stipulate that agenda items should be requested at least 17 days in advance of a meeting. The board president (Moore), vice president (Jan Shriner) and district GM have discretionary powers to review the agenda for each meeting.