Media Corner

For Immediate Release
January 04, 2005

Central Basin MWD Board Welcomes New Member

Carson, CA - Newly elected Central Basin Municipal Water District Director Edward C. Vasquez will take his place on the Board of Directors as he and re-elected Directors Phillip D. Hawkins and Olga E. Gonzalez are sworn in during an installation ceremony on Thursday, January 6, 2005 at the Central Basin District Headquarters in Carson. The Directors were elected to the Board by the public during the November 2nd elections.

Director Vasquez will represent Division I which includes Bell Gardens, Downey, Montebello, Norwalk and Vernon. A 30-year resident of Montebello, Director Vasquez is actively involved in several Montebello community organizations, is in his second term on the Montebello City Council and has served on the Planning Commission for many years. He also currently serves as the Program Director/Clinical Coordinator for the Department of Radiologic Technology at Los Angeles City College.

Director Gonzalez was first appointed to the Central Basin Board of Directors in December 2003 and was unopposed in the November elections to represent Division IV which includes Lynwood, South Gate, portions of Cudahy, Carson, Florence-Graham and Willowbrook. She formerly served as the Assistant to the City Manager in South Gate and Assistant to the City Attorney. Prior to joining the Board, Director Gonzalez worked as the Clerk of the Board at the Orange County Transportation Authority. Dedicated to community involvement, she serves on the Orange County Water Task Force and the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is a past-president of the South Gate City Employees' Credit Union.

Director Hawkins, who was also unopposed, will be serving his second term on the Central Basin Board of Directors after first being elected in November 2000 to represent Division V which includes Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Paramount and Signal Hill. He served as a member of the California State Assembly from 1994 to 1996. A leader in the business community, he was appointed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe to the Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board. Professionally, he is a real estate broker and has owned several businesses of his own including Realty World and Herbert Hawkins Realty in Bellflower, Century 21 in Norwalk and the Dean Company.

During the ceremony, the Directors will take their ceremonial oath of office.