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By Miriam Raftery
December 7, 2016 (La Mesa) – On the eve before tomorrow’s certification deadline of the Helix Water Board Division 1 race won by Louis Tejeda, a formal complaint has been lodged challenging his residency in the district.
A copy of the complaint was sent to ECM today by Dan McMillan, one of Tejeda’s opponents in the race. The document also lists El Cajon residents David Burton and Jeff Nelson as co-filers of the complaint, which was sent to the District Attorney, Registrar of Voters, Helix Water District Board of Directors, and the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
ECM spoke with Tejeda yesterday after Burton raised questions about his residency during public comments at the Helix Water Board District swearing in ceremony for two other winning board members. Tejeda’s swearing in was delayed until Monday pending Friday’s certification of the election, which he now appears to have won by a margin of 285 votes with all ballots counted.
Tejeda told ECM, “What he is saying is false. My domicile is Royal Road,” which is in division 1. Tejeda says he owns property in two divisions but that his driver’s license, voter registration and bills are all at the Royal Road address, where he says he resides.
The complaint includes a report prepared by PDL Legal Services and sent to the East County Oversight Committee. It describes visits made by PDL investigators to the Royal Road address in Lakeside, a “granny flat” behind a home where Tejeda’s daughter lives, as well as to a larger home on Grove Road in El Cajon to try and ascertain Tejeda’s residency.
Investigators spoke with neighbors at both sites. Some neighbors at the El Cajon site said they regularly saw Tejeda there on weekends and in one neighbor’s case, on weekdays, and that they were unaware of him living anywhere else.
The investigator also spoke with Tejeda’s daughter at the Lakeside site that is in the district. She told them that her father lives in the granny flat behind the home. However, neighbors reportedly said they were not familiar with Tejeda.
Candidates sign residency confirmation under penalty of perjury. Convicted violators can face loss of office as well as prison time.
Registrar Michael Vu confirmed that he received the formal complaint today.
According to the Registrar of Voters website, each director in the Helix Water District, which is considered an irrigation district, shall be a voter in the district and reside in the division that he or she represents at the time of nomination and through his or her entire term, per Water Code Section 21100.
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