Ramona Water Board Moves to Oust Director, AWOL for Months

Written by Melissa Phy and Ken Stone

Ramona water board director Christopher “Kit” Kesinger is being reprimanded by fellow directors with hopes he will resign after months of absences.

The Ramona Municipal Water District board signaled Tuesday it would send Kesinger a letter of reprimand after frequently missing regular board meetings—going back more than 90 days. 

The board said it would vote on the letter in two weeks.

Former water board member Everett “Red” Hager called Kesinger, who represents Division 2, a “loose cannon.” Division 2 takes up half the 75-square-mile district, mostly in the west and north.

“[Kesinger] is a problem for the water board and a problem for Ramona,” Hager told the board Tuesday. “He’s caused problems for staff and the general manager.”

According to posted minutes, Kesinger last attended a board meeting on April 23. He missed previous meetings as well—and apparently forfeited the $100-a –meeting pay for attendance.

The board generally meets twice a month. 

At past meetings, Kesinger has cited that the 2 p.m. meeting times make it difficult to attend, as it requires leaving work in the middle of the day. 

But board President Darrell Beck said things like doctor and dentist’s appointments are held in the middle of the day and easy enough to leave work for, so a 2 p.m. meeting time should be no different.

“He knew we had afternoon meetings when he put his name on the ballot,” Beck said.

Beck advised the group not to vacate Kesinger, but to coax him to resign on his own.

“The best thing he can do if he’s not going to be here is vacate himself,” Beck said.

The letter of reprimand will be voted on to send at the Aug. 27 meeting.

Kesinger was elected in November 2010 to a four-year term, but ran into trouble early when the state Fair Political Practices Commission said he failed to file campaign disclosures for Oct. 17 through Dec. 31, 2010, according to his warning letter.

“Your action violated the [Political Reform Act] because you failed to file your semiannual campaign statement by the filing deadline,” wrote Gary Winuk, chief of the FPPC Enforcement Division.

“However, because you have no prior violations of the Act and you filed with the secretary of state, we are closing your case with this warning letter.”

Winuk’s letter of Sept. 28, 2011, noted that failure to comply in the future would result in penalties of up to $5,000 for each violation.

According to his profile on smartvoter.org, Kesinger lists his occupation as a quality manager/engineer, and he boasts master’s degrees in civil engineering and molecular biology from San Diego State University.

His employer, Decco Castings of El Cajon, says he has been a quality project manager since June 2004.

Kesinger won a three-man race for the Division 2 seat on Nov. 2, 2010, defeating Steve Powell and George Boggs. Kesinger took 39.5 percent of the vote—and won his seat by 72 votes.