Candidates for two regional boards—one that decides how groundwater is dispersed and another that oversees Long Beach City College—have been finalized for the November election.
The Water Replenishment District, or WRD, is a lesser-known board with a critical role in allocating groundwater supplies for four million people in the Southern California region.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk has certified three candidates for the District 3 seat on the WRD, which includes Long Beach, San Pedro, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia and Cerritos.
The candidates are:
- Incumbent John Allen, a retired deputy District Attorney who was first elected in 2014;
- Mike Murchison, a Long Beach lobbyist who is president of Murchison Consulting;
- Former Long Beach City Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, an attorney.
The county also certified five candidates seeking a spot on the governing board for the Long Beach Community College District, which sets policy for the college’s two campuses and its 21,000 students.
The candidates include:
- Incumbent Uduak-Joe Ntuk, who is running unopposed in Area 1;
- Incumbent Sunny Zia and human resources consultant Marianne Case are running in Area 3;
- incumbent Virginia Baxter and professor/engineer Juan Cepeda-Rizo are running in Area 5.
Both races will be decided in the Nov. 8 general election.