Resignation Surprises Water Board Colleagues

DANA POINT — Addison H. DeBoi surprised his fellow directors by resigning last week, effective immediately, from the board of the Capistrano Beach County Water District.

DeBoi, an unsuccessful candidate in the recent Dana Point City Council election, offered no reason for his abrupt resignation, said Bill Meadows, the district general manager. His announcement came during a regularly scheduled board meeting June 16.

“He just gave us a letter announcing his resignation and then left,” Meadows said.

Director Jim Hayton said the potential resignation was on the meeting agenda and DeBoi had warned board members he would resign, but his colleagues had expected an explanation.

“He had told us he was going to resign, but we didn’t know what to make of it,” Hayton said.

DeBoi, 43, an engineer for Southern California Edison, had little comment Monday.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” said DeBoi, a nine-year resident of the Capistrano Beach portion of the city. “I have basically come to the conclusion that I don’t want to be part of public service any more. There are a million reasons, and I could talk for 20 hours, but it’s just difficult for me right now.”

The recent council election, in which he finished seventh among 12 candidates, left him with a bad impression of the political system, DeBoi said.

“I have come to the conclusion that you can’t be clean and be in politics,” DeBoi said.

DeBoi is a former president of the Capistrano Beach Community Assn., a three-year member of the city’s Traffic Improvement Commission and former member of the Dana Point Whale Festival Committee.

DeBoi added briefly that he thinks he has left the district “infinitely further along” than it was when he was elected to the board in November, 1992. During that election, DeBoi was by far the leading finisher of nine candidates.

“I came to a water district that was completely without direction and had been for years,” DeBoi said. “I went into a district that was not even thinking about long-term water resources and is now going full speed ahead with a reclaimed water project.”

Meadows said the board would consider appointing a replacement. Although DeBoi still had more than two years left on his term, the replacement director will have to run for reelection in November, Hayton said.