Lois Henry
SJV Water

The race initially ended in a tie of 101-101, what would have been Fresno County’s first tied race in 25 years.

A recount sought by challenger Wes Harmon was abruptly halted Tuesday with one ballot outstanding. There was reason to believe it had been double counted, according to observers. But once the recount requestor asked for a halt, the race would have remained tied unless another voter in the district asked to restart the recount.

That voter was Andrew Zonneveld, Frank Zonneveld’s son.

Shortly after the restarted recount got underway Friday morning, Zonneveld was declared the winner by one vote.

“Good for Frank,” Harmon said when contacted by SJV Water. He was good-humored about the loss, joking that he asked the Fresno County  Elections Department for his $2,000 back. The answer was no.

“I mean, they were the ones who miscounted in the first place, but oh well,” he said.

The race was marked by controversy as  Harmon and his supporters said Laguna board members favored larger growers and weren’t operating with enough transparency.

Zonneveld countered that the real problem was a small group of growers don’t like how Laguna splits recharged groundwater supplies. Landowners who bring in recharge water are allowed to keep 70% but 30% is kept by the district in order to protect the aquifer, Zonneveld said.

“That’s been a policy of the district even before SGMA (the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act),” he said. He dismissed accusations that Laguna has sold off that recharged water as flatly untrue.

“We’re audited once a year and any such sales would show up on that audit sheet, which anyone can look at,” Zonneveld said. “But people get notions of how they think things are.”

For his part, Harmon felt his candidacy and issues that were raised during the race would increase participation and attendance at meeting.

“And that’s a good thing,” he said. “You know, there are about 12 Zonnevelds out there and Frank has 60 employees, so, when you look at the numbers, I think I overcame the odds to get as far as I got.”

When asked if he would run for office again, the well driller chuckled and said now it was time to “get back to work.”

About the Author

SJV Water CEO and editor Lois Henry has spent 30 years covering the San Joaquin Valley.

About SJV Water

SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org.