Like a tick burrowed in to the backside of a swamp hound, Hector Gastelum is dug in and not going anywhere. Not any time soon and not of his own volition.
The Otay Water District board member — who was elected over an incumbent to the Division 4 seat by more than 10 percent of eligible voters — has brought plenty of attention to the water agency since he took office in December.
It’s a safe bet that most of his colleagues on the board find it unwelcome attention since every public speaker who addressed the body in March chastised Gastelum and the board for insensitive and insulting remarks he made about Muslims earlier this year. Usually, I’m told, there are anywhere between none to one public speakers waiting to have their say about water policy at the monthly meetings.
But since Gastelum’s opinions and his social media twitchy fingers brought his Islamaphobia to light, some at the Otay Water District have been trying to figure out a way to move on.
When fellow board member Mitch Thompson first became aware of Gastelum’s remarks, one of which referred to Muslims as subhuman, he facilitated a meeting between Gastelum and a local imam. Gastelum said he had an enjoyable phone conversation with the community leader but just hasn’t found a way to meet him in person.
Gastelum also rushed to take a sensitivity training course the day before the board’s March 1 meeting and a publicized protest; he made an awkward conditional apology at the same meeting that left many in the audience even more irate and confused than before the meeting started. Several of his colleagues publicly distanced themselves from Gastelum’s rhetoric and days later Thompson called for Gastelum to resign.
Other public officials — a Chula Vista councilman and the mayor and a State Assemblywoman among them — also rebuked Gastelum and his bigotry, some echoing the call for his resignation or calling for an examination of their own body’s relationship with Otay Water.
On April 17 there is another protest planned at Otay Water District headquarters, with louder calls for Gastelum’s resignation and the threat of a costly recall election if he doesn’t comply.
Meanwhile Gastelum carries on. He is adamant he won’t resign, convinced the media and the public have mischaracterized his comments and unconcerned about grumblings of a recall election.
He still makes appearances at industry conferences and community events on behalf of the water district and his constituents and, while he does not receive a salary, he still enjoys the benefits afforded him as an elected official.
After a few failed attempts at getting elected on city councils and school boards, the Republican isn’t going anywhere now that he has a title. But some people are just as adamant they’ll see Gastelum removed from office one way or the other. We’ll see. The clock is ticking on his four-year term. Tick, tick, tick…
