When Tim Smith became Otay Water District’s board president in January, he told the Star-News that he would reevaluate lifting a censure on one of his colleagues in April.
However, At the next Otay Water District meeting scheduled for April 4, there will not be a discussion on whether a censure on Area 4 Director Hector Gastelum will be removed.
Smith said in a text message that the censure will not be discussed “at this time.”
He later added: “There is no reason to discuss Director Gastelum’s censure at this time because it still stands and he does not serve on any committees. Mr. Gastelum was elected to the board by the public in his division and the board has no option to remove an elected official. At the board meetings, the district continues to focus on water-related topics that affect our customers. “
Last year then-freshman board member Hector Gastelum was publicly rebuked and censured by his colleagues for comments critics say expressed an anti-Muslim sentiment he made on his personal social media accounts.
In a series of Tweets on Feb 19, 2017, Gastelum called for more countries to be included in President Donald Trump’s alleged Muslim ban. The tweets also referred to Muslims in those countries as “subhuman” and “scum.”
Gastelum has always maintained that his Tweets were taken out of context.
The censure stated, in part: “the board of directors finds it necessary and prudent to publicly acknowledge that director Gastelum’s public behavior is reprehensible and intolerable.
“… Director Gastelum’s comments to the media, on social media have demonstrated that he is not impartial and responsible to the people he represents and he has not conducted himself in a manner above reproach.”
The censure prevents Gastelum from sitting on any of the water district’s internal committees and organizations. But Gastelum can still represent OWD and taxpayers at outside events and be paid for his time.
When reached by phone Wednesday, Gastelum, who is a mayoral candidate in Chula Vista, expressed his disappointment that the removal of the censure will not be discussed at the April 4 meeting, marking weeks before the one year mark of the censure.
“I was kicked out off all of my committees for exercising my constitutional and protective (sic) First Amendment right,” Gastelum said on the telephone.
He said he expects the topic to be discussed sometime soon.
In deciding whether to remove the censure, Smith previously said he would look at Gastelum’s social media commentary since the censure was put in place.
Smith, along with board member Mitch Thompson, prepared and wrote the censure.
Protestors had initially said they were going to start recall efforts to remove Gastelum from the board, but since Gastelum was put on notice of a recall last June, protestors have been silent.
