Three Valleys Municipal Water District boardmember Brian Bowcock, who represents Claremont and La Verne, was interviewed by the Daily Bulletin's Will Bigham recently.
In the interview, Bowcock calls on his fellow boardmember Xavier Alvarez following Alvarez's conviction in federal court for lying about being a Medal of Honor recipient. Alvarez represents South Pomona on the Three Valleys board and was elected largely because of his endorsement by Pomona Mayor Norma Torres. Bowcock explained his reasons for calling on Alvarez to resign:
Question: Why did you decide to break your relative silence regarding Xavier Alvarez and call for his resignation?
Answer: I waited until the meeting following his guilty plea in the federal court system, to give him the opportunity to do the right thing - resign.Q: Why do you think Alvarez [pictured right in full dress regalia ] should resign?
A: He lied on his initial statement for the ballot in November 2006, i.e. claimed he was an engineer. He lied, on his Web site, i.e. claimed he was an engineer and a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona and claimed to have earned the Medal Of Honor. He claimed to be married when he wasn't and fraudulently requested medical benefits (paid by district monies) for the woman he had divorced long before his election to the board. His long list of lies makes me feel that he cannot be trusted or taken seriously to make the right decisions while sitting on the board.
Q: What has been the day-to-day impact for you and other board members of the attention Alvarez has received for his medal claims?
A: It's been very time-consuming for staff and directors. Amount of time this takes under "public comment" every meeting. If this helps him make the right decision, great. The embarrassment he has created at ALL water functions attended by all directors and staff. It really takes away the time that our focus should be on the "major water crisis" here in our area and in all of California.
Q: What has been the public reaction since you called for Alvarez's resignation?
A: Overwhelming. From the veterans, parents of our service people serving right now, business people in the community, residents on the streets of my service area of La Verne and Claremont, when I go to the store and restaurants, so many e-mails through the district and to me personally from all over the USA. People tell my wife to thank me. I even received a small cake, delivered to my home from a business, with the owner saying "thanks for hitting a home run." His dad was at Pearl Harbor. Even when we go out of town, someone will thank me for "doing the right thing."
Q: As of May 30 no one has filed papers to recall Alvarez. Do you know of any pending recall campaign?
A: I hope the people of south Pomona will follow through. The day after the story broke I personally received 12 phone calls, eight were from residents of South Pomona. Someone hopefully will step up and do it. The problem is no one knows how to run a recall campaign, including myself. But I'm willing to find out and help any way I can.
Despite Bowcock's offer to help, Pomonans seem quite satisfied with Norma Torres' man, and there's been no groundswell so far to recall Alvarez. Pomonans also helped reward Torres' good judgment by voting for her in the recent Democratic primary for the State Assembly's 61st District seat.
Bowcock isn't the only one to call for Alvarez's resignation/removal. The Claremont Courier ran a letter from veteran Mike Massarro, who expressed his anger over the Alvarez affair:
As a veteran with several honorable discharges I am outraged that someone would claim such an honor as one bestowed upon our nation’s bravest soldiers, sailors and marines. Mr. Alvarez, according to the article, has not even served one day in uniform.
Now, more than ever, we need trust and confidence in our elected leaders and those serving the public trust. Mr. Alvarez’s bio on the Three Valleys website sites membership in the American Legion and American Veterans. His bio should be removed immediately until his credentials are verified.
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