ONTARIO, CA. -- U.S. Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod toured IAPMO’s World Headquarters last Thursday, getting an up-close look at both World Headquarters buildings and addressing a meeting of the Green Technical Committee.
McLeod, a Democrat, represents California’s 35th Congressional District, which is based in the Inland Empire and includes Ontario, Fontana, Chino, Pomona, Montclair, Fontana, Bloomington and a portion of Rialto. She was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2012 after serving six years in the California Assembly and state Senate, as well as on the school board in Chino. She is a former president of Chaffey College, a community college based in Rancho Cucamonga.
After meeting with IAPMO’s executive team, including CEO GP Russ Chaney, McLeod visited a meeting of the Green Technical Committee to introduce herself and share her background of working on water contamination issues within her district, including perchlorate and nitrates.
McLeod also discussed a common misconception that rather than running along party lines goes along boundary lines: that people in Southern California take all of Northern California’s water.
“I know that Southern California does not take their water,” she said. “We get one-third water from the (Sacramento-San Joaquin) Delta, one-third from the Colorado (River) and one-third from our storage here in the basin in Southern California. And there’s still that kind of pervasive thinking that Southern California wants to take all their water.”
After McLeod’s remarks, Chaney said, “It’s quite evident we’ve got a committed representative in Congresswoman McLeod.”
McLeod concluded her meeting with the Green Technical Committee by pointing out that while water meters are a fact of life for Southern California residents, that is not the case everywhere — even in California. In fact, Sacramento isn’t required to have meters up and running until 2014, she said.
“You know, in Southern California we didn’t know that everybody didn’t have meters,” McLeod said. “We really didn’t know. I’m from Southern California — born and raised here, lived here all my life — and I thought everybody had meters. But there are lots of places that don’t have meters. And when you have a lot of water, it’s like, ‘Why?’ But we know why.”
After speaking at the Green Technical Committee meeting, McLeod toured the World Headquarters – East building, including the laboratory and the childcare center for IAPMO employees.
“It was a pleasure to visit The IAPMO Group and to learn that the best minds in the industry convene right here in my district in the city of Ontario,” McLeod said. “With access to clean and safe water being a critical issue for many Inland Empire families, it is comforting to know that IAPMO is working toward finding solutions for these complex problems."