Desert water district officer charged

One of the directors of a small Yucca Valley water district who is fighting a recall election was arrested Tuesday for allegedly voting on water rates that could have benefited the water-hauling company she owns with her husband.

The arrest of Sharon Lee Edwards capped a tumultuous year for the tiny district that operates eight wells in a 45-square-mile territory that includes the remote desert communities of Flamingo Heights, Landers and Johnson Valley.

The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office credited a handful of residents with prompting a nine-month investigation into the Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency.

Several members of the board said they were unfairly targeted by one zealous Johnson Valley resident, motorcycle mechanic Jim Harvey, who said he sent sixteen letters to the district attorney’s office detailing alleged wrongdoing.

Tensions rose last fall when Harvey began organizing a campaign to recall three of the board members, including Edwards. The recall qualified for the ballot, and votes will be counted by Aug. 28. The same ballot also contains names of three candidates who would take over the seats of the directors if they are recalled.

Both sides said Tuesday that the allegations of corruption had poisoned relations for more than a year in the far-flung desert communities.

“It was pretty open warfare,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Vanella. “I think a lot of it turned into personality conflicts.”

In recent weeks, some of the same communities have been dealing with a separate shock -- a state sting operation that effectively shut down area water suppliers, including Edwards and her husband. State health officials and the California Highway Patrol began impounding the trucks on Aug. 8, saying that they were delivering non-potable water to residents.

Vanella said Tuesday that the water district board had violated state open-meeting laws numerous times.

Vanella filed separate charges against Edwards, who has owned Johnson Valley-based L&S; Water Delivery with her husband for more than a decade, after finding that she allegedly violated the law when she voted in September 2006 to lower the water rates and then voted against a water rate hike in December 2006. Edwards, 54, and her husband purchase water from the district’s wells.

Edwards pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and will next appear in court on Aug. 23. She is charged with two felony conflict of interest violations and could face more than three years in prison, Vanella said.

Edwards on Tuesday said the allegations were untrue.

“Everybody knows my husband delivered water. Nobody cared; they wanted me on this board,” she said. “I don’t even care if I’m voted out. As far as I’m concerned, they can have the agency. I’m done.”

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sara.lin@latimes.com