Four candidates for the El Dorado Hills Community Services District (EDHCSD) board debated golf-course debt, landscape assessments and cityhood at an Oct. 1 voter forum.

Incumbent Stephen Ferry and newcomers Ben Glickman, Steve Gutierrez and Joshua Ziese fielded questions at the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County event at the Norm Rowett Pavilion, Village Life reported. About 50 residents attended. Voters will pick three directors for four-year terms on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Ferry, a retired mortgage banker who has lived in El Dorado Hills for 26 years, is the only incumbent running. Directors Michael Martinelli and Heidi Hannaman opted not to seek new terms. A fifth candidate, former EDHCSD general manager Wayne Lowery, suspended his campaign before the forum.

The district's $20 million acquisition of the old executive golf course drew extended discussion. Ferry said half of that total was financed, and he voted against the second $10 million purchase.

"We were gonna be hampered by that debt, and we are being hampered by that deal," Ferry said at the forum.

Ferry also said the district has spent enough in legal fees over the past few years to have built three major soccer fields.

Gutierrez, a federal special investigator and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel making his second run for the board, cited roughly $23 million in park impact fees. He said the district has the money to build parks and facilities but needs a clear plan, especially with a new general manager, planner and finance director in place.

Landscape assessments

All four candidates agreed the district's landscaping and lighting assessment districts (LLADs) need an overhaul. The EDHCSD manages more than 25 active LLADs that fund maintenance of parks, facilities and landscaped areas.

Glickman, a California Department of Justice attorney who serves as vice chair of the LLAD Citizens Advisory Committee, called the system a "developer-created patchwork" in which some neighborhoods do not pay enough to water their landscaping while others pay for parks they believe they should not be maintaining. He said there is no quick fix and that the work requires sitting down with each neighborhood to assess needs and costs.

Ziese, an assistant deputy director at the California State Water Resources Control Board, backed the district's ongoing effort to reengineer the LLADs and supported a master plan to guide future park improvements.

Cityhood

On El Dorado Hills cityhood, Ferry and the three challengers diverged. The EDHCSD board voted unanimously on May 1, 2025, to begin the incorporation process through the Local Agency Formation Commission, with Ferry, Hannaman, Martinelli and Director Mattock voting in favor.

Ferry said he supports the effort and noted he ran on the issue four years ago. The three challengers each said they favor local control and keeping more tax dollars in El Dorado Hills but want to see the full financial picture first.

"I just want to understand everything else surrounding that decision before I dive in," Glickman said.

Gutierrez and Ziese took similar positions, each saying they need to review the numbers before committing.

Public trust

The question of trust came up repeatedly. The El Dorado County Grand Jury issued reports in 2023-24 finding the district failed to properly act on voter petitions related to LLAD assessments and that a former general manager had an undisclosed conflict of interest with a district contractor.

Glickman told the crowd the board must "show the work each day, at each meeting, every step of the way, to earn that trust and to keep that trust."

The full forum recording will be available on the League of Women Voters of El Dorado County's YouTube page.