Grasha Investigation Delivers Goose Egg

An investigation into whether Steve Grasha, a director on the Mission Springs Water District board, violated residency requirements to serve has ended with a thud.

The outcome is likely a major disappointment to the complainant.

It was the latest effort to disparage Grasha who was elected to the Mission Springs Water District Board in November 2018 with more votes than anyone in the 70-year history of the Mission Springs Water District.

In less than two years since being elected, Grasha has been sued by a fellow director, escorted from a Water District meeting and investigated by the Public Integrity Unit of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Special Prosecutions Section, received a complaint against Grasha alleging residency violations based on his position as a board member of the Mission Springs Water District.

“… our office conducted an investigation into the residency claims made against you,” District Attorney Michael A. Hestrin wrote in a letter, dated May 11, to Grasha. “At the conclusion of that investigation, we determined that there is no evidence of criminal activity on your part. We have not filed any criminal charges against you, and will not take any further action on this complaint.”

Grasha said he knows exactly who filed the complaint. He alleges it was a fellow director and it all stems from a March 11 meeting. Clues, he said, are in a video of the meeting.

A water system engineer and businessman, Grasha, who is outspoken critic of local water management, has been involved in water issues for about three decades.

“Our rates are off-the-charts predatory,” Grasha told Uken Report. They are overburdensome. Our ratepayers are being overcharged by one-third. Our job is to deliver goodness through a pipe with a smile and we’re not doing that.”

He also alleges that the district it top heavy. In an opinion column for Uken Report, Grasha called for Mission Springs Water District and Desert Water Agency to consolidate an indication it is the first salvo.