Water agency board member censured for racist remark

A board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has been censured for making a racist remark about an Arab American employee.

The MWD board of directors voted to censure John Morris, a member representing the city of San Marino, after an investigation found that he used a racist term when he referred to a staff member at a board event last year. The district said the investigation was conducted in response to an anonymous complaint and determined that Morris’ remark violated the MWD’s antidiscrimination policy.

Mohsen Mortada, the district’s chief of staff, said in a recent letter that during a December 2023 visit to Gene Camp, a facility in the desert, Mortada overheard an MWD director refer to him as a “camel jockey.” He did not name the board member who uttered the slur, but officials confirmed that the incident he described was the same that led to the public rebuke of Morris.

Mortada, an American citizen who emigrated from Syria in 1987, said in the letter that he did not file a formal complaint, but was later interviewed by an investigator.

As part of the action, the 38-member board voted to cease funding for Morris’ travel, bar him from representing the agency at events and require him to receive counseling.

“Metropolitan cannot and will not tolerate racist comments from its leaders,” said Adán Ortega Jr., chair of the MWD board. “While we are not able to directly remove a director from our board, we have taken the measures we can to demonstrate that we absolutely do not tolerate this type of behavior.”

John Morris, a board member of the Metropolitan Water District, listens to a discussion during a meeting in which the board voted to censure him.

(Kevin Mapp/Metropolitan Water District of Southern California)

The agency said it was notifying the city of San Marino of the decision.

The San Marino city manager’s office said in an email to The Times that it “strongly condemns the use of racially motivated speech and biases against any individual anywhere at any time.”

“The San Marino City Council will consider and take the appropriate course of action as soon as possible,” the email said.

Morris — who according to a biography on the MWD website has been a board member since 1990 — responded briefly to questions from other members, indicating he did not contest the findings of the investigation. He declined a request for comment from The Times.

The censure comes as the MWD investigates harassment allegations against Adel Hagekhalil, the water district’s first Arab American general manager.

Hagekhalil has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyer and others have said they are concerned that discriminatory anti-Arab sentiments among some board members could affect their handling of the investigation.

The investigation of Morris’ remark did not involve Hagekhalil, Ortega said. But as part of the censure, the board barred Morris from taking part in deliberations and votes regarding the Hagekhalil investigation.

Hagekhalil’s lawyer, Kerry Garvis Wright, claimed at Tuesday’s meeting that anti-Arab sentiment is a larger issue for the board.

“While Mr. Hagekhalil has always had a positive relationship with the board as a whole, we have recently learned that certain directors charged with deciding his fate have made overtly anti-Arab and Islamophobic statements,” Garvis Wright said.

“That such anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiment is held by these directors is, of course, itself deeply disturbing and frankly sickening. Knowing that these same directors are being permitted to decide whether Mr. Hagekhalil will continue to serve the district, in the face of what are otherwise bogus complaints, is shocking and wrong,” she said. “The board must take immediate corrective action.”

Adan Ortega Jr., board chair of the Metropolitan Water District, listens during a meeting on Dec. 10.

(Kevin Mapp/Metropolitan Water District of Southern California)

Garvis Wright did not mention any board members by name.

Mortada said in his recent letter that he was “writing to inform you of outrageous racist comments made by Metropolitan directors that bring bias and discrimination to the Board and its investigative process.”

Portions of Mortada’s letter were redacted in the version the MWD released to The Times. Rebecca Kimitch, a spokesperson, said the district determined that parts of the letter were exempt from disclosure because they included allegations that are either unsubstantiated, currently under investigation, or being considered for possible investigation.

Civil rights advocates have also voiced concerns about potential discrimination. The Council on American-Islamic Relations told the district earlier this year that Hagekhalil has been “subjected to discriminatory and racist actions and behaviors” by some board members.

Amr Shabaik, the council’s legal director in Los Angeles, told the MWD board in an October letter that board members have allegedly used “derogatory terms against immigrants, Muslims, and Arabs.”

“Such alleged statements include the following: ‘When are we going to get rid of those refugees?’ ‘When are we going to hire someone that we can pronounce their last name?’” Shabaik wrote. “These remarks are indicative of a strong animus and unlawful discriminatory intent by Board members.”

Shabaik said the decision to censure Morris is “a step in the right direction.” But he also said it “does not necessarily indicate that all the issues and all the concerns have been addressed.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, board members agreed that Morris’ remark was unacceptable.

“It’s not OK,” said Gail Goldberg, the board’s vice chair. “We have to think about the integrity of the organization and what our values are.”

Morris spoke briefly several times during the hourlong discussion, but he did not offer an apology. Some board members said that did not sit well with them.

Ortega said he had doubts about a provision of the sanctions against Morris that allows for a committee to consider after one year whether Morris could be allowed to again fully participate in the board’s activities.

“What is he rehabilitating for if he’s not accepting any responsibility?” Ortega asked his fellow board members.

Morris replied: “It was not my intent to say I’m not accepting any responsibility. That was not my intent.”

The vote was nearly unanimous. Board member Ardy Kassakhian abstained, saying he was troubled by Morris’ lack of contrition and a discussion among board members that he felt largely danced around the gravity of the issue. He said it’s deplorable how people of Middle Eastern descent continue to be “targeted and picked on.”

“I don’t know if Mr. Morris said what he said as a punchline to a joke, or if it was something he said in the passing moment, but the term itself applied to any other minority group, group of color, said in even the most innocuous way, would not be tolerated,” said Kassakhian, who represents Glendale.

After the vote, Kassakhian said he felt “stronger actions are essential to demonstrate that we as the Metropolitan leadership unequivocally embody these principles of equity and justice.”

“We need to address instances like this directly, openly and decisively,” Kassakhian said. “MWD has done a lot of work to try and address these types of issues, and I think this incident shows how fragile the work is and how much more we can do.”

Ortega said he shares the concerns Kassakhian raised. He said he is using his authority as board chair to remove Morris as vice chair of a subcommittee working on plans for a large water recycling facility, and will only appoint him to a minimal number of committees as required under the agency’s rules.

“Mr. Morris never verbalized an apology, and he was given multiple opportunities,” Ortega said. “We need to recognize that there were individuals here that were denigrated and that an apology is due to them.”