_____________________
_____________________
By Brian Hews
Publisher | Follow X
June 12, 2026
Alex Rojas and Leticia Vasquez lawsuits generate over $870,000 in legal costs as questions grow over one law firm’s hiring and board authorization to counter sue Rojas. Only three voted to sue Rojas, not the required four: Directors Juan Garza, Nem Ochoa, and Joanna Moreno.
____________
Central Basin Municipal Water District has spent approximately $870,969 on outside legal costs tied to the Rojas and Vasquez lawsuits through April 2026, according to district records reviewed by Los Cerritos Community News, raising fresh questions about the financial impact of decisions made by district leadership over the past two years.
The legal spending traces back to November 2024 when a board majority led by Directors Juan Garza, Nem Ochoa, Joanna Moreno, and then-Director Martha Camacho-Rodriguez voted to remove General Manager Alejandro Rojas and strip then-President Art Chacon of key authority. The actions immediately generated controversy, with critics alleging the board violated district rules and California open meeting laws in the process.
Rojas subsequently challenged the actions, alleging the board’s decisions were unlawful and that directors had improperly coordinated outside of public meetings. The dispute quickly expanded into multiple legal battles involving the district, board members, and former executives, forcing Central Basin to retain outside counsel and commit substantial public resources to litigation.
Rather than resolving the matter internally, the district turned to outside law firms to defend the board’s actions and pursue claims against Rojas. The legal strategy grew increasingly expensive as litigation expanded, closed-session discussions multiplied, and outside attorneys became heavily involved in personnel, governance, and board-related disputes.
District agendas throughout 2025 and 2026 repeatedly listed the Rojas litigation for closed-session discussion. By early 2026, directors themselves appeared concerned about escalating legal expenses, placing a “Legal Services: Cost Reductions” item on a board agenda to discuss mounting attorney costs.
According to records reviewed by Los Cerritos Community News, approximately $465,283 of the litigation-related spending was associated with the Rojas matter, while another $405,686 was tied to the ongoing Vasquez litigation, bringing the combined total to approximately $870,969 through April 2026.
Questions surrounding the Rojas litigation extend beyond the amount spent.
The firm’s involvement has drawn additional scrutiny because of its past work for Central Basin. In 2019, the district approved a $2.25 million settlement in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former employee Leticia Vasquez Wilson. The lawsuit alleged retaliation and exposed what critics described as a slush fund operation involving public money. The settlement was largely funded by the district’s insurance carriers.
Buchalter later became involved in legal matters connected to the district, a move that critics questioned because of the firm’s previous role in issues arising from the controversy. Opponents have argued that the district should have sought independent outside counsel rather than retaining a firm connected to one of the agency’s most costly and politically charged scandals.
According to directors familiar with the matter, most of the approximately $465,283 spent on the Rojas case was paid to Buchalter, the outside law firm retained by the district after Rojas challenged his termination.
Who voted to hire Buchaleter?
How the firm was retained remains a point of controversy. During a recent public meeting, a director questioned who actually voted to hire Buchalter. According to multiple directors familiar with the matter, Directors Gary Mendez, Jim Crawford and former Director Art Chacon did not support retaining the firm, while Director Leticia Vasquez Wilson was not present.
That would leave Directors Juan Garza, Nem Ochoa and Joanna Moreno as the apparent votes supporting Buchalter’s retention. Those same directors were involved in the actions that later became the subject of litigation filed by Rojas.
Critics argue that Garza, Ochoa and Moreno should not have participated in a decision involving litigation connected to their own conduct. They contend that if those directors had not participated, there would not have been enough votes to authorize the firm’s retention.
To determine how the firm was hired, Los Cerritos Community News has filed a California Public Records Act request seeking the Buchalter engagement agreement, records identifying who authorized the firm’s retention, the vote count, and the identity of the person who signed the agreement on behalf of the district. The request also seeks any board action approving the retention or records identifying the authority used to hire the firm if no board approval occurred.
The litigation expenses are separate from the district’s routine legal-retainer costs and day-to-day legal services. Financial records show Central Basin also continued paying substantial monthly bills for general counsel services, personnel matters, operational legal advice, finance-related legal work, and other special projects.
Demand-list records illustrate the scope of the spending. In one billing cycle alone, Burke, Williams & Sorensen billed the district more than $97,000 for a combination of general counsel services, litigation work, general manager support services, and operational legal advice.
Budget documents also show legal spending exceeding projections. Through January 2026, Central Basin reported $459,661 in special legal-services expenditures against a budgeted amount of $360,000, while total legal spending across multiple legal categories approached $585,000 during the first seven months of the fiscal year.
The growing legal bills have become a significant issue for ratepayers and district officials alike. What began as a dispute surrounding the removal of Rojas has evolved into years of litigation, repeated closed-session meetings, hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs, and now questions about how one of the district’s highest-paid outside law firms was retained. With both the Rojas and Vasquez matters continuing to generate attorney fees, the total cost to Central Basin taxpayers is expected to climb even higher before the cases are resolved.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
