From: centralbasinemployee
Subject: Could you please submit this as public comment for the next City Council meeting? Thanks.
Date: Monday, October 27, 2025 1:58:02 PM
To the Honorable City Council Members,
I wish all of you a good evening. It is an honor to address you.
I am an employee of the Central Basin Municipal Water District. I have chosen to keep my identity a secret to protect myself from retaliation.
I can say that every employee of Central Basin is relieved that the voters voted Martha Camacho- Rodriguez off the Central Basin Municipal Water District Board. However, it is crucial for all the voters served by the basin in the cities and unincorporated areas of Cudahy, South Gate, Lynwood, Paramount, Willowbrook, Compton, Carson, Downey, Pico Rivera, Bell Gardens, La Habra Heights, Whittier, South Whittier, East Whittier, West Whittier -Los Nietos, Santa Fe Springs, and Norwalk to understand why she can't ever be reappointed.
I have personally witnessed Martha Camacho-Rodriguez physically assault two Central Basin employees (one in September 2019 and the other in January 2022), and another assault that occurred in September 2020 which I didn't witness was confirmed by two other employees.
In June 2021, Ms. Camacho-Rodriguez told a pregnant female employee to get an abortion because the birth would be disruptive to the agency's operations. Four months after the employee declined, she was let go from the agency without explanation.
Camacho-Rodriguez's friend and collaborator, Mr. Juan "Joey" Martinez, sexually assaulted a female Central Basin employee in May 2022. The employee filed a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, but Camacho-Rodriguez made it clear that said employee would be terminated if she pursued charges, so she dropped it.
Outside of this criminal activity, Ms. Camacho-Rodriguez has engaged in verbally abusive behavior towards basin employees. She has called most of us a "f --- ing idiot" at least once. In early 2022, she told me that a colorful shirt I wore to work made me "look like a f ---- t" and that the agency should not look like it was being run by "a-- ban--ts." While I do not happen to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I found her comments deeply hurtful to the members of Central Basin's staff who do identify as members of that community.
Everyone employed by the basin fears weathering this behavior again by Martha Camacho- Rodriguez's reelection.
I respectfully ask the voters directing Central Basin Municipal Water District's future not to make this mistake again. Working for Martha Camacho-Rodriguez has been the single worst experience of our lives.
Thank you and have a beautiful night,
Central Basin Employee