About Charles Trevino
Charles came to California from Texas and shortly thereafter enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and was given an Honorable Discharge in 1968. With the help of the G.I. Bill he enrolled at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and after graduating there went on to California State University at Los Angeles where he earned a degree in Political Science. After a brief stint working for the County of Los Angeles as Real Property Agent, Charles went to work for the Metropolitan Water District as a Government Affairs Representative representing the District and its 27 member agencies both locally and in Sacramento. I worked closely with the Chairmen of both the Senate and Assembly water committees to bring about legislation that increased the efficiency of the State Water Project system and insure that we will have an adequate and reliable supply of low cost, high quality water for Southern California. His work earned him recognition from the State Senate and Assembly for increasing awareness of crucial water issues and improving the quality of life for all Californians.
An active community leader, Charles concern with educating our young people lead him to pursue a teaching credential from U.C.L.A. and a Masters in School Management and an Administrative Credential from San Diego's Point Loma Nazarene University. He went on to work for Los Angeles Unified School District as a teacher and administrator whereupon he retired in 2002.
Charles was elected to the Central Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors in 1994, where he made the District responsive to the needs of its constituents. He fought to ensure that the District's budget was balanced without increasing user fees or taxes. He worked closely with business and community leaders to encourage water conservation and the use of recycled water through community education fairs thus ensuring that the costs of imported water were kept low.
During his tenure at Central Basin Charles served as President of the Board for two years and was appointed to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board of Directors. Charles served on key committees at Metropolitan such as Water Policy and Planning and Engineering and Operations where he oversaw the building of Diamond Valley Lake Reservoir, which was a 2 billion dollar project finished on time and under budget. Charles was also instrumental at Metropolitan in bringing about a multi-million dollar refund of surplus funds back to the member agencies who in turn passed it on to their cities.
Charles is a member of AFSME Local 1001 and has always worked closely with organized labor to put in place Project Labor Agreements to ensure that contractors pay their employees fair and decent wages.
After being elected to a third term at Central Basin an opportunity presented itself at Metropolitan to work in their External Affairs Education Unit and in order to devote himself more fully to his new task he resigned his Directorship. He currently works for Metropolitan Water District as a Principal Public Affairs Representative.
Charles lives in South Pasadena and has been married 24 years to Carmen Trevino who currently works for Los Angeles Unified School District.
Their son Eddie attended South Pasadena schools from pre-school through High School and is currently a college student.