Former longtime Costa Mesa Sanitary District board member James Wahner dies

James Wahner, a longtime Costa Mesa Sanitary District board member, died at his Costa Mesa home Aug. 7, the district said this week.

Wahner, who died the day after his 83rd birthday, was an elected member of the sanitary district board from 1978 to 1994.

During that time, he served as the board’s president for 14 years.

“He compiled an impressive record of 35 years of public service, earning the admiration and respect of those persons who have had the privilege of associating with him,” a sanitary district news release stated Tuesday.

Current board President Mike Scheafer, who knew Wahner for roughly 30 years, said: “He was a guy that would basically not say ‘no’ to volunteering to help with the community and to make sure that things got done. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy that knew what the purpose was of government and volunteering.”

Wahner also dedicated time to a host of regional organizations, including the Orange County Sanitation District, the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission and the Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency, according to the news release.

He also was active in several community service groups, including the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club.

During Wahner’s tenure on the sanitary district board, the agency put in place a curbside recycling program that did not require customers to separate recyclable materials such as glass, aluminum, paper or plastics from the rest of their trash. That program is still in place.

While Wahner was president of the board, the district began collecting and recycling old Christmas trees and started a program to recycle unneeded or outdated telephone books. That program ran for 25 years.