||| FROM ROBERT AUSTIN, ELISABETH BRITT, BRIAN EHRMANTRAUT, FRED KLEIN, and MICHAEL RIORDAN |||
Openness, Transparency, Accountability and Responsibility — those are the key watchwords for a new vision we wish to propose for Eastsound Water Users Association.
The current EWUA Board of Directors and management are wracked by division and dysfunction, as the recent Board meetings have amply demonstrated. How can any serious business get conducted under such a cloud? As Abraham Lincoln famously said, quoting from the Bible, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It will inevitably fall.
But we cannot let that happen. Too much is at stake. EWUA is responsible for managing one of the most important resources on Orcas Island — our local water supply. That applies not only to its core Eastsound service area, but now also to those of the Doe Bay, Olga, Orcas Highlands and Rosario water systems, which EWUA has recently taken over the responsibility to service as a “satellite management agency.”
To begin, we must recognize that EWUA is a not-for-profit cooperative, not a public utility company or a Silicon Valley start-up. Its members are the owners of the Association’s assets. They must therefore be treated as owners — not customers — who should have a say in its operations.
And according to IRS regulations for 501(c)(12) organizations like EWUA, it must supply water services to its member-owners at “least possible cost.” An organization that is spending over $100,000 per year on legal fees and tens of thousands more on accounting services cannot possibly be doing that.
We therefore propose that Eastsound Water Users Association adopt a new way of organizing its management and activities that keeps members fully informed and brings them into the governing process. All board meetings should be open to members — both regular monthly and special board meetings — and the minutes of these meetings should be published on the EWUA website once they have been approved. The only exceptions would be for board executive sessions called to discuss legal, personnel and real-estate matters. And to foster better involvement, qualified members should be included on the EWUA committees, such as a Finance Committee, an Audit Committee and a Nominating Committee. This kind of essential background work must not be left solely to the seven board members, who have plenty of other responsibilities on their shoulders.
Bringing EWUA members into the governing process like this would promote closer interactions between the board and the membership, helping to keep the latter informed of what’s happening at 286 Enchanted Forest Road. Right now, it’s mostly guesswork, given the sketchy monthly updates presented when the board meets. Such member involvement would help educate and foster informed, responsible candidates for board membership in future years.
Of course, such significant changes in EWUA operations must be memorialized in its bylaws. Which raises the important question: who will be responsible for doing that? Given all the problems that occurred with the previous attempt at revising the bylaws, we urge that this process not be left entirely to the EWUA board. In essence, an organization’s bylaws is a contract between its members and board of directors, granting the latter their governing powers in exchange for them assuming the responsibility of fairly representing member interests. The Bylaws Committee addressing this crucial task must therefore include regular EWUA members, too.
An important addition to the EWUA bylaws is a provision for open meetings, which one of us (MR) suggested in a March 2024 Orcas Currents article earlier. There is no valid reason for the closed meetings and secrecy that have characterized the organization the past few years. And there should also be an explicit provision for members to ratify bylaws amendments — a feature that is egregiously missing from the existing version. As bylaws represent a contract between an organization’s members and the board that represents them, they should obviously have a say in whether to adopt new amendments.
Another important area for member involvement comes in monitoring the EWUA finances, with income over $2 million per year and growing. Here a Finance Committee and Audit Committee — or possibly a combination of the two — are imperative. One is forward looking, trying to anticipate income and expenses; the other looks backward, making sure that the members’ money was appropriately spent. To facilitate their work, they will need detailed, reliable, readable financial reports from the general manager or bookkeeper every month, including comparisons to budgeted amounts for the various financial categories. Improvement projects and management work for other water systems should be kept separate from the general EWUA ledger. And in the spirit of openness, quarterly financial reports should be published on the EWUA website for all interested members to view.
In summary, Eastsound Water Users Association needs to undergo a substantial reset, pulling back from the culture of secrecy that has characterized its operations the past few years — ever since Paul Kamin retired as general manager. We need to return the organization and its management to the “spirit of service” he frequently expressed when communicating with members. That spirit can best be achieved by adopting a philosophy of openness that treats members as partners in the all-important enterprise of providing life-giving and life-enhancing water to Orcas Island residents and businesses.
Thank you all for this well crafted vision, and for a refreshingly positive outlook for the future.
The member-owners of EWUA would do well to take your advice; especially considering the risk their institutional disfunction poses to the now-vast-majority of our island’s water systems.
Same old tired misstatements from the same old Kool-Aid drinkers!
So my fellow OIFR Commissioner and Board Chair Brian Ehrmantraut is now drinking the Kool-Aid, Dan? You should stop embarrassing yourself with such ridiculous comments and stick to the bicycle trade, which you know something about.
Unfortunately, it looks like my old friend Brian has teamed up with the rest of “recall water”, which is hell-bent on bankrupting my water company!
I also know something about fire and rescue departments after having served as a firefighter and EMT for fifteen years. What is your experience?
Thank you Michael. Your future vision describes a vibrant co-op where members are treated like the co-owners they are rather than mere bill paying customers. It’s a future enfrachising those who own our system and are part if it’s history. You remind all of us that the future is ours…it’s what we collectively decide to make it. Do we really want more of the same? Or do we want to build something better…a co-op to be proud of, a community to be proud of? We will decide shortly.
Livestream all meetings. I
I love that idea!
These seem like reasonable recommendations for improved governance of OUR water company. We need to start rebuilding trust and stop with the name calling and koolaid comments. We are a community that can figure this out and move forward. This is the time to take that step.
The sad truth is that the dominant board faction has thwarted the efforts of the minority board faction to lift this veil of secrecy and this new vision for EWUA cannot be realized without its removal.
Those involved in the recall wholly support Michael’s visions and statements. This approach will be much healthier for the association as a whole. Working on common goals of openness, transparency, accountability, and responsibility is imperative for future success. These ideas are really what this recall is all about. Thank you, Michael, for putting it so eloquently. We are not drinking Kool-Aid, but we hope for purer water and a better management team to support this vision in the future.
The gossip around town is that many of EWUA staff are not happy with the GM and his mismanagement but are too scared to come out and say anything for fear of repercussions and no they have no one to go to for help. There is talk of employee mental breakdowns, cover ups of harassment, employees being fired but given large payouts to stay quiet, employees witnessing the GMs mismanagement and erratic behavior, the GM taking credit for their hard work. If these employees are keeping their mouth shut in fear of losing their jobs or worse than how are they being supported. Their GM and board is so fractured that they don’t feel safe and the way the lawsuits and misinformation is thrown around they are right to feel this way. This is a huge missing piece of the story that everyone is overlooking and should be examined by someone outside of the company and board. I feel the GM should put on mandatory leave until a proper investigation is completed and all staff are interviewed and safely supported thoroughly and figure out if this is gossip or not!
My name is Cory Harrington, and I am an EWUA employee. I started in 2021 before all the current chaos was part of the work environment.
I do not believe that Carol Anderson, Jim Cook, and Ron Claus care about the EWUA employees because they have not demonstrated any understanding of what we do or how the political turmoil has affected the staff. I believe that they are directly responsible for the problems we face with internal issues. Not the General Manager, Dan Burke.
Carol Anderson, Jim Cook, and Ron Claus have dragged the staff through the mud right along with the General Manager and Board members.
Carol Anderson, Jim Cook, and Ron Claus do not support us currently nor do I expect them to do so in the future.
I support General Manager Dan Burke, and Board Members Teri Nigretto, Jim Nelson, Mike Cleveland, and Leith Templin. We need them now more than ever.
These are my opinions based on my experience.
Thank you Cory.
I support you and the rest of the team at EWUA, including Dan Burke.
And the majority Board.
Cory…A couple of examples or evidence to support your assertion that 3 board members are “dragging the staff through the mud” would be helpful.
I am an employee and love my job, my coworkers, the gm, but most of all the owner/members who we work so hard for to provide the best water service we can. The so called gossip around town you speak of is so far fetched and heartbreakingly untrue. The ” minority ” board faction has never once taken a real interest in water, water treatment, water sources and or the family of employees who take pride in the work they do 7 days a week year in year out. I support General Manager Dan Burke, and Board Members Teri Nigretto, Jim Nelson, Mike Cleveland, and Leith Templin.
I kindly ask members to come on out, say hello and get to know your water operation team if you see us reading meters or doing any number of repairs/ maintenance 24/7.
These all seem like reasonable measures. I also propose a Real Estate Oversight committee of members who can be privy to private real estate discussions and/or approve any real estate transaction prior to enactment. I realize that making real estate decisions and discussions public could jeopardize or devalue pending and potential deals, but we need a mechanism to ensure that profit is not a motive for board members (for themselves or their associates).
While I am concerned about the errors in judgment and action of the current majority board, I am also concerned about the actions of RecallWater and the minority board, who, having brought repeated legal action against EWUA, must bear some of the blame for the legal expenses of the coop. I do not think that all of RecallWater’s actions have been in the best interests of my fellow members.
As part of this new era of transparency, I call on all board members of both factions to publicly state that they will not profit from our coop or benefit financially from any decision made while they are on the board, including (especially) real estate-related decisions or subsequent development.
In short, I strongly support increased transparency and accountability for -all- the board members, current and future, and to date neither board faction has convinced me that they are trustworthy and have the best interests of the coop in mind.
If I recall (pardon the pun) correctly, the only lawsuit brought by Recall Water was the most recent one, an injunction to require an Election Inspector — which has been since agreed to — and to be able to use pre-existing proxies the group had accumulated (which has not been allowed). Before that the major, far more costly, lawsuit was brought by Farm to Market LLC regarding the botched 2023 EWUA elections and the manipulation of the appointment process afterwards. Farm to Market LLC is distinct from Recall Water, which was however sympathetic to the goals of its lawsuit.
Shane, I promise not to profit from being on the EWUA board. This recall is being financed by the members of the Recall group, also known as the Concerned Water Users of Eastsound. I have already spent thousands of dollars supporting this action, which shows how strongly I feel about the moral issues we represent.
On another note, I am also concerned about some of the EWUA employees and their circumstances. Know that if Ron Claus, Jim Cook, and I are retained as board members, we will do everything in our power to support and defend the EWUA employees. They are the lifeblood of the water association. Without them, the water will not flow. We realize this, and they have our full support.
There is a simple solution. EWUA needs to be disbanded and become a part of the sewer district which is subject to state law as a junior tax district.
Yes, a simple solution Bob, but I suspect a somewhat complex process…something well worth exploring and as one of the increasing large group of Concerned Eastsound Water Users, it is a solution which I see as an inevitable long term solution.
Bob, I don’t disagree with your suggestion, but it would take a vote of over fifty percent of the members to allow this to happen. Who will lead this charge? It will take a lot of time, effort, and money. Will the newly elected board stand up and make this happen? Time will tell.
If you are interested in this approach I would strongly suggest that you and others with this mindset run for the upcoming open board positions.
What I find most disturbing about this “Recall Water” campaign is that it claims that board members were not “doing their job”. However, of the current board, 4 members had only held their positions for a month or two before this latest recall campaign started. Do we really believe that a board with a majority of new members even had a chance to “do their job”, much less truly appreciate and understand the business they are charged with governing that quickly? All opportunity to do so ended the minute the latest “Recall Water” campaign started.
Thanks for sharing Cory. You are brave to wade into this shit show. I appreciate your insider’s perspective.
Like Bob Phalan, several thoughtful Orcas Islanders have suggested merging EWUA into Eastsound Sewer and Water District as one solution to the problems being faced with its management. This strikes the Concerned Eastsound Water Users as a good idea worth pursuing, but the devil may lurk in the details of implementing such a transition. For example, it would require a two-thirds vote of the Board of Directors, as pointed out by Elisabeth Britt. That means we’d have to replace a significant number of existing directors — another reason for the recall effort under way. And then a majority of the EWUA members would have to approve the transfer of assets to ESWD. But it would certainly solve a lot of the governance problems we now encounter. And San Juan County would manage and oversee the elections process, so that we would not have to endure again the shenanigans of the board “leadership” that occurred in the aftermath of the 2023 elections.
As tempting as handing all the assets (and problems!) of EWUA to Eastsound Sewer and Water District might appear, I suggest that the membership of our water COOPERATIVE might not want the county government involvement in our hyper-local issues. My observation has been that the more centralized any organization or bureaucracy becomes, the poorer the outcomes become. Yes, EWUA is having a little power struggle on the board; these things happen in every organization, though usually not so publicly petty.
I suggest that the simplest solution is to shake the Etch-A-Sketch and start over with elections for a completely new board. The expense of an election is not nothing but it will undoubtedly be less than continued fussing and fighting by the existing board.
The only REAL danger I see in all of this is the threat to our cooperative by parties wishing to “own their own water company” and deep pocketed LLCs threatening endless legal challenges.
We should consider transferring to Public Utility.
The checks and balances will be built in, and we will qualify for more funding.
EWUA member
Carol and Ken,
According to research you both have details incorrect.
Ken—- the Eastsound Sewer District is NOT “the county”.
Carol.. check here: rcw 57.08.005
Partial text—
“A district shall have the following powers: (1) To acquire by purchase or condemnation, or both, all lands, property and property rights, and all water and water rights, both within and without the district, necessary for its purposes.”
The membership would have no say in this takeover. Except for the PR issue. One might hope that they’d be thrilled with this solution.
Bob – Why on Earth would anyone ever be “thrilled” to “have no say in this takeover”? This goes precisely to my point. The sewer district may not be managed by the county council but it is still a county level governmental organization with, as you point out, the power of condemnation. Personally, I’d much rather have a local cooperative managing our water system than a tax district with a million state rules, conditions and urban scale provisions that it must adhere to. You seem to think all those limitations are a good thing, but I disagree. We can solve our own problems, in our own way; all we have to do is keep talking to one another like neighbors instead of litigants.
The water is owned by all of us. It should be administered as a public entity instead of a club. ESWUA has served it’s purpose well. Small tax districts have really nice rules of order.
The cronyism -nepotism culture could learn from the Public Utility model, professionalism and accountability, are the norms with a Public Utility .
What would it take to shift out of acrimony, drama and free spending ?—
It would involve 2/3 of our members requesting this transition to Public Utility. A poll or ballot would suffice.
The possibility that EWUA might be merged with ESWD has become a fascinating topic. Perhaps its time to assemble a study group to explore how that might take place. Of course, the boards and members of both organizations would need to agree.
The reason that my water company is spending over $100,000 per year on legal fees is because people like you keep suing us!
Eyes wide shut, Dan. The most recent lawsuit, scheduled for next Tuesday, was filed by EWUA attorney Rachel Doyea. That should earn earn her another at least another few thousand dollars. And Robert had absolutely NOTHING to do with it. You should check your facts before blurting out nonsense.
Did I mention Robert? I guess your eyes are wide shut!
The new lawsuit is to recoup the money that we spent on your frivolous lawsuits so far. Since the judge has ruled for us every other time, hopefully she will do the same this time. You guys should just give up. What a waste of time. Get a life!
Dan, you apparently have not been following what the sequence of events has been, though that doesn’t stop you from posting inflammatory online opinions. Last year, Steve Smith and Tenar filed a suit to obtain information that last year’s Board refused to provide but was required to provide by law. As I recall, they received a bit of information and dropped the lawsuit. Then, Farm to Market filed a legal action due to the botched election and refusal of the current board to correct their errors, which the current “majority” refused to fix, costing EWUA many more dollars. Then a small legal action was taken to try to keep the recall election neutral and not in the hands of the “majority”. Your reference to “you guys” is absurd. Michael, Fred, I and other Concerned Members have taken no legal action, and in fact I’ve protested the large legal fees that the current Board majority and perhaps General Manager keep paying, instead of settling this petty dispute. Your “us versus them” mindset does remind one of what has gone wrong with public discourse these days, and how a complex situation can be failed to be understood by someone with that sort of mindset. “People like you,” indeed.
Oh, I see, none of you five “”recall water” people who authored this tenuous screed, either agree with or have anything to do with the two who brought the original lawsuit, Farm to Market, or the three minority EWUA directors? Give me a break, Robert!