||| FROM LEITH TEMPLIN |||
Wake up people especially current Eastsound Water members. Orcas Community you need to wake up and stand up to all this mean-spirited behavior that is ruining the very fabric of our community and our island institutions. With our freedom of free speech, it is our responsibility to check and verify the words that are published before we react with yet another response of misinformation.
Recently Recall Water has published yet again not only misleading information but downright things that are not true. Second paragraph in article EWUA Recall Integrity Steve Smith states “Jim Nelson, Teri Nigretto, Mike Cleveland, and Leith Templin – refuse to permit a neutral party to manage the recall process” This is not true. At the June meeting Jim Cook presented three motions to the board.
Motion 1 was to authorize Rochelle Doyea’s, the members attorney, to review and approve Recall Water’s proposed proxy form. Jim Cook and all the board members discussed the fact that Rochelle told us that she cannot participate in the recall action (she is the association’s attorney and does not represent any individual or group of board members) so it was voted down.
Motion #2 with its 6 parts was discussed. Again, it states, Rochelle works with another authorized representative to appoint an independent election inspector. Then, it was discussed. Even though I did agree with most of the motion it was premature and would be irresponsible of us, the board, to vote on this matter to start the process when no recall was submitted.
The board is very familiar with the rules of recall which are clearly stated in our bylaws and the board will follow the Washington State Law and the EWUA Bylaws to the letter. The last motion Jim Cook presented was to allocate $7,500 of the membership’s money for their recall process. Michael Clevland asked for a show of hands of the 40+ members in the room if he should vote for this motion. Only 2 people raised their hands. Again, the board discussed that this was premature to discuss any expenditures before a recall was presented.
Then at our July meeting Jim Cook presented the identical motions again and we hadthe same conversations stating that it was not appropriate at this time and that RochelleDoyea cannot participate in the recall. So, in Steve Smith article where he states “No rationale was stated” is simply not true. Also, incorrect is that he keeps saying that we, the board, are spending outrageous amounts of money to support our position. We are only acting under the advice of our legal counsel to protect the membership.
Farm to Market, (Mike Parnell and Steve Smith) are the ones suing you the membership. Their attorney Carla Higginson, stated in open court they will litigate “until the cows come home”. This is not our lawsuit. They are the ones that brought the lawsuit. In November 2023 Farm to Market brought us to court to stop the election. The Association’s attorney appeared at the SJC Superior Court, and the judge denied the motion to halt the election. It was later determined by the Board that the most appropriate remedy for the situation would be to appoint the third-place candidate to the vacated seat. Teri Nigretto had 348 votes, Carol Anderson 319 votes and Jim Cook had 135 votes so the board appointed Jim Cook to the third position and was appointed at the first meeting in January. All parties agreed with that outcome, and we did not hear any dissent on the topic until months later (March 18, 2024).
Mike Parnell also stated in court this July that only 3 of his 4 votes were counted. There is a video recording of his conversation in the EWUA office last December explainingand showing him that all his votes were counted. This lawsuit by Mike Parnell and Steve Smith has cost you the members so far around $65,000. Why?
The annual meeting for EWUA is set for September. So, all this money and rancor thatSteve Smith and Mile Parnell have caused this association and community is simply unbelievable to me and you should be asking the question why are they doing this?
Their lawsuit is all about having a new election which the Association will have in 60+ days. By the way, did you know that the last election did have an independent electionsupervisor and was video recorded from the receiving of the ballots, vetting the ballots to the counting of the ballots. Did you also know that the election before that all the electronic ballots were manage by Steve Smith alone with no oversite. Steve states in his “Declaration for Summary Judgement” on March 18, 2024, I quote “I ran the board election for EWUA for 2022”
Also, the article written by Carol Anderson about her Recall Water Booth in last Saturday’s Farmer’s Market is also libelous in my mind to me and Teri Nigretto. It isagainst the Farmer’s Markets rules and purpose for such a stand to participate. Caroltook advantage of the fact that she had been a market participant by selling her art in years past and did not inform the market manager what she was really doing. When themarket manager and the president of their board saw Carol’s booth and it was not whatshe had told them it would be, she was instructed by the manager and board president to
remove all their signs and material. What Carol was displaying and handing out is against the rules and regulations for the Farmer’s Market. Carol, Michael Riordan and Fred Klein continued to sit there until 2pm handing out water bottles. Teri Nigretto was also there to answer any questions that people might have.
We as a community need to stand up to this mean spirited, bullying behavior. So many good, smart, well intended community minded people will never sit on our boards again and ones considering, well why on Earth would anyone put themselves and their families out there dedicating hundreds of uncompensated hours to be persecuted in social media?
I have worked for over the past 45 years on multiple boards with some of the best most knowledgeable, kind, community-minded people ever from Robert Lundeen to Tim Fuller and currently with Jim Nelson. I have always put my community first and done the very best I know how. I have always been known for my straight shooting, honest, and conservativeness with public and private organizations money. This attack on me is personal and it hurts. So, this is my call to you, fellow
community members, to stand up and help stop this unkind behavior and please think and do some research before you write or respond to anything on social media.
I am extending an invitation to any of our members to call the EWUA office and make an appointment with me to sit down and look at any and all of the financial information that you want to see or have questions about.
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By “mean spirited bullying” are you referring to having yourself and another EWUA board member have the recall water signs torn down? Or by you and another board
Member blocking off access for locals to ask the volunteers at the recall water booth questions ?
The Lawsuite by Farm to Market was with the encouragement of dozens of
Members who are frustrated that no financial
Information is shared, that an executive committee of EWUA board, which does not exhaust, increased Burke’s comp higher than his peers at the Bellevue and Tacoma water Assn’s..
Steve Smith is not part of Farm to Market’s actions.. hundreds
Of members are..
Hi Mike, our books are wide open. View them here:
https://www.eastsoundwater.org/annual-report-fy2023/
Let me know if you have any questions.
Dan Burke
General Manager
Eastsound Water
Let’s look at 2024 monthly. What you provide has minimal information regarding how EWUA spends our money. We are halfway into 2024. I’d like to see what was not available to me when I was the Secretary/Treasurer.
The recall petitions were submitted to the EWUA office last Monday. More than enough members are asking for a recall than is required. Now, all the motions become relevant. It is now up to Leith Templen to respond to these petitions for EWUA and attend to the recall action in earnest.
Leith Templin makes multiple false statements in her letter.
1. Templin says that it is not true that EWUA has refused to permit a neutral election inspector to manage the recall process. But, in the next several paragraphs, Templin acknowledges that the motion was repeatedly voted down.
2. Templin says that Association attorney Doyea told the Board that Doyea could not participate in the recall activities. Yet, Doyea made a declaration to the Court under Doyea’s name that appears to take a side on the recall issue. According to the statement Doyea made to the Court, Doyea works under the direction of Nelson, Nigretto, and Templin. Therefore, Doyea seems to be representing only their concerns, while not representing the concerns of the Directors in support of the recall.
3. Templin says that it is premature and irresponsible to discuss the naming of an neutral election inspector prior to the recall [petitions] being submitted. There is a short window from the time the petitions are submitted until notices must be sent. The mutually-agreed upon neutral election inspector needs identified and put in place with sufficient time to do their job. It is actually irresponsible of the Board not to start that process when it comes to the Board’s attention. The petitions have been submitted. The clock has already started.
4. Templin says that Farm to Market LLC is “Mike Parnell and Steve Smith.” This is inaccurate. Steve Smith has no ownership in Farm to Market LLC and is not a party in the Farm to Market suit against EWUA for the botched election. Association attorney Doyea has confirmed to the full EWUA Board that Smith is not a party to the lawsuit. So, this is something that Templin is aware of; yet, repeatedly, the narrative being presented does not reflect this truth. Templin is making a statement that she knows is not true.
5. Templin says that Jim Cook was appointed at the first meeting in January. Director Jim Nelson has signed four different motions and declarations to the Court, each with different dates for the appointment of Cook. None of the official minutes show a vote for the appointment of Cook or Templin. And, Templin is only on the Board because Cook was prevented from voting until she could be added in order to make a majority. See the affidavit by Anderson that was filed with the Court. It can be seen on RecallWater.com under “Our Statements.”
6. Templin accuses the Plaintiff Mike Parnell of costing the Members $65,000. Templin also, again, falsely states that Smith is one of the Plaintiffs. Another way of looking at this is that Templin and her fellow Board members have decided to spend $65,000+ in legal fees rather than spending $2,000 to correct the multiple errors in the election. Shifting the blame for one’s own actions is dishonest.
7. Templin says that the annual EWUA meeting is being moved from November to September. The Board did discuss this at the July meeting. However, there was no vote to cause that to happen. If the decision was made, it was not made by the full Board nor within the purview of the Members.
8. Templin does accurately note that Steve Smith ran the 2021 Board election. Smith did run the 2021 election, at the request of the EWUA Board. And, Smith did so for less than $200, without controversy and without error. Compare that to what EWUA is spending to defend the 2023 botched election.
9. Templin says that information booths are not permitted at the Farmers Market. Not true. At present, the rules permit “information sharing / education” booths. See the RecallWater.com blog for details of what Templin and Nigretto did to silence others.
Dan Burke and Leith Templin are inviting people in to look at the EWUA books. It is a plea for you to forget about all of the prior obstructions. I encourage you to take them up on the offer.
In January of 2024, Steve Smith requested information. Please take a look at the formal request citing the law that provides for the request and then the response give by EWUA.
A link to the request made by Steve Smith – bit.ly/rw-InfoRequest
The response from EWUA to Steve Smith – Denying all requests – bit.ly/rw-RequestResponse
We encourage you to take them up on their offer of access to the records. Go to the office or send an email to EWUA and request access to some or all of the following:
Ask for all financial transactions by the dates of choice. Ask to be provided a copy in Excel or CSV format.
A copy of all ledger transactions and follow up with a request for the receipts of any transactions that get your attention.
A copy of the checks that Directors or the General Manager wrote to themselves in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
A copy of all checks signed by the General Manager to any party that was in excess of the amount allowed to be signed by the General Manager, along with accompanying invoices.
A record of the vacation hours taken by the General Manager in 2021, 2022, 2023.
A record of all ferry charges for x dates.
A copy of credit card transactions..
If by chance, you do receive information, please share with us what you receive.
Steve Smith has already dealt in detail with all the distortions and downright errors in Leith’s rambling account, so there is no need to pile on. But her misuse of my name in connection with the Recall Water booth deserves mention. As the photo in Carol Anderson’s previous article shows, I was indeed in the Recall Water booth last Saturday morning, chatting with Fred Klein while Teri Nigretto stood stalwart before it, accosting interested people who might have wanted to talk with us. But I was NOT there until 2 pm in the afternoon handing out bottles of water, as Leith states, having departed just after 11 am to meet with a workman at my home. Leith could have checked her statement with Teri, who was taking a nicotine break as I passed by her on my way out, exchanging greetings, but obviously did not.
The fact that Leith trips over such an easily verifiable Fact like this casts serious doubt on her ability to deal with the much more complex questions and issues involved in managing Eastsound Water Users Association — and presumably other island organizations in which she has been involved. Perhaps this is part of the reason that she was voted off the OIFR Board or Commissioners last year.
This is part of the reason I support Leith’s removal from the EWUA Board of Directors in the current Recall Water effort.
Frankly there appears to be a significant coverup happening. Despite numerous defensive op-eds published here by current EWUA board members and the current GM, the accounting anomalies that an outside investigator found in 2023 are never discussed or explained.
Instead, as Steve implies, they pander to the membership with false claims of transparency but still refuse to provide a full accounting of the items listed in Steve’s comment above. They claim to be victims of bullying but show up in person to confront their critics at the farmers market. They try to convince members that the cost of legal expenses is the problem but downplay the root cause of those legal proceedings.
Members who demand full transparency are not being “mean spirited” or “unkind.” Members who ask for full transparency are not making personal attacks. If being an EWUA Board member is painful, and spending “hundreds of uncompensated hours” defending one’s reputation is the price of board membership, why not just resign?
Now there’s a question.
Now there’s a question.
I refrained from commenting on Leith’s statement that Carla Higginson, attorney for Farm to Market had “stated in open court they will litigate “until the cows come home”” until I could verify the actual statement.
Higginson actually said “EWUA would litigate this until the cows come home.” Templin leaves the start of the sentence off to change the meaning.
Hi Steve,
The SJC Superior Court provided us a full recorded of the audio of our July hearing and we posted it here for member review:
https://www.eastsoundwater.org/f2m-first-court-case/
At roughly minute 1:32:57, Carla Higgens says: “We’re litigating until the cows come home, just because I have a client who wanted to have his right to vote, and he was denied his right to vote, and he should have had his right to vote.”
Let me know if you have any questions.
One thing which continues to astonish me is the EWUA board and its general manager’s talent of blaming others for the board’s decision to squander Association funds on fighting a member’s lawsuit over last year’s flawed election. Those legal expenses for the Association are, by my estimate, now approaching $100,000….when there was a time and opportunity for the lawsuit to be settled for the cost of re-running the election.
After meeting with the Plaintiff of the lawsuit, the board’s attorney went back to the EWUA board to say: Let’s sit down with this guy and work this out, the dominant board faction in its arrogance refused to do so and voted to fight the lawsuit in court…this is not the end of this sad story.
Greetings all,
The video Leith referenced above from November can be seen here is you’re interested:
https://www.eastsoundwater.org/farm-to-market-call-for-votes/