||| FROM EASTSOUND WATER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE |||
The Eastsound Water Users Association has been served today with a lawsuit related to our election this last fall. The lawsuit appears to be brought by Steve Smith and Mike Parnell on behalf of Farm to Market, LLC.
As a Board, we feel it is important to advise the membership of this legal action. However, having reviewed the matter with the Association’s legal counsel, the Eastsound Water Board’s Executive Committee believes the lawsuit to be frivolous in nature. The Board is working with the Association’s counsel to have the matter dismissed as efficiently as possible in order to protect the Association and its members’ funds.
The Board will update you as a member as we make progress. Until then, if you have any questions or concerns, you may email the Eastsound Water office at: info@eastsoundwater.org
Ahh now it makes sense why Steve’s minions have been making so much noise in the media this past week. Classic Steve tactic….overwhelm the community with as much misinformation possible while you hit them from all sides.
Who are the members of the EWUA “executive committee?” I have not heard this subgroup of the Board referenced before in any context. Perhaps you mean that the full Board will be meeting in “executive session?”
Happy World Water Day!
Since 1993, March 22 has become an annual United Nations observance to celebrate the importance of clean, fresh water.
That this lawsuit – but the latest in a string of relentlessly hostile actions against the governance of Eastsound’s water supply – was brought on World Water Day is no accident.
In fact, this is a battle for control. Not only control of the EWUA board, but control and possibly ownership of both Eastsound’s water and the infrastructure that delivers it.
Wake up, Eastsound. Smell those lovely roses. Think, now, about who you want to be in control of your water on World Water Day, 2025
@Larry…you write of “Steve’s minions” as being the source of “so much noise” and “misinformation” being spread thru the community. I for one have had ZERO contact with Steve for at least the past nine months…this lawsuit is as big a surprise to me as it is to you.
I do not support any action which requires EWUA to spend its member’s funds defending what I believe to be unnecessary legal challenges.
What I do support is Michael Riordan’s well-researched article posted on orcascurrents.com entitled “The Culture of Secrecy at Eastsound Water”.
Toby Cooper – “possibly ownership of both Eastsound’s water and the infrastructure that delivers it.”
Is this statement speculation or is it substantiated. If it is substantiated, citation please!
Given your position as a reporter for the Sounder, it would be a service to our community if you provided clear distinctions between substantiated facts and speculations.
This is also almost the first anniversary (actually it was March 16) of when the an attorney representing the current General Manager sent a threatening letter to the EWUA President, which led to tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses and added substantially to the total of over $100,000 that appears in the 2023 EWUA financial statement just released. With about 1300 members in all, that total comes to about $77 per member, so I agree wholeheartedly with Fred.
And that was not a “relentlessly hostile action against the governance of Eastsound’s water supply,” Toby. It was the very first shot and came from within, from the GM himself. You need to do a lot better job of research if you’re going to publish your opinions in the Sounder.
For a better example of a well-researched article, see “The Culture of Secrecy at Eastsound Water”:
https://orcascurrents.com/the-culture-of-secrecy-at-eastsound-water/
I just want to point out that lawsuits are sometimes necessary to get obstreperous parties to follow the rules and yes they are expensive. I wholly support mediation and some counties require mediation prior to trial as part of the process. I appreciate the comments above and I am not commenting on the substance of the dispute.