From the Desk of Teri Nigretto
Board President
Good evening EWUA members.
At last Tuesday’s recorded Board meeting, one of our voting members asked Director Jim Cook why he was cooperating with Steve Smith?
“I have nothing to do with Steve Smith,” Jim said.
“But you are signed onto his recall,” the member said.
“Of course I am,” Cook replied. “We didn’t know how to do a recall – Steve Smith does know how to do a recall and he has been of great assistance to us. That’s absolutely right.”
Jim Cook is referring to Steve Smith’s recall effort of last year against the prior Board. But Smith’s recall experience dates back as far as 20 years ago in his home state of Nebraska. Would it surprise you to learn that he mounted a very similar campaign against Board members involving water rights there? He did. He even created a website for that too – WaterClaim.org.
Don’t believe me? See it here for yourself; click the image to browse around.
https://web.archive.org/web/20050204043424fw_/http://waterclaim.org/default.htm
Nebraska’s water resource management is organized into 23 Natural Resources Districts (NRDs) which have jurisdiction over irrigation, flood control, and water rights. In the early 2000s, Smith owned farmland in one NRD and wanted the water rights from another. He pressured his NRD to execute an inter-basin transfer of rights – without the consent of the losing rights holders.
The campaign was unsuccessful at the administrative level, so Smith resorted to a political offensive and asked Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman to intervene. However, on August 17, 2005, the Governor wrote that “… in order to implement a water transfer from another basin, agreements from people using the water in the other basin … would have to be obtained.” No such agreements were presented.
On September 5, 2005, Smith replied:
“Because of this, WaterClaim has decided to play an active role in politics. We campaigned against two NRD Board members, and they lost the last election – getting only 28% and 33% of the vote.”
“As a service to the people of our District, WaterClaim will attempt to replace more NRD Board members in the next election cycle and will also participate in legislative campaigns.”
That sure sounds like the Steve Smith we know on Orcas Island. If Nebraska’s NRD directors stood in front of his draining away other people’s water, he just campaigned to vote them out of the way.
Just like Director Cook pointed out the other night, we are now quite clear that if any EWUA Board members stand in front of Mr. Smith’s ownership or control of Eastsound Water, he will relentlessly attempt to shove them aside by any means necessary – lawsuits, recalls, slander. Same deal. Different day. Final answer.
The stakes could not be higher, my friends. If you wish for Eastsound’s water utility to remain a local, non-profit, 501 C (12) entity, owned and operated by its voting members, then stand up, stand together, stand with us, and help us move forward to bring you what we always have – “Clean Water at a Reasonable Price.”
Thanks for listening,
Teri Nigretto
Board President
Eastsound Water