Written by Michael Riordan

We received an email regarding the soaring costs of pending EWUA litigation. Those of us at Concerned Members of Eastsound Water Users Association, on whose behalf I reply, are also concerned about these costs.

Regrettably, the string of litigations you refer to started at EWUA itself, beginning in March 2023 with a lawsuit threatened by General Manager Dan Burke against EWUA. That process alone cost EWUA several tens of thousands of dollars.

Carol Anderson, Ron Claus and Jim Cook — the three board members who initiated the recall of the other four board members — are paying their own legal fees, not EWUA.

In an unrelated case, Mike Parnell of Farm to Market LLC, filed suit in hopes of protecting the members’ voting rights. Parnell has also taken personal responsibility for the legal expenses he has incurred. That suit is not part of the recall effort sponsored by Anderson, Claus and Cook, who are not parties to that suit.

It is the dominant board faction — of Teri Nigretto, Jim Nelson, Michael Cleveland and Leith Templin — that is using EWUA member funds to pay attorneys to defend against the recall effort. These board members could instead offer, out of respect for their fiduciary duty to EWUA members, to personally pay their legal expenses, as Anderson, Claus and Cook are doing. That would significantly reduce the legal fees currently being incurred by EWUA.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have further questions.