EWUA Retaliation
We have received multiple comments from people worried about EWUA retaliating against them if they speak up.
This is presented as an FAQ and is based on an actual email.
1. Will EWUA board members know who signed proxies?
There are two documents — the petition and the proxy. On each, we ask if the signer wants to publicly support the recall. If the person says ‘yes,’ we put their name on the website as a supporter. If the person says ‘no,’ we do not disclose the name.
We have more than enough petition signatures from those who have said they want to publicly support the recall to cause a Member meeting. We plan to only submit the petitions of those who are showing their names as publicly supporting the effort and to not use the petitions of those who do not want to be identified yet.
For the proxies – We plan to give the proxies to the neutral election inspector who has yet to be appointed. The dominant Board faction is currently refusing to name an election inspector. They are going to great lengths to make sure they remain in power and no one can look at the books. We will probably have to go to court to force EWUA to name a neutral party to manage the recall.
We insist that no current or former EWUA director or staff member be involved in the process. The truly neutral inspector should have the authority to validate the proxies, manage the notices, manage the meeting, count the ballots, and make sure those who signed the proxies not be disclosed to any party until the Member meeting. Assuming the judge agrees, then the EWUA Board should not know who signed the proxies until the day of the Member meeting, unless the signer wants their name shown as a supporter.
IF the person providing the proxy attends the meeting in person, then the proxy does NOT convey any power to the proxyholder, and there is no reason for the inspector to reveal that such a proxy exists, as it has no power. We can’t say for certain it will never become public, but we will guard the names as much as we can. We never revealed the names of those who signed last year.
2. Will all EWUA members (i.e. us, the water customers) know who signed?
Not unless the signer asks their name to be shown as publicly supporting the effort. See answer to the previous question.
3. Will the general public know who signed?
Not unless the signer asks their name to be shown as publicly supporting the effort. See answer to the previous question.
4. My only remaining barrier to signing isn’t whether I believe there is documented proof that corruption has occurred — the documentation I’ve seen clearly indicates a need for more rigorous transparency and accountability. If corruption is happening, it can mix poorly with accountability to create retaliation situations. I need a clearer understanding of what my retaliation risks might be—EWUA or its members discriminating or retaliating against those who signed proxies.
Most of those who have publicly supported the recall have been harassed. The worst that has happened is someone has had their car keyed. Supporters have been called and flattered. If the flattery doesn’t dissuade them from supporting, then they are insulted. Some have been yelled at in various public places, such as the Market. Those who currently hold power are not the nice, reputable people they pretend to be. So far, no one’s access to water has been tampered with.
I [Steve] have personally taken most of the flak. For over a year, I have been seriously hated on in the press and at public meetings. EWUA has intentionally attempted to destroy my reputation in the community with a variety of lies. This year, Tenar and I are joined by a whole team of people who are saying that EWUA is corrupt, including multiple sitting directors. This team is now experiencing some of the hate that Tenar and I have endured for over a year. It is not fun, but we each believe that it is necessary.
We would appreciate your support by attending the Member meeting in person or by proxy. We will do all that we can to protect the identity of those who sign proxies, at least up until the Member meeting. We expect many of those who have signed proxies to attend in person, and we hope they do. But, we ask everyone to sign a proxy anyway, even if they plan on attending, so that we can be assured that there will be a quorum.