Why Do You Have to Use the Proxy They Created?
(No need to read this section unless you want to understand why.)
We asked the Court to:
- Cause the dominant Board faction to use an independent election inspector.
- Cause the dominant Board faction to accept the proxies you have already signed.
- Prohibit the dominant Board faction from using Board-held proxies (the whole Board gained during the 2023 election for quorum purposes) to vote to remove the three minority Directors.
Judge Loring ruled that it was premature to ask for these things and that it was necessary to wait until the Members are injured before the Court will consider the issue ripe for consideration. Judge Loring indicated that injury must happen before she would consider any protective actions.
Judge Loring ruled on the Farm to Market suit regarding the 2023 election that:
- No Member has the right to bring suit against the Association for election errors.
- The majority Board substantially complied with the will of the Members, even though Leith Templin was appointed by prohibiting Jim Cook from voting.
- Members have no contractual right to elect their representatives.
- All 950 Members have to be served before suit can be brought to the Court.
You can see the court documents at RecallWater.com.
Judge Loring is up for a retention vote this November.
As a result, the dominant Board faction controls the process. We were able to get two critical things. One is there will be a neutral election inspector. This Inspector will be retired judge Stuart Andrews. The other is a way for your vote to be private.
One can bypass this intimidating process by completing the proxy form that will be treated as a ballot and, then, sending it to a mailbox that only Inspector Andrews is supposed to have a key to. Only the Inspector will see the proxies that will be treated as ballots. If you don’t want to participate in the circus, we encourage you to stay home and vote by mail via proxy. Each group has a designated proxy holder. Ours is Brian Ehrmantraut. Unless you instruct him otherwise, he will be voting to recall Nigretto, Nelson, Cleveland, and Templin and to retain Claus, Anderson, and Templin.
Thank you so much for your participation in bettering this Member-owned Association.