Whiskey is for drinkin' – water is for fightin'. Boot Camp.
I have repeatedly requested that NYWD post a link to a PDF of the board packets on their website. GM Maupin and The Four Directors refuse to even acknowledge my request. Providing board packets – not simply an agenda – is paramount to transparency. We have already established the NYWD GM and his posse do not want transparency.
Therefore, I am creating a new page here on my blog site and will upload all board packets, as well as my personal notes here for the public. I vowed to be transparent and accountable. My notes frequently consist of questions I have, which are rarely answered, even when the Four Directors actually allow me to ask the questions.
If you want to view the videos of the meetings you can click here: https://she-persisted.life/critics-corner-you-are-invited-to-view-the-board-meeting-videos-for-yourself/
The Sept 26, 2019 meeting was odd for a couple of reasons: 1) In May, the planned board meeting was cancelled – allegedly due to the absence of the Office Manager who plays no role in the Board meetings. We arrived for the Sept. 26 meeting, only to find that both the Finance Manager and the General Manager (who also acts as Secretary) were absent from meeting, yet that meeting was not cancelled. It was also the first time the GM had ever been absent form a board meeting since he was hired in 2011. 2) The Grand Jury was in attendance at this meeting. Coincidence? You decide. Watch the video here: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/page/she-persisted.life/1165?authWpAdmin=true
After 90 Days! NYWD Decided to Have Another Board Meeting!
Oddly, last month, we (the NYWD directors) voted to adopt the change in boundary lines of the NYWD Sphere of Influence as some parcels were actually paying taxes to BVID and NYWD! They received their water from BVID. So it makes sense to re-do the map.
What we did NOT do was talk about changing the voting blocks within the NYWD Sphere of Influence. When asked at the meeting in January how the change in division would be done and who would be involved in that – GM Maupin indicated he “didn’t really know yet”.
Well gosh – if that is true – then how is it possible that this month, the Board Packet contains a map re-drawing the voting blocks and the date on the bottom clearly shows the map was prepared in October 2019???? Why would he deliberately mislead the public and the board (or at least me) that way? What is in play here?
Further, why all this about Oroleve Creek coming up? That was certainly not a line item in the 2019-2020 budget! Further, this project is NOT a Categorical Exemption. That would be illegal.
SURPRISE!!! It is another SPECIAL Meeting! From the NYWD which has thus far, refused to hold any Public Meetings since February! Turns out they CAN conduct online meetings!!!!! But only for SPECIAL meetings- determined by the GM!
June 4, 2020 10:00 am DON’T MISS IT!
Meeting ID: 937 0593 1210
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Hey Folks – this is SO exciting! NYWD has now learned how to host a Zoom meeting. They have a Regular Board meeting planned for today June 25, 2020. UP first? Another NEW resolution written by the GM who is not authorized to write resolutions. If a member of the board directed this to be prepared – they certainly did not follow any process outlined by the Brown Act nor Robert”s Rules of Order to do so. Resolutions require votes to put them on the agenda. This resolution is to change the board meetings to Fridays at 10 am. I wonder how many board members work full time jobs?
Also up? the 2020-2021 budget. Last year’s budget was presented at a meeting sight unseen – reviewed in less than 10 minutes and approved by the Four Complicit Directors in less than 18 minutes. $1.7M dollars – that we don’t have. They have done the same thing this time and likely expect the budget to be approved in 5 minutes tonight. Still no power revenues.
Terry Brown, Director of Division 2, moved to Florida the first of November 2019. He registered to vote in Florida in February, yet attended (via telephone) the March 11, 2020 and voted knowing that he was no longer eligible to be a Director. The other three Directors facilitated his participation. When it was made publicly known that he hadn’t lived in our community since October and was registered to vote in Florida, a hasty “resignation” letter was submitted. His illegal participation in the March meeting was never discussed. He remains a defendant in a lawsuit against NYWD.
An election is coming very shortly to elect directors for Divisions 1,2 and 3. there is no real reason to appoint anyone to take he seat. Yet, the GM has that very item on the agenda for this Friday – the date on the board packet is wrong. The meeting is Friday at 10 am via Zoom.
Another agenda item is very disturbing – the so-called Orolevee ditch project – which the three Complicit Directors approved as CEQA-exempt (it’s not). Despite the fact that South Feather Water and Power Agency (SF) would have done the entire project for $400K, GM Maupin and the three Complicit directors instead chose to give the work to Hansen Brothers – who will charge over $6000K. Another mystery is why Northstar is being hired to the tune of another $100K to “manage” the project. Now, the project has not even started, and Hansen Brothers is requiring a change order: $60K.
Please come to the meeting – it will be via Zoom.
Board packets can be downloaded below.