MWC candidates vie for spots on board

MWC candidates vie for spots on board

Mar. 10, 2001

By janelle holden
journal staff writer

Oddly enough, the upcoming Montezuma Water Company elections are likely to be one of the more contentious elections held in Montezuma County this year.

Over the past few months, some of the company’s 3,500 rural-water-tap members have expressed strong concerns over board policies that range from anti-nepotism to what qualifies as meter-pit tampering.

Seven candidates are in the running for four open seats to be decided at the MWC March 17 annual meeting.

One of the points of contention is the method of electing board members. Members who cannot attend the annual board meeting had until Friday afternoon to submit their proxy votes to MWC.

Mike Bauer, manager of MWC, estimated the company had received 1,200 to 1,300 proxies by the deadline, compared to 370 last year. These proxy votes stipulate the name of the person that may vote for the member in proxy.

Candidates usually try to gather as many proxy votes as possible, but almost all of the challengers said they are encouraging all members to vote at the meeting. If a member does not write in a name on the proxy, the proxy is not given to any candidate, but added to the 5 percent quorum needed to hold the election.

Bauer said if a member attends the annual meeting, regardless of whether he or she sent a proxy, that person can vote.

Challengers Pat DeGagne and Richard Swanner said they think a mail-in ballot would be a better system.

“We’re looking at possibly going with a ballot proxy so that there is more information about who they’re electing on the proxy, because I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they don’t understand the proxy,” said Swanner.

The 3,500 members of the Dolores-based Montezuma Water Company own rural water taps in Montezuma, Dolores, and San Miguel counties. Directors are being elected for four of the nine districts.

In District 7, Jim Youngs, the incumbent, is running against Swanner. In District 8, incumbent West Wilson is running against Donald Miller. In District 2, incumbent Cindy Green is running against DeGagne, and Wade Greene is running unopposed in District 6.
One of the reasons many candidates cited for running was to improve the lines of communication between the board and its members. “My biggest concern is to try to get more membership participation back in Montezuma Water Company, so the people can have a voice in the policies that are changed and the activities that go on in the company,” explained Swanner, who said his tap was “probably the twentieth tap put on the system.”
The MWC publishes a newsletter twice a year, but candidate DeGagne said that is not enough.

“The very first thing I would do would start with a monthly newsletter that came out in your bills. Let ’em know what’s going on, also get the agenda out for the monthly meetings they have. That way, if someone sees something they’re interested in, they can attend the meeting that month.

“I just think it needs to be presented to the members if they want it because it’s going to be a big expense. If people are willing to read it, I have not got a problem with the newsletters except for if they’re going into the trash,” said board member Cindy Green.
Green is serving her first term on the board. She said she initially ran to “give something back,” and believes the current policies are working.

“With the manager that we had in the last two years, things are just working wonderfully. I mean he does a great job in letting the directors know what is going on with the company. There is always room for improvement, but I am very satisfied with the way things are at this time,” said Green.

Jim Youngs has served on the board for 12 years. “I think what we’re hearing from everybody is that they want more information. We’re hearing what they’re wanting, and we’re going to do what they want, because that’s our job — to run the company and keep our customers happy,” said Youngs.

Youngs recently apologized in a letter to the editor for suggesting to the MWC secretary at a board meeting that “somebody” should take a member complaining at the meeting “outside and kick the s--- out of him.”

The member who approached the board was complaining about the $500 charge for meter-pit tampering. Youngs said that some members had misinterpreted tampering to mean “looking in the water pit,” which is not tampering. “We just prefer that they call us and we come out and shut it off.”

In the past year, the board passed a resolution eliminating term limits and instituting an anti-nepotism policy. These were questions that should have been voted on by the members, said unopposed candidate Greene, who said the issue was what spurred him on to run.

“I felt like that really should have been something that the members should have voted on.”

Greene also wants the board to put a “higher priority on fire-suppression systems,” so that there are “more viable hydrants out in the county to protect the members and their homes.” He also wants the board to do more to attract members to the meetings and to put a stronger emphasis on communication.

Directors receive a $100-per-month stipend to serve on the board. Terms come up for election in two years.

Candidates Wilson and Miller were unavailable for comment on Friday.