Recall petitions approved

Recall petitions approved

June 9, 2001

By Gail Binkly
Journal Managing Editor

Upset by what they see as a high-handed and adversarial attitude on the part of the Cortez Sanitation District, critics are circulating petitions to force a recall election for three of the five members of the district board.

They hope to gather at least 300 valid signatures, the minimum number required to force the election, by June 25. The three members they are seeking to recall are board president Stan Pierce, Jim Bridgewater and Sam Jarvis.

Pierce has been on the board for 33 years, Bridgewater for 15, and Jarvis for nine.

The other members, Bob Diederich and G.W. McCutcheon, were elected in May 2000 and have not been on the board long enough to be judged, Thomas said, although they would be eligible for recall.

"I don’t have anything against Stan or Joe or Jim," said Cortez engineer Fred Thomas. He is one of those spearheading the recall effort, along with local developers Ken Maness and Don Etnier, and plumber Steve Gates. "But we want the management changed so there’s a different attitude."

Attorney Kent Williamson was appointed on June 1 by District Judge Sharon Hansen as designated election official for the recall effort, according to Sandy Weaver, district-court clerk. Williamson certified the petitions on June 5, she said.

The recall, an unusual event for a local special district, was prompted in part by controversy over the sanitation district’s policy of physically disconnecting sewer lines for chronically delinquent accounts.

The sanitation district came under fire in April after a Cortez woman whose husband had had a stroke had her sewer line cut for an overdue bill of less than $60. She then sold her wedding rings to have service restored. The district charges $500 to reconnect the line; if a person or business has the line cut a second time in five years, the reconnection fee is $4,000.

The story about the woman made the Denver Post, with columnist Diane Carman labeling Cortez a "town without pity."

The sanitation district, however, maintained that the woman had had a history of late payments and that she could have requested a hearing to plead her case before the disconnection.

Critics say the district should not sever sewer lines of delinquent customers in any case because the reconnection costs are too high and the practice could cause a health hazard. They argue that the district should follow one of two more common practices instead: putting a lien on the customer’s home, or having the water disconnected.

But the sanitation board has said liens are too slow and uncertain a way to recover money owed to the district. They also said the city of Cortez — which provides water service, separate from the sanitation district — has long refused to consider shutting water off for delinquent sewer customers.

The city and sanitation board recently have been talking about developing an intergovernmental agreement to allow for water shut-off.

"I think the main thing (behind the recall) is this disconnection policy," Thomas said. "These cut-offs are not serving anybody. They’re not helping anything."

Builder Ken Maness agreed. "I feel it’s absolutely absurd. It’s inhumane," he said.

Another issue, they said, is how builders seeking sewer taps are treated by the district. "Right now it’s all adversarial," Thomas said. "Every time anyone goes in there, it’s adversarial. When someone wants a sewer tap, it’s never easy."

The three separate petitions being circulated state that each of the members targeted for recall "has performed his duties in a manner unsatisfactory to the citizens of the district and has failed to follow the laws of this state in discharging his duties."

The petitions continue, "Recent acts and decisions made by this board member that resulted in the actual digging up of a sewer line of a family with financial problems when redress of the problem was imminent are repugnant, invidious, and abhorrent to the general public."

The petitions also cite "lack of appropriate planning for maintenance and expansion of the district’s sewer systems" to accommodate growth, "unreasonable and unnecessary requirements that diminish property values and increase costs. . .," poor relations with other governmental entities, "excessively high fees and costs. . .," and "inconsistent enforcement of district rules and regulations" as reasons for the recall.

"After reading it (the petition), I feel that maybe I belong in prison," said Pierce, the board’s president, on Thursday.

However, he said he didn’t believe it was the right time to comment on the recall effort or the merits of the board’s policies.

"I don’t think we’re in a position at this time to do that until they come forward with some more specific charges," he said. "The only thing specific I see in their allegations is the part about the woman’s sewer being cut off."

He said he would wait to see how successful the organizers were in gathering signatures.

"The three of us obviously are waiting to see just how far they go with this," Pierce said. "I think it’s too early in the game to conjecture about what it is they’re accusing us of."

Bridgewater also declined to comment Thursday, saying he had not yet received or read the petition, and Jarvis was reported to be on vacation.

Thomas said his office, Thomas Engineering, at 435 N. Broadway, would be "campaign headquarters" for the recall effort. Anyone who wants to sign a petition or circulate one can come there, he said. There are also petitions at the office of attorney Erin Johnson in the Johnson Building, 925 S. Broadway.

Anyone signing or circulating a petition must be a registered voter who either lives in or owns property in the sanitation district. To be eligible, a person must have lived in the district for at least 30 days, Thomas said.

If enough signatures are gathered to force a recall election, the organizers must name candidates to replace the members if they are voted out of office. Thomas said there are several individuals interested in being on the board.