Manager of sanitation district resigns

Manager of sanitation district resigns

November 15, 2001

By Gail Binkly
Journal Managing Editor

Bill Smith, the controversial manager of the Cortez Sanitation District, resigned abruptly after an executive session with the new district board Tuesday night.

The resignation was effective Wednesday, according to Bob Diederich, acting chair of the board.

"He’s emptied out his office," Diederich said.

A call to Smith’s home was not returned Wednesday.

Smith had been manager of the district since 1996, according to Diederich.

The board, which includes three new members who replaced three that were recalled in the Nov. 6 election, met in special session Tuesday to discuss goals and preliminary plans. At the end of the meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss land-acquisition problems near the district’s planned new southern plant and to meet with Smith and Jay Conner, the district superintendent.

"After talking with us last night, he (Smith) suggested to the board that he just resign," Diederich said. "We kicked it around and agreed to accept it."

The board went back into regular session long enough to vote 5-0 to accept the resignation, Diederich said.

Smith was not operating under a contract, Diederich said, but was given two months’ severance pay and insurance.

Diederich declined to make any comment on Smith’s tenure with the district.

Conner, who will be acting manager while the board seeks a permanent replacement for Smith, also declined to comment.

Smith was a controversial figure because of his strict adherence to regulations and what critics called arbitrary and adversarial behavior on his part. His supporters said he was extremely knowledgeable and capable.

"Bill’s a brilliant person," said Stan Pierce, former board chairman, during a special meeting May 29 at which several local builders said they would initiate a recall effort if Smith were not terminated. "He knows what he’s doing. He’s done a heck of a good job. We’re in a better financial position than we ever have been before."

Sam Jarvis, then a member of the board, said in an interview Oct. 22 that Smith was "highly qualified, very intelligent and a real benefit to the district as far as his knowledge of operations and lines," adding that Smith also had been instrumental in obtaining grants.

At the May 29 meeting, the board decided not to take any measures against Smith, and a recall effort was indeed mounted subsequently. Pierce, Jim Bridgewater and Jarvis, the three longest-serving members on the board, were all recalled.

"I think it was unfortunate but necessary — everything, the whole recall process, right down to his resignation," said Don Etnier, a local developer and one of the organizers of the recall. "I think the majority of the guys — the builders, contractors and subcontractors — we can all get along with the city, with Empire Electric, with Greeley Gas, with Montezuma Water — we can get along with all the utilities except this one."

Etnier said the day he gained approval for Sedona Estates, his subdivision south of Cortez, "It dawned on me that day that one man controlled whether I made a living in this town or whether I went bankrupt. And that’s why we pushed so hard to get this recall through. It was either him or us.

"If the recall hadn’t gone through I would effectively have been put out of business because I could not have worked in the district with him in power. It would have cost me a fortune."

At the May 29 meeting, Jim Kreutzer, developer of the enormous Southern Bluffs Subdivision south of Cortez, complained of continual difficulties and delays in his dealings with Smith and the district. "I have just never had such a hard time with anybody,"Kreutzer said.

Kreutzer at that time said he had communicated frequently with the sanitation district throughout 1996 and 1997, when he was planning Southern Bluffs, and the district never hinted that there might be a shortage of sewer taps, even as late as March 1999. But in August 1999, the district announced there was hardly any capacity left at the southern plant, and later put strict limits on the number of taps people could buy.

Kreutzer also complained that paperwork he had sent to Smith for approval sat around for days.

Smith and Kreutzer later said they had patched up their differences, but other builders had similar complaints.

There were also rumors of widespread employee discontent under Smith’s supervision. At Tuesday night’s meeting, Diederich confirmed that there was some unhappiness.

"It was real close to having all the employees walk off the job here recently," Diederich said.

"It’s a crying shame we had to go to this length and this extent," Etnier said Wednesday. "I feel bad for the guys that were recalled. I think they are good persons. Unfortunately, for running the district, it just wasn’t working very well."