by Toby Cooper
Sounder contributor
Eastsound’s non-profit water utility has announced the names of four candidates for two vacant seats on the board of the Eastsound Water Users Association: Carol Ann Anderson, James Cook, Teri Nigretto and Michael Speece.
The EWUA’s 1,217 members are invited to vote for no more than two candidates either by ballot or by proxy by the Nov. 10 deadline. Voting instructions and candidate profiles are posted at https://www.eastsoundwater.org/vote-2023.
In a mailing to members, EWUA asks all members to mail your ballot or proxy via the stamped envelope we provide, or drop your paperwork off at our door. All ballots and proxies must be returned to the Association Office located at 286 Enchanted Forest Road B102, Eastsound, WA 98245 by 12:00 PM (noon) on Nov. 10, 2023.
Winners of the election — the top two vote-getters — will be announced at the EWUA’s 2023 Zoom-hosted annual meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Zoom ID is 829 9189 9224, Passcode: water.
This year’s EWUA election comes amid a stressful time for Eastsound’s water utility. Recallwater.com, a political project hosted by Steve Smith and Tenar Hall, is sponsoring a competing – and mutually exclusive – EWUA election to remove all sitting directors save one, Ron Claus, by a member vote.
For further information on the campaign, see www.recallwater.com. For the EWUA’s response to Recallwater.com’s charges and a description of their twelve administrative updates to improve financial oversight, visit www.eastsoundwater.org.
Recallwater.com offers no slate of candidates and no opportunity for a public forum. Its concept is for EWUA members to vote once on the recall, then step aside.
According to Carla Higginson, attorney for Smith and Hall, once the sitting directors have been voted out, Claus, as the sole remaining director, would be empowered to “appoint another board member to fill the vacancy and that those two board members can choose another. This pattern can be followed until all vacancies are filled.”
