by The Eastsound Water Team

Jim Cook and Carol Ann Anderson, two of our sitting Board members, have been coordinating with opposing counsel to sue you, the membership. They have been sharing protected documents and filing content with the court that supports their recall effort. We learned about this last week when we were called to court for a surprise hearing.

Please review this short video of our Association’s legal counsel, Rochelle Doyea of Cairncross & Hempelmann, speaking to Judge Loring about this matter in court. We apologize in advance for how unsettling this content may be: https://www.eastsoundwater.org/jim-cook-and-carol-ann-anderson-supply-confidential-information-against-ewua/.

Farm to Market took the Association to court last week to compel it to hand over more confidential customer information and answer other unrelated questions. What’s strange about this is that we are still waiting to hear back from the court on the summary judgment hearing on July 3, 2024, which could dismiss this case entirely.

What’s also odd is that there has never been a dispute about the facts in this case. We should have had three candidates on the ballot, and we had two. We provided a reasonable remedy by appointing the third vote-getter from the election, and Farm to Market is suing us because Mike Parnell doesn’t like that solution. Mike is also a part of the recall water team.

Wanting more documents

“Discovery” is an official part of any lawsuit and that process allows both sides of a case to ask for information. The idea of discovery is that it helps each side prove the facts about a case. You may find it alarming to know Parnell has asked for over 49 interrogatories and 18 requests for production of confidential documents seeking a wide array of information, most of which are unrelated to the 2023 director’s election.

In compliance with our discovery obligations, EWUA has produced 116 documents related to the 2023 election and subsequent Board meetings and communications as demanded. We asked the prosecution to sign a protection waiver for all your confidential information before we handed over sensitive files, but neither Farm to Market nor their counsel will sign an agreement and we’re not sure why. Part of this week’s hearing was about steamrolling over that protection agreement.

This confidential information demanded includes:

The names on your account

The emails on your account

The addresses on your account

Your home and cell phone numbers

Your property information

Your water usage

Your EWUA account number(s)

Who you voted for in previous elections

The address of any other homes you may own or live

In support of our case, our attorney Rochelle Doyea wrote the following: “The breadth of discovery sought by Plaintiff is wholly inappropriate, and Plaintiff has provided no clear justification for why it served nearly 70 discovery requests in a case where the issue is narrow and the material facts are not in dispute.”

Why is this happening?

We believe that this court case is being leveraged to assist the recall efforts put forth by sitting Board members Ron Claus, Jim Cook and Carol Ann Anderson. Carol Ann Anderson announced their collective intent to recall 4 board members only 67 days after she took office as an EWUA director, and from that date, they have been disruptive to the business. They have made personal attacks on many of our hard-working employees and our volunteer directors. In short, they have spun the Association into a state of chaos and none of it is benefitting the membership.

This is the second time two of these three Board members have violated their obligation to their members and broke both our bylaws and Washington state law to aid their recall efforts. Our attorney informed the Board as a whole about the laws they are beholden to as directors after the first time they submitted documents in favor of Farm to Market, and Board President Teri Nigretto asked them to step down at the next Board meeting as a result, but they declined. So this second violation was done with the full knowledge that they were not only harming the Association they swore to protect, but breaking known state laws.

What’s clear after reviewing all of their complicated documents posted online and in social media is that they appear to be seeking majority control of our Board of Directors. They desperately want to control the company and feel that suing us and slandering anyone in connection to stopping them is the way to get it. What’s not clear is what action they may take or not take once they do get control.

We know that some members of the recall team wanted to use member funds for a real estate project that had nothing to do with our company mission and would put us into extreme debt. Part of the recall team’s efforts seem to be a retaliation for not allowing that project to happen.

Board President Steve Smith wanted to convert our member co-op to a privately owned company where outsiders could buy into the investment and take control of the organization. We have heard from five individuals who were approached by Steve with the idea of taking the company private and soliciting their participation. That would fundamentally alter the business, changing it into something we don’t believe the membership wants to happen. But because they have been using such incredibly deceptive language and creating outright lies, they, unfortunately, have done a good job of obfuscating what is really going on. They want control.

Fundamentally, we believe that Board members who break bylaws and state laws and spend your money to sue you should not be in control of our little water co-op. Do you?

What you can do

From the beginning of this unfounded attack, we have been trying to maintain our professionalism and carry out the job of defending the organization and its members as you have empowered us to do. We have guarded your private information and tried tirelessly to resolve this matter through the right channels and in the most ethical and professional way possible, but what we have learned is that the opposition will not stop until they get control.

This situation has gotten so severe that we are reaching out to you, our members, for help. These unfounded and unnecessary attacks are drawing our attention and financial resources away from our main objective, to keep clean drinking water flowing, and the amount of time and energy required to fight off these hostile attacks is just too much for us to handle by ourselves. So much of this fight is about protecting the organization’s integrity, your personal information and the power you have as a co-op member — so in the spirit of a member-owned co-op, we are asking you for help.

• Cast your votes. There is so much misinformation out there but there is one thing that remains consistent. All of the recall documents lead back to a form urging you to turn over your member rights via an online proxy. Be aware that a signed proxy means the proxy holder has all of your powers as a member for 12 months or until you send a signed letter to revoke it. That means any votes that come up in the future, like taking our member co-op private, or investing in a real estate scam would be a snap if the wrong people had enough proxies.

• Get involved. We need help organizing and getting truthful information into the hands of our members. The recall team has been generating an ocean of misinformation, twisting our words and damming our actions at every step. We need volunteers to help us with all sorts of tasks in the coming weeks so please jump in by calling (360) 376-2127 or stopping by the office.

• Come to our office or call a Board officer to ask what is going on if you have questions. We will take the time to get you the answers you need.

• Tell other members and water users what’s going on. It’s time to pay attention and get informed, and not to dismiss this chaos as simple infighting, or just a bunch of island drama. This is a real concern that informed members and our staff have and we need your help to spread awareness.

• When reading online posts and comments, consider the source and their motivations. Look at the players and see if there are any commonalties or coordination between them. Notice if they are using any familiar tactics to drive alarm and panic. We, as employees, have our own take on the situation and would like you to talk to us before you believe what you read online, no matter how many times it’s repeated.

We, the people keeping your water flowing, are a very small group of dedicated long-time islanders trying to protect our precious resources, serve our community’s best interest, and guard our membership against outside attacks. We have struggled through months of baseless and untrue accusations, completely lacking merit. We’ve been working hard to hold the line on your behalf, so it is with humility that we make this call for your support. Will you answer our call?

Last, you can count on the recall team spinning this message to you, our members, within minutes of sending it. Our facts will be questioned, our individual characters will be diminished and a wave of contrary propaganda will be launched. Revisit this if you happen to get caught up in that retaliatory firestorm. The truth will still be here.

Thank you for taking the time and for being an Eastsound Water user. We hope to hear from you soon.