• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Stench Rises over OID Recall

April 3, 2017 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

“Do I smell a recall?”

Over the last few years, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) has conducted a secret water sale, failed to re-district according to state law, sold water by abandoning its water rights, annexed out-of-the-region buyers into the district at bargain rates while rejecting offers from local farmers to pay more for OID water, lost a water sale because it failed to observe requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, barred newly elected directors from closed-session meetings, and pumped record amounts of groundwater while selling surface water to out-of-district buyers. Many of those actions, as well as other questionable decisions, are very likely why incumbent directors Frank Clark and Al Bairos were overwhelmingly defeated in the 2015 board election.

Today, one of the newly-elected directors is facing a recall for “reasons” that include favoring friends and spreading rumors about OID. The most prominent of the so-called favored friends is Robert Frobose, a rice farmer and critic of OID’s history of hidden agendas and contradictory claims about water usage, annexation, and water sales. Director Linda Santos is said to favor Frobose because she too is troubled about the same issues he is.

But Santos made no secret of her desire for transparency during her 2015 campaign. In fact, she stressed honesty, transparency, and open communication as her fundamental concerns. She has claimed other OID board members and management have not been open with her and Gail Altieri, the other victor in the 2015 election. She has plenty of evidence that the board has indeed tried to shut her and Altieri out of some decisions.

Recently, some of the people who signed the petitions for Santos’ recall have made public claims that they were told the recall petitions were in opposition to sending OID water south and were therefore misled when they signed. It’s virtually certain some people who signed the petitions were lied to. They only real question is how many.

The people who collected signatures were paid by sponsors outside of Santos’ district. Some of the sponsors are requesting favorable decisions from the OID Board of Directors; they have large financial interests in obtaining favors from OID board members. Santos is on record opposing special treatment of the kind received by Trinitas Partners when the investors were annexed into the district in 2013.

Adding to the intrigue surrounding the recall, OID just proposed a bizarre re-districting scheme obviously designed to keep Gary Osmundson on the board when he moves into a new home. The proposed new boundaries violate state guidelines in several ways. Moreover, Osmundson has not yet had to run for office; he was appointed to the board in 2015 when an incumbent was too sick to fulfill his board obligations.

Anyone familiar with OID history knows exactly why OID management and others are trying to remove Linda Santos. First and foremost, they don’t like her record of honesty and transparency. And second, her district (as a result of the failure to revise boundaries as required by the state) has a tiny number of voters and is thus easier to influence over the short term.

Public institutions should never operate secretly, nor should they serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many. OID’s repetitive pattern of flouting established guidelines and protocols amounts to renegade policy. Attempts to silence and recall a director whose intention is to restore the public trust have become increasingly unethical. There’s a stench hanging over efforts to recall Linda Santos, and it’s growing every day.

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Linda Santos Oakdale Irrigation District, Linda Santos recall, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. damon Woods says

    April 4, 2017 at 1:30 am

    Great expose- I can only hope this gets out to the voters in Linda’s district.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened.
www.reuters.com
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation, even among Republican voters.
www.newyorker.com
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
Taxes on the richest New Zealanders are being raised
www.independent.co.uk
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
Olympia, Washington, is a microcosm of the problems created by the emptying of mental hospitals.
www.city-journal.org
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
Key legislators push duplexes, looser regulations and more money to boost housing supply.
calmatters.org
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let's fix it – here's how | Bernie Sanders
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it – here’s how | Bernie Sanders
While working people toil, the richest have never have it so good. It’s time to fight back – our democracy depends on it
www.theguardian.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A 'Rigged' Tax System
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A ‘Rigged’ Tax System
Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.
www.npr.org
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
No, it’s not just an inner city problem. And it’s not the result of individual failure.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama - The Bulwark
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama – The Bulwark
It’s about workplace democracy, and could affect not just the tech giant’s employees but those of other firms.
thebulwark.com
Farms, feathers, and fins share water in California
Farms, feathers, and fins share water in California
A coalition of conservation non-profits is creating innovative ways to put farmland to work supporting wildlife.
grist.org
Evidence indicates sedition charges likely over Capitol riots, prosecutor says
Evidence indicates sedition charges likely over Capitol riots, prosecutor says
Michael Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who until recently was leading the criminal investigation into the Capitol riots, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday that evidence indicates sedition charges will be laid against some suspects. Why it matters:
www.yahoo.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design