• 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

Colombian parrot conservationist murdered - BirdWatching
Colombian parrot conservationist murdered – BirdWatching
www.birdwatchingdaily.com
Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year.
Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year.
The Washington Post Fact Checker’s database of Trump claims, originally launched as a project to track his first 100 days, offers a window into his obsessions.
www.washingtonpost.com
The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News
The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News
Falsehoods almost always beat out the truth on Twitter, penetrating further, faster, and deeper into the social network than accurate information.
www.theatlantic.com
Could a homegrown coronavirus strain be partly to blame for California's surge?
Could a homegrown coronavirus strain be partly to blame for California’s surge?
California scientists have discovered a new coronavirus strain that appears to be propagating faster than any other variant in the Golden State.
www.latimes.com
The Worst President in History
The Worst President in History
Three particular failures secure Trump’s status as the worst chief executive ever to hold the office.
www.theatlantic.com
Trump forces seek primary revenge on GOP impeachment backers
Trump forces seek primary revenge on GOP impeachment backers
Candidates, donors and local party officials are already organizing against the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.
www.politico.com
McCarthy Falsely Denies Voting To Overturn Election Results
McCarthy Falsely Denies Voting To Overturn Election Results
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday denied that he, in fact, voted to overturn the election results as…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Audubon Files Lawsuit to Protect Migratory Bird Treaty Act
Audubon Files Lawsuit to Protect Migratory Bird Treaty Act
A coalition of conservation groups is going to court to overturn Trump Administration’s weakening of the landmark bird protection law.
www.audubon.org
Californians scramble for shots amid slow vaccine rollout | CalMatters
Californians scramble for shots amid slow vaccine rollout | CalMatters
Gov. Newsom said the feds failed to deliver promised vaccine supplies, but he expects Californians with their first shots to be able to secure their second.
calmatters.org
David Brooks column: Trump ignites a war within the church
David Brooks column: Trump ignites a war within the church
“Over the last 72 hours, I have received multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry. I have been labeled a coward, sellout, a traitor to the Holy Spirit, and cussed out at least 500 times.”
www.courant.com
Here are the companies suspending political contributions following the Capitol riots
Here are the companies suspending political contributions following the Capitol riots
thehill.com
How the Capitol Riot Thrust Big American Companies Deeper Into Politics
How the Capitol Riot Thrust Big American Companies Deeper Into Politics
“Words alone are not enough.” Corporate moves to halt political funding and decry the forces behind the Jan. 6 riot have accelerated a broader movement in business to address social and political issues.
www.wsj.com
I've hesitated to call Donald Trump a fascist. Until now | Opinion
I’ve hesitated to call Donald Trump a fascist. Until now | Opinion
After last week the label seems not just acceptable, but necessary.
www.newsweek.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