Saundra McDavid

Today’s topic is the purchase of Eagle Water Company. I’m on United Water Service, and I pay a high water bill, but receive clean water whenever I turn on my faucet. The people who are on Eagle Water Company have a much lower bill, but many of them experience quite a lot of problems with their water service. I was often asked about the purchase of Eagle Water Company during the campaign and early on I made my position clear – put it to a vote! The Statesman even posted my view on this topic in a comparison with the other candidates. (Not that I put any faith in that paper as an accurate news source.)

The owner of Eagle Water Company offered to sell the company to the City of Eagle. Last year, Bandy and the rest of the Merrill administration claimed this was “secret” information which required closed door meetings and a progression down the path to purchase without consulting the residents who would be affected by the purchase. When it could be kept secret no longer, Eagle created a Local Improvement District which includes all of the homes and businesses currently serviced by Eagle Water Company and Eagle City’s own water company. They could have put the creation of the LID up to a vote, but they decided not to. They agreed amongst themselves to create it. The city then announced its plans to force everyone in this LID to pay for the purchase of Eagle Water Company. The Merrill Administration’s deplorable public relations effort combined with the arrogance of “I know what’s best for you” city politics resulted in many people upset over the idea of being assessed a large sum of money, and forced to pay interest on the assessment if they couldn’t pay for it all at once, for the purchase of a water company that becomes the property of the City of Eagle.

When “want to be 14^th District Representative” outgoing Mayor Merrill, her appointed successor Councilman Bandy and “State Senator who wants to be re-elected” Bastian began to feel election pressure during the Mayoral campaign, it was suddenly decided that a citizen’s committee should be formed to evaluate whether the purchase was a wise purchase. Unfortunately, this attempt at public involvement fell short of easing the fears of the constituents. By this time the residents of the LID were understandably suspicious of every move the City made. I was suspicious as well, until I spoke with one of the members of the citizen’s committee. Evaluating all of the facts that were presented by the City, it did seem like a good idea to acquire Eagle Water Company. But the question remained throughout the campaign as to who is going to pay for this acquisition.

One woman during a Brookwood subdivision event I attended suggested that the people forced to contribute should get shares in the company. I think this is an idea worth investigating. Is it possible to make this purchase more like a co-op? I also continue my support for putting the decision to purchase to a vote of the people who will be forced to pay for it. But that wasn’t an option for anyone according to Bandy, Merrill and Bastian. The city knows best, and you’ll pay what you are assessed.

Once again, we see an example of the Bandy, Merrill and Bastian’s arrogance in making decisions that effect so many of the people that elected them. And that arrogance has once again resulted in a lawsuit for the Bandy administration. It’s sadly humorous how he and Nancy Merrill helped spread the rumors that I was a bad person because I sued the city (allegations that were completely false – I never sued the City) yet he doesn’t think it’s a problem that he and the organizations he represents find themselves the defendant in lawsuit after lawsuit. I again ask, what is he doing over and over that makes people so angry that they sue him?

This latest lawsuit has been brought by Eagle River LLC over their inclusion in the Local Improvement District. It’s purely speculation on my part, but given the Merrill administration’s anti-business attitude, I suspect that the commercial property owners in the LID will be expected to pay far more than their fair share of the purchase price. Eagle River has already paid a small fortune installing water pipes for its new development.

But the story doesn’t end here. In a politically savvy move considering the primary election process begins in a few weeks, Eagle’s 14^th District House Representatives Moyle and Labrador have sponsored legislation which will force Eagle to put the creation of the Local Improvement District and thus the purchase of Eagle Water Company up for a vote (unless the Bandy administration can find some other creative way to finance the purchase.) Regardless of their motives I’m glad our House Representatives introduced the bill and believe it is time our legislators stepped in to help the residents in our city. A city should not be able to force an expensive assessment on its residents (isn’t that taxation without representation?), and should not manipulate a Local Improvement District into a tax that is overwhelming burdensome for so many of the residents.

I’ll end on one further observation. We have three state representatives. Where is our State Senator in this initiative to help the residents of Eagle? That would be Stan Bastian, pulling double duty as one of the Eagle City Councilmen who were attempting to push this purchase through. Bastian wants to “represent” us again for another term. Who is he really representing? And then there’s Nancy Merrill, who wants to take the place of either Labrador or Moyle. (She hasn’t decided who would be easier to run against yet.) If we allow Bastian and Merrill to represent us in the State legislature, there will be no one who will look over the shoulder of our Eagle City administration? Who will be there to step in, like Labrador and Moyle just did, when our City acts against the best interest of its residents?