OID squabbles over service on county’s Water Advisory Committee

Disagreement on how members of a Stanislaus County groundwater committee should be selected has led to a curious power struggle at the Oakdale Irrigation District.

After Gail Altieri was elected to the OID board in November, county Supervisor Bill O’Brien appointed her to represent his district – which includes Oakdale, Riverbank and Waterford – on the county’s Water Advisory Committee. Altieri had won her OID seat by beating Frank Clark, who formerly served on the county committee.

But some OID officials got the idea that OID should choose its representative to the county committee. Two weeks ago, Altieri protested when OID Chairman Steve Webb – whose position gives him authority over various panels – did not favor sending her.

When OID General Manager Steve Knell suggested that the appointee should “represent OID and its interests” and not his or her “own special interests,” board member Linda Santos – also elected in November – had terse words for Knell. “This is a board decision, not yours, Mr. Knell. You work for us,” she said.

The OID board also had the impression that the county committee had another opening for a member of the public from the Oakdale area. That misunderstanding persisted at Tuesday’s OID board meeting.

Webb was poised to send Herman Doornenbal as OID’s envoy and suggested that Altieri fill the supposed at-large vacancy.

“(County) supervisors can’t determine who speaks for OID,” Knell said, and some board members agreed, including Doornenbal.

OID board member Gary Osmundson said, “Nobody gets to make decisions for this board except this board, not Mr. O’Brien.”

Altieri produced documentation, including an email from O’Brien, saying, “We want OID at the table” and asking her to fill Clark’s vacancy on the county committee. “I will only offer it up to the general OID board if you decline,” the email added. Altieri also produced a letter showing that her appointment had been approved by the county Board of Supervisors on Jan. 5.

“This is not an OID committee. My suspicion is Knell and Webb don’t like the results of the Board of Supervisors’ position; (Knell and Webb) feel they are losing control,” Altieri said. “I just want the public to understand the shenanigans going on.”

Santos backed her up, saying, “This board and management need to recognize and accept (Altieri’s election) and not try to supersede what the supervisors of our county want.”

Webb tabled the issue a second time, saying OID would seek clarification from O’Brien.

Contacted after the meeting, O’Brien noted rules governing how county water committee members are selected and said there is no at-large east-side vacancy; both are spelled out on the county’s website. In fact, neither of the two public members on that committee represents a geographic area, and both positions are filled.

Each supervisor appoints from his district three committee members. They “may include irrigation district elected board members, city representatives, or at-large (representatives of) the drilling industry, business, industrial, commerce, agriculture or other,” the rules say.

“The Board of Supervisors has authority to make appointments, not any individual agency,” O’Brien said. “I am not – underscore not – taking her off the WAC.”

The committee is mainly occupied with groundwater policy, and interest in that issue is focused on the county’s east side, where some fear that pumping to feed multiplying orchards may threaten the water table. O’Brien calls his district “ground zero on the groundwater issue.”

Supervisor Jim DeMartini’s West Side district, on the other hand, has produced only two water committee representatives, leaving a vacancy. If it would make everyone happy, perhaps Doornenbal might fill that opening, O’Brien said.

“I think it would be good to have two sets of OID eyeballs on this thing,” he said. It’s even fine if the OID envoys don’t see eye to eye, he continued, saying, “We want different viewpoints” to debate all sides.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 6:50 PM with the headline "OID squabbles over service on county’s Water Advisory Committee."