Gail Altieri: Status quo must be disrupted on OID’s board

I am not running for a seat on the Oakdale Irrigation District board because I am female; I’m running because OID’s board is out of touch with the community it is supposed to represent. I am running because the status quo has to be changed if our community is to meet the challenges presented by this drought and its ancillary issues, including groundwater pumping, out-of-district water sales and low-interest loans to multi-million dollar hedge fund investors who don’t even live in our community.

I will not vote to spend $36,000 taxpayer dollars for a public relations firm. I will not blame OID staff for failing to follow the law and then spend $29,000 to fix a redistricting problem that should have been fixed years ago.

I will seek to televise OID meetings so people can see and hear how business is conducted. I will ask tougher questions if a nut company seeks to annex another 7,200 acres while the board says an annexation of that size will have no negative impacts on water, air, traffic, etc., when we know it will.

My opponent represents the status quo. We cannot afford a board that doesn’t represent all of us. It’s not a gender issue, it’s our future.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Gail Altieri: Status quo must be disrupted on OID’s board."