The TBCD Board of Directors Increases Fees Again…. Governed by the Selected … not Elected

Commentary by Gloria Way

  We have all heard the adage … “you get what you pay for”.  And, in recent years, the same analogy has been used for elections … “you get what you vote for’ … and “don’t complain if you don’t vote”. These truths never became more evident as I attended the September 11^th regular meeting of the Trinity Bay Conservation District Board of Directors. At this meeting, the Board approved its 2024-2025 budget and most importantly approved increasing water and sewer rates … again. I understand the need for more revenue on the water/sewer side of operations, but I don’t agree on why cuts cannot be made within the organization to save dollars, and why it is acceptable to always put the need for more dollars on the back of the consumer.

  Effective October 1, 2024, the average resident who uses TBCD water and sewer, the minimum bill will be, even if you do not turn on a faucet or flush a toilet, $71/month. This does not include any water usage at all. For water usage the customer will be charged $6.25/1,000 gallon and $6.75/gallon after the first 1,000 gallons. For sewer, water usage is $6/per 1,000 gallons and for residential sewer only customers, the minimum bill charge is $38.50/month.

  And, as I watched the Board vote unanimously on the fee increase, which means almost all of us in the Winnie, Stowell, Hankamer, and Anahuac area will be shelling out more money again, I realized that those board members were never elected by the people, they were “selected” by the other board members.

  What do I mean by “selected”? Over the years, several board members have resigned/retired. As a result, there is a vacancy on the board. By law, the vacancy must be filled within a certain amount of time (a couple to three months). TBCD will send out a notice stating that there is a vacancy on the board and if anyone is interested in applying for the position. Applicants must obviously live in that particular district. Most of the time, no one applies for several reasons. The first being once a board position becomes vacant, the rest of the board and management immediately look for someone to “appoint”. When they come up with a name that is “suitable” to the other board members, this person is recruited to replace the outgoing director. Anyone else who may want to serve in the position will be allowed to go through the motions of applying and will be interviewed but never really considered because the board members have already recruited someone else. This rarely occurs because the replacement has already been predetermined.

  It was also voted on to “cancel the Director’s Elected Order for November 5, 2024 for  … District 2, 4, and 5 ….” The two incumbents in Districts 2 and 5, who were appointed to their position, are seeking reelection to a seat where no one signed up to run. It was also announced at the meeting that Director Turner would be leaving the Board after the November 5^th election. I was told that no one signed up to run for his seat (precinct 4) by the August 19^th deadline so there will be no name on the ballot and once again, after November 5^th, the District 4 board member will be appointed by the board.

  As I analyzed the makeup of the current TBCD Board of Directors, I realized that except for Greg Turner, none of the board members have been elected in a race against anyone else in a general election. They were all originally selected by the board to fill a vacancy. And once they were “selected”, there has been no one interested to run against them.

  It is not the board’s fault that no one signed up to run for a position. But when a position is filled by the appointed favorite of the board, it is discouraging to run against the “selected” one. As a result, you get a board with the same mindset and rubber stamp. When one of the “selected” directors was appointed earlier this year, she immediately told me that I was “biased and one-sided and have no idea how much the people in this community liked what TBCD management was doing.” If this was really the case, I asked her to write a Letter to the Editor and explain my “bias” and one-sided coverage and explain why everyone has been so happy with TBCD. I told her I would print it in full without any edits. Her response was “I’m not going to do that, why should I?” So, a newly appointed board member immediately made it clear to me that she was in strong support of the management, so much so, that she angrily confronted me about my alleged bias against the management, that she was aligning herself with the management. The message she was sending me is “here I am, another rubber stamper.”

  If you want TBCD to be more accountable, more transparent, and listen to its taxpayers and customers, the taxpayers and customers must become involved through the election process. It is hard to run for an office. So, if you are not happy with how things are done and run, you need to become the agent for change.

  “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”