Ad Hoc Committee Clashes with Public at Carmichael Water Board Meeting

We all know that water is our life line here on earth. Humans can only go 3-4 days without it.  But what if the water becomes so expensive or polluted that you can't drink it?  What if the water supply in your house was turned off entirely? Would you become more concerned then?

I personally think that many of us take the water coming out of our tap for granted. We pay our bill, fill up our cups, water our lawns and don't think twice about it. We don't give a second thought to how the money is managed or spent. As a Carmichael citizen myself, I know I haven't given too much thought to how my bi-monthly checks are spent.

Several citizens of Carmichael, however, became concerned with how the revenue raised from water payments to Carmichael Water District was being allocated.  They felt that the rate payers money was being flushed down the drain, so to speak.

After years of heated discussions, the Carmichael Water District, governed by a board of directors, created an ad hoc committee to investigate the claims of poor money management.

A meeting was held on June 18. In this meeting, the Committee shared its findings with the public.

The meeting started with a warm welcome from the board. In an attempt to smooth over the allegations of double billings and ripping off rate payers, the ad hoc committee made a slide show of monies spent.

After the presentation from the committee, the floor opened up for public comments. Within minutes, the mood went from intense to border line out of control. I witnessed a lack of respect and patience by board members. In my opinion, the citizens got fed up with wish-washy answers to their good questions.

When Dave Hanscomb asked, "Is spending $760 per parking bumper reasonable?"  He was told by the ad hoc committee, "We're are not professional contractors". (Seen in Video)

I had a few questions myself and I personally thought that I got poorly answered replies. It appeared that some of my questions were either too confusing to the board, or they misunderstood the question entirely, got mixed up and told me the wrong answer.

We, as rate payers, need to get involved and bring to light that board officials are public servants; not dictators.

View the video here.

What do you think?  Are we overly trusting of elected officials?  Is our money being represented appropriately?

Want to read more on this topic? This is a link to other articles written about the Carmichael Water Board on Carmichael Patch.

See more of my videos on YouTube.com/AmericanRiver