Recall targets Laclede Water District officials

LACLEDE — Discontent with the operation of the Laclede Water District and certain board members is reaching a boiling point.

A group of district patrons is moving to recall two board members amid allegations of fiscal mismanagement, open meeting law and public records violations, nepotism and a general lack of accountability.

A proposed rate hike is also troubling district customers.

Aggrieved patrons intend to raise their objections and concerns when the district meets at 5 p.m. tonight at the Laclede Community Center.

The recall targets Randy McLain, the board’s chairman, and Larry Doyle, a board member who serves as treasurer.

In order to hold a special election, recall advocates would have been required to obtain signatures from 50 percent of the people who voted in the water district’s last election. But the district turned its election records over to the county and does not possess them, according to Bruce Greene, a Sandpoint attorney who serves as counsel for the district.

Bonner County elections officials said they do not possess those records. As a result, recall backers only needed signatures from 20 percent of the district patrons.

“They didn’t have the records, so we were not able to use that 50-percent number and we got approval from the secretary of state and the attorney general to go ahead with 20 percent of the district,” said Charlie Wurm, a deputy clerk in the county elections office.

Doyle and McLain have the option of resigning in light of the pending recall election.

“We’re really hoping they resign. But they are so arrogant and entrenched that it wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t,” said Julie Kirby, one of the recall effort’s backers.

One of the criticisms that is dogging the water district is allegations of nepotism involving William Douglas Carothers, who is the district’s lead maintenance official. Carothers is the son of former board chairwoman Kathy Doyle and the stepson of Larry Doyle.

Critics contend Carothers’ compensation and benefits are placing too much drag on the district’s finances. Moreover, they take issue with Carothers driving a district vehicle despite having two misdemeanor drunken-driving convictions prior to his hiring and a felony drunken-driving conviction after he was hired.

“To me, that’s just nuts. And people have gotten really mad about that,” Kirby said.

The Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository backs up critics’ assertions.

District officials have said the nepotism claim has been scrutinized by legal counsel and deemed it a non-issue, but have declined public records requests for the correspondence, citing attorney/client privilege.

“That is a pattern that suggests they have been running this as their own private enterprise. They don’t realize that they’re accountable to the public,” said Kirby.

Doyle referred inquiries about dissent in the district to McLain, who contends the district has not violated open meeting or public records laws, and has worked to be transparent.

“We have tried very hard to be open with people and keep them apprised of what’s going on,” said McLain, who hasn’t decided if he intends to resign.

McLain confirmed there have been discussions of a rate increase to build up strategic reserves for maintenance of aging infrastructure.

Greene advised the county that threats of harm have been made against district officials amid the rancor. McLain declined to elaborate.

“All I can say is it’s being investigated by the sheriff’s department,” he said.

Kirby said she does not know who’s behind the threats and disavows such behavior, but added that it does demonstrate the level of frustration patrons have with the district’s management.

McLain said he’s well aware of the discord, which is not uncommon.

“It kind of comes and goes, but I can tell you that I was approached a few weeks ago by the individual who actually started this water district in the ’70s and his comment to me was that, ‘Things haven’t changed,’” McLain said.