Water District Board Members Should Not Be Appointed

The Virgin Valley Water District and the City of Mesquite are both tackling an issue that is long overdue. 

They are working on changing the way the board members are selected.

Currently, the five-member board includes members who are elected by the people of Mesquite, and another who is elected by the people of Bunkerville.  The fourth person is appointed by the Mesquite city government, specifically the mayor.  The fifth person is appointed based on the recommendations of the Bunkerville Town Council.

It's hard to understand how, in a democracy, the water district was established with 40% of its decision-making body being appointed instead of elected.

Finally, discussions have begun to amend the process so that the people of the two communities served by the VVWD will elect all five board members -- three from Mesquite, and two from Bunkerville.

As the old joke intimates, this actually will require an act of Congress...or at least the Nevada State Legislature.  Contrary to popular opinion expressed often on local comment boards, the VVWD is not a part of the Mesquite city government or the Clark County government.  It is a quasi-governmental agency created by an act of the legislature.

In order to change the way the board is elected, the legislature will have to pass a measure in its 2013 session.  If the senators and assemblymen are able to figure out the will of the people, this should be a no-brainer.

It's hard to find an argument for keeping the present arrangement, especially since the City of Mesquite is now headed by a mayor and council members who are not obsessed with power and constantly looking for ways to impose their will because "they know what's best for us."  The council will vote tonight on whether to support the change, and the rumbling so far is that the measure will receive their blessing.

The intent of the Bunkerville Town Advisory Board is a little harder to gauge.  Again, this seems to be an easy adjustment, but the contrarian streak that defines the pioneer spirit of Bunkerville means there is no such thing as a "sure thing."

One of the sticking points is certain to be the fact that Bunkerville only gets two board members, while Mesquite will get three.  Even with the current 3-2 arrangement, this has been an irritant to the good people of Bunkerville for years.

On the 89027 side of the Virgin River, the argument has been pretty simple: Since about 10 times as many water users and VVWD customers are in Mesquite, the 3-2 split seems logical.

On the 89007 side, the argument is that most of the water shares used to create the water district way back when came from Bunkerville.

Hopefully this won't be a deal breaker.  If it is, the easy compromise is to elect the fifth board member "at large," meaning the position will be voted on by both communities.

The important thing is to get the selection process out of the hands of officials who too often have their own agendas, and put it where it belongs -- in the hands of the voters.

Of course, looking at the recent history of the VVWD board, it's no guarantee that the people will pick the best candidates.  We've elected some incompetent and sometimes downright corrupt individuals over the years.  But at least they were our picks, our responsibility, and we continue to pay the price. 

But in a country that at least occasionally pretends to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people," being afforded the right to elect our own representatives on a local water board seems a small thing to ask.