Of Clackamas River Water District board members
AFSCME, labor council back water district recall effort
Front line employees of the Clacka-
mas River Water (CRW) District and
the Northwest Oregon Labor Council
are supporting the recall of water dis-
trict board members Patricia Holloway
and Grafton Sterling. The American
Federation of State, County and Munic-
ipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 350
represents 30 non-managerial staff at
CRW, which serves about 51,400
homes in Clackamas County, primarily
in Oregon City.
The water district has been unable to
accomplish even routine business since
July, due to well-publicized in-fighting
among its board members. Board mem-
bers have been hostile to one another
and openly yelled during meetings. In
one instance, a board member took out
a local newspaper ad to disparage fel-
low members.
The board of commissioners con-
sists of five volunteers who reside
within the water district and are elected
by voters within the geographical
boundaries of the district. The board
hires and oversees the general manager,
determines policies and regulations for
the district, and approves the operating
and capital budgets.
According to the Clackamas Review
newspaper, in the past decade the water
DECEMBER 7, 2012
district has gone through six general
and interim managers and, because of
recurring accusations of mismanage-
ment, submitted to three expensive spe-
cial audits and a half-dozen ethics and
workplace complaints. A recent analy-
sis by the Oregonian newspaper found
that the water district racked up about
$1 million in legal bills in the past four
years.
In mid-July, Mike Cardwell, who
had been a commissioner since 2001,
resigned, leaving the board with a 2-2
split.
“What began as an embarrassing
media circus has now moved to the
point of placing the district in serious
jeopardy,” said Kyle Yancey, president
of the Local 350 sub-chapter that repre-
sents the district’s workers. “The district
was recently notified that they will lose
their liability insurance at the beginning
of next year. Without liability insurance,
our members cannot perform their jobs.
If this happens the district will be un-
able to operate and 51,000 people will
be without water, including many com-
mercial customers.”
The union workers took a unani-
mous vote of “no confidence” in the en-
tire board and called for the resignation
of all its members. Two commissioners
— Tami Kehoe and Barbra Kemper —
did so. Holloway and Sterling did not.
“These two board members have
demonstrated they do not have the best
interests of the CRW at heart,” said
Stacy Chamberlain, an Oregon AF-
SCME Council 75 union representative
for Local 350. “The water district em-
ployees have called for their resigna-
tions, and it appears at this time that
they have no intentions of resigning. We
see no other option than to actively sup-
port the recall effort.”
On Dec. 1, union members took part
in a neighborhood canvass to gather sig-
natures to get the recall on the ballot.
Their goal is to collect 4,000 signatures
by the end of January.
Meanwhile, three interim board
members were appointed to the water
district by the Clackamas County Board
of Commissioners. [It took a court or-
der to make that happen because Hol-
loway and Sterling believed they were
responsible for appointing interim
board members. They actually ap-
pointed two board members during a
six-hour special meeting they called
Oct. 30. At that meeting they also fired
the water district’s attorney Dean
Phillips and placed General Manager
Lee Moore on administrative leave.]
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
The interim board members are
Larry Sowa, a former county commis-
sioner, Kenneth Humberston, and Hugh
Kalani. They will serve until an election
can be held.
“We hope these appointments begin
to bring some much needed stability
back to the board,” said Yancey. “How-
ever, we are still calling for the immedi-
ate resignations of Holloway and Ster-
ling, a necessary step towards restoring
order and accountability on the CRW
board.”
Chamberlain said the union and its
members “want the new commission-
ers to understand we are very much be-
hind the effort to turn things around and
get Clackamas River Water back on
track. We are the people who do the dis-
trict’s work, and no one wants things
straightened out more than we do.”
“That simply won’t happen as long
as Holloway and Sterling remain on the
board,” she said.
Donations of toys, cash
sought for Yule party
Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) and the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council are accepting donations of toys and cash for their 16th annual
Presents from Partners Holiday Toy Party.
The event is for families of unemployed union members and includes a
luncheon, a visit with Santa Claus, and lots of toys. The party will be Saturday,
Dec. 15.
Donations can be dropped off at LCSA, 1125 SE Madison St., Suite 103B,
Portland, or at the IBEW and United Workers Federal Credit Union, 9955 SE
Washington St., Suite 100, Portland. Toys will be accepted now through Dec.
12.
Call 503-231-4962 to make arrangements for dropoff.
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