The president of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District Board of Directors this week declined to say how far the board would take its appeal of the conflict-of-interest case it if loses the second round of the court fight in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Friday, March 17.
In an interview with Rosemary Chalmers, host of “Good Morning Monterey Bay” on KSCO 1080 AM, on Tuesday, March 14, board president Gene Ratcliffe would only say, “I have my own ideas, as do other directors,” when pressed by Chalmers about when the water board would stop spending ratepayers’ money on behalf former director Terry Vierra.
SLV Water District Manager Brian Lee also attended the 8:30 a.m. radio interview.
Superior Court Judge John Gallagher ruled on Dec. 13, 2016 that Vierra violated state conflict-of-interest laws by participating in an SLV Water District decision to buy property in 2010, which resulted in real estate commissions for Vierra’s wife and his real estate firm.
The water district board voted 4-1 in January to ask Gallagher to admit he made mistakes and schedule a new trial. That motion will be heard Friday.
“I don’t make any decision until we have a group discussion,” Ratcliffe told Chalmers’ radio audience.
“How far are you going to take this? How much of my money are you going to spend?” persisted Chalmers, who lives in Ben Lomond and is an SLV Water District ratepayer.
“How far are you going to take this? $250,000? $500,000? Just to prove this point that you can’t talk about now?”
“There were some technicalities that we did not understand at the beginning of the trial,” said Ratcliffe, attempting to explain why the district was seeking a new trial and asking for an opportunity to present new evidence.
“Why are you putting this on my back and the backs of 7900 people?” Chalmers asked. “Why not just call this a day?”
“It’s a very complex case – there are several different layers to it,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe’s comments to the radio audience were her first since writing a 500-word letter to the Press Banner last month.
In the past few weeks, Lee has talked about the case in emails to several ratepayers.
Lee wrote an email to the full board last week, reminding them that they had agreed that only Ratcliffe could speak for the board, and that they also had agreed not to discuss the Vierra case.
He sent his email after the Press Banner had sent Ratcliffe and the rest of the board an email on Tuesday afternoon, March 7. The Press Banner email had not asked the directors to discuss the Vierra case; it asked them if they had authorized Lee to speak with ratepayers about the court case, and if so, had they given him talking points.
Ratcliffe and the rest of the board – except director Bill Smallman – ignored the Press Banner email. Those same questions were sent again to the board on Tuesday, March 14, after Lee continued to comment on the case and articulate several reasons for paying Vierra’s legal fees.
