Page 5 - The Friday Flyer • March 25, 2016

MARCH 25, 2016 THE FRIDAY FLYER A-5 Candidates consider what’s important . . .
FROM PAGE A4
I have spoken to a number of people
who are practicing attorneys or have been involved with Elsinore Valley Mu- nicipal Water District (EVMWD) in the past. Their thoughts are that the appeal will cost between $50,000 or $100,000. This works out to about $20 per prime member. Even a conservative estimate puts the potential cost of rate increases to $600 a year per member.
At this time, the POA’s position is that it is worth risking $20 from each prop- erty to potentially save the community millions of dollars in the future.
Our best recourse is to negotiate a rea- sonable settlement with EMVWD. The problem is the EMVWD Board stated they would not negotiate with Canyon Lake unless we withdrew the lawsuit and agreed to give up our rights to chal- lenge the Lake Lease fees in the future.
There are two cases going before the California Supreme Court that may give merit to the POA lawsuit. I believe it would be premature to withdraw our lawsuit, at least until the court rules on those cases.
In the end, EVMWD is a government agency that is using its governmental power to extract an unreasonable sum of money from its constituents. Prop 26 was voted on by the people of California to stop these types of actions by the gov- ernment. We are so proud of the patriots who took a stand at the Boston Tea party. It is a defeating feeling to think the Can- yon Lake members are unwilling to risk $20 to take a similar stand.
The other concern is the lack of civil- ity by many of the residents and mem- bers of Canyon Lake. Facebook and public conversation is full of accusa- tions about totally unsupportable claims
of corruption and criminal behavior by the POA Board and POA committee members. These members dedicate hun- dreds of hours a year for their commu- nity simply because they are dedicated to making Canyon Lake a better place; and for this effort they are continually attacked. You may have good reasons to disagree with the Main Gate Project, but clouding the real issue in Canyon Lake with foul language and unsupportable claims does not help this community.
Matt Poland
The Lake Lease is the biggest concern for many Canyon Lakers right now. This lawsuit between the Canyon Lake POA
and the water district has caused Canyon Lake property values to lag behind those of the surrounding cities by 16 percent, which is more than $250 mil- lion in equity that has evaporated from our community.
This lawsuit was sold to the commu- nity based on a couple of assumptions that were not well thought out: 1. The Lake Lease will compound at 8 percent per year; and 2. The price of water will only rise.
First, the Lake Lease did not com- pound at 8 percent this year. In fact, the budgeted cost went down according to both the water district and the Canyon Lake budget. This means that the ex- cessive cost of the Lake Lease that we thought were we fighting to protect our- selves from may not ever exist, and the lease may not even grow to be an exces- sive burden 50 years from now.
Second, we were told that water rates
will only rise. The water rate is the pri- mary input in determining the overall cost of the Lake Lease, and the cost of the Lake Lease rises and falls with the water rate. The fact is an acre-foot of water cost less in 2015 than 2014, and is projected to rise only 2 percent this year, according to the water district. We need to consider the facts, and recognize we need to stop the lawsuit now.
If elected to the Board, I will bring a thoughtful analysis to Board deci- sions. This analysis will be shared with all the Board members and enable them to make better decisions.
For the current Lake Lease, I will em- ploy the same methods that I use in my job. My job is to build consensus with- in organizations around a technology platform. I work with people I have no authority over and build this consensus by building relationships, listening, and presenting the value from their perspec- tive. I will bring this same approach as a POA Board member.
Paul Queen
I think the number one concern of the residents is the Lake Lease. Having our Lake Lease in jeopardy has caused our
property values to de- cline and made the sale of waterfront proper- ties nearly impossible. We need to drop the failed lawsuits against EVMWD, as we can- not afford a prolonged legal battle that will
take years, years where our property val- ues will be artificially low, and all our money will go to paying lawyers.
Instead we should let the new Board work to repair the relationship with
EVMWD and negotiate a fair and sus- tainable Lake Lease.
Another huge concern is the way residents are treated by the Board. They have consistently shown that, once elect- ed, they do not listen to us, they ignore us when we speak at the meetings, they have gone against our will, sued us, paid lawyers to find ways around our rules and our bylaws, outright gone against the bylaws; and then finally they just re- wrote the bylaws altogether, removing our rights, our financial protections, and their spending limits.
In addition to that, they have ex- ponentially raised fines for tickets up to $1,000, changed the gate policy to make owners wait in line behind visi- tors, changed rules to inconvenience us, inhibited our freedoms and angered the people in general, and most recently are making new rules to fine you up to $750 for staring at any POA employee. That’s right, they are going to fine you for looking at them.
This is not how you run a commu- nity.Iwanttoputastoptoallofthat.I want more cordial communications with the residents at the monthly meetings. The Board should answer the residents’ questions, be friendly, open and not just ignore you and then say “Next” when you’re done speaking.
A Board member is your representa- tive, so act like it and show some respect to the people that put you there. I want “Town Hall” meetings where the mem- bers can discuss freely their concerns without time limits. I want a Board that is responsive to what the members want instead of to their own personal agendas.
We need reasonable people on the Board that understand their job is to
CONTINUED PAGE A6
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