Five board members chosen for CWD

COEUR d’ALENE — The Cataldo Water District once again has a board.

On Tuesday morning, Judge Barry McHugh heard discussions from Shoshone County and subsequently issued an order for emergency judicial appointment for all five board positions.

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Allen had explained the dire need to have the five board positions filled once again — explaining that without any sort of mechanism for authority, the CWD, in it’s then-current state, could not continue to function.

After all five of the former board members and both of the district’s clerks resigned in December 2022, Allen filed an emergency petition on behalf of the customers of the CWD, pursuant to Idaho Code 31-2604, which states that the Prosecuting Attorney of a county has an obligation, “to prosecute or defend all actions, applications or motions, civil or criminal, in the district court of his county in which the people, or the state, or the county, are interested.”

However, before the court can intervene, there is a 30-day window that must be eclipsed in order for an emergency judicial appointment to be granted.

In Judge McHugh’s order he explains why the matter of water district, even a smaller one, absolutely requires the attention of the local prosecutor.

“As matter of public policy and in order to ensure the health and safety of Shoshone County citizens through the availability of the basic public necessity of water, the Prosecuting Attorney for Shoshone County has authority to bring the Petition before the Court.”

Shoshone County Clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard presented the judge with a declaration that included a list of names of people who had expressed an interest in serving on the water board if such a position were made available.

Judge McHugh decided that instead of picking based on any of the qualifications or information on the candidates, it would be best to make the picks at random.

“The Court appreciates the work the Clerk put into the creation of the list, including her recommendations,” McHugh’s order read. “However, with the history of mid-term appointments and resignations reflected in the Clerk’s Declaration, it appears that board membership has been challenging position. It is the Court‘s hope that by having (a) blind selection of five board members, there will be no perceived bias in the selection process and those selected will view their appointment as an opportunity to serve their constituents and reestablish the stability of the District.”

Following the blind selection process, it was determined that Darlene Currie, Carol Young, Lauren Young, Dustin Coast and Eric Erickson will serve as board members of the Cataldo Water District and will serve out the remainder of the current terms until the next biannual election.

Prior to the resignations of the five previous board members, recall efforts had successfully been made to remove them from office.

Much of it stemmed from decisions made by the board in the fall of 2022 after customers received their first bills from the "new" (2022/23) budget cycle.

The new budget included a steep rate increase — with base billing increasing from $28 per month to $45, plus an additional $1.50 for every 1,000 gallons of water used. This is a significant change for customers who had been paying the lesser base amount while also receiving their first 10,000 gallons of water per month free under previous budgets.

That wasn’t the only place where the taxing district’s customers were going to be paying more either, the district announced that they would be levying $20,000 — which is $8,000 more than they proposed in their 2019/20 budget (the most recent year they had available).

Those increases all played into their 2022-2023 budget, which was raised from $85,900 to $187,825, which fueled the recall efforts.

With the new board in place, the district can now begin the process of hiring new clerks for the office, as well as look into the concerns of the district’s customers as they look toward setting the upcoming 2023/24 budget.