About That Election Letter From The County

Dotting I's, Crossing T's, and Still Undemocratic

Groundwater For Butte is being asked what this letter from the County is about. The short answer is: It's not a ballot, even though one page shows the Tuscan Water District's upcoming ballot initative as written, with "yes" and "no" fill-ins. The ballots for this latest in a slew of pro-forma elections to get TWD established and its backers compensated will go out November 7 and be due December 5.

THIS TIME THE TEXT WAS LOOKED AT BY LAWYERS. 

In the wake of last year's TWD election – canceled on the day votes were to be counted due to procedural and legal errors – it's clear that County officials are being cautious to a fault this time.

That's why the second TWD election is being carefully noticed by mail, including instructions on how to run for TWD's board and how to submit arguments for and against it.

We'll say it again: Groundwater For Butte wants everyone to vote "no" on everything to do with the Tuscan Water District. 

However, our bigger point is that this entire process fails the test of democracy. It appears to have been designed from the beginning as a means to avoid asking permission from the vast majority of Butte County residents who depend on this aquifer. Votes are weighted by value of land owned – one dollar, one vote. The map was drawn surgically to exclude residential neighborhoods adjacent to orchards, lest these elections be required to be one-person, one-vote.

We have not been honestly informed who is backing TWD or who has paid for it so far and needs to be paid back if it is established.

Most importantly, few people are aware that TWD is likely to change the status of our groundwater from public to quasi-private property, and leave it even more vulnerable to pilfering by the State's water authorities.

YES, CORPORATIONS CAN VOTE IN BUTTE COUNTY.

WE DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE THE LEGITIMACY OF TWD SO WE WON'T BE RUNNING OR SUPPORTING BOARD CANDIDATES. BUT IF YOU ARE WELL LIKED BY THE BIG LANDOWNERS, FEEL FREE.

COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICIALS WILL DECIDE WHICH OPPOSING ARGUMENT TO PUBLISH IN THE VOTER PAMPHLET.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

We oppose the formation of the Tuscan Water District and demand that Butte County officials step up to their responsibilities under State law. The groundwater belongs to the public and must be managed transparently by publicly elected authorities - not privatized as a "water bank."