Nye County Commissioners gut water board

In a stunning move earlier this week, the Nye County Commission voted unanimously to recall all seven members of the Nye County Water District Governing Board and just minutes after the decision was made, water district general manager Oz Wichman tendered his resignation, leaving that body devoid of any leadership and the public with all sorts of questions as to what will happen now.

The answers to those questions, however, will not be so easy to come by, with Nye County Manager Tim Sutton telling the Pahrump Valley Times that the path forward is unclear and internal discussions will be needed before the county can signal to the community what the ultimate future of the water board will be.

The request to recall the entire water board was put forward by one of that board’s own members during the Nye County Commission’s Tuesday, Nov. 2 meeting. Water board member Helene Williams had approached Nye County Commissioner Donna Cox with a series of complaints regarding the water board’s activities and Cox assisted her in getting the recall item on the agenda. Williams was appointed to the water board in mid-2020 and she made it plain that she was none too pleased with what she has witnessed over the intervening 15 months.

Williams came with a variety of accusations, perhaps the most serious of which was her belief that the water board was nothing more than a puppet to the water district general manager. “The board is not acting as a governing board by allowing the manager to drive through items unquestionable with little or no discussion,” Williams wrote in her complaint. She had several other points in her complaint as well, including her concern that certain Open Meeting Law violations may have occurred and her belief that Wichman’s participation on the Nevada Supreme Court’s Commission to Study the Adjudication of Water Law Cases was outside of the scope of his duties.

Wichman himself seemed shocked by the suddenness of the agenda item, noting that he had only been notified of the possibility of the water board being recalled the previous Thursday. He spent the weekend drafting what he termed a “fact check” in which he did his best to refute each of Williams’ allegations. He asserted that the board was not simply approving items without discussion and pointed to the fact that all agenda items were properly posted and available for public review. Further, he said, the water board’s meetings are open to the public and public comment periods are regularly offered at those meetings.

As to his participation on the Commission to Study the Adjudication of Water Law Cases, Wichman argued that this in fact does fall in line with his managerial contract, which states that as the general manager, he is to take part in professional group meetings and serve as a liaison between the water district and outside agencies.

Water board chair Dave Hall then took to the microphone to add his voice to the debate.

“All those questions (posed in Williams’ complaint) have been addressed and answered and we are not in violation of doing anything,” Hall insisted, noting that those wishing to confirm that could take a look at the back-up information associated with the water board’s agendas.

“My caution to you is that every one of these board members, I personally have the highest regard for,” Hall continued. “They are people with their boots on the ground, they know where they came from, they know what they are doing, they’ve worked with water all their lives.”

Hall stated that the members of the water board often come to the meetings already prepared with all of the information they might need, which comes as a result of their own professional backgrounds as well as conversations with water district staff, namely Wichman, prior to each meeting. With everyone essentially on the same page, discussions are limited, he acknowledged, reiterating that this is because the water board members themselves have institutional knowledge of the subjects to be discussed and have been apprised of what each agenda will include.

This practice, however, has left some members of the public scratching their heads as the water board addresses complicated items without offering details on the background of those items, a situation that Commissioner Leo Blundo was quick to underscore.

“You had made a comment that everybody knows very much the information, you work with the manager and everyone knows what’s going on. Well, whenever I have attended… one of your meetings, one of the things that sticks out like a sore thumb is that nobody takes action and it’s completely driven by the water manager… I’m just one of the laymen sitting in the audience, just like many other members of the public, and we don’t know what’s going on and we expect to hear more in the meetings,” Blundo stated.

There were plenty of other questions and concerns posed by the commissioners throughout the item, some aimed at Wichman, others at Hall and both did what they could to provide answers and assurance. However, some of their answers were apparently not to the liking of the commission, particularly when commissioner Frank Carbone asked if the water board was performing all of the functions and duties outlined in the bill that created the water district.

“You guys don’t own any water rights, correct?” Carbone asked. “Do you currently have some grants to support the activities that you are doing?”

Hall replied that no, the water district does not own water rights and consequently, cannot secure many available grants. Hall said this all comes down to budgetary restraints but Carbone noted that the act creating the water district allows for that body to obtain loans and bonds, which could be used to purchase water rights and open the door to grants.

As the item drew to a close, commissioner Donna Cox, who has made no secret of her dislike of the water district and its associated board and in fact once championed a Bill Draft Request geared toward dissolving that board, summed up her view of the situation.

“The (water) board seems to have a very nonchalant attitude and I think they are very lax in their duties,” Cox said, adding, “This is the tail wagging the dog instead of the dog wagging the tail. They are not in charge of what they have been appointed for, someone else is in charge and I think that was brought out today. It’s very evident that somebody else is doing all the work and they (board members) are just rubber-stamping whatever is being said.”

Following two full hours of intense discussion and debate, the Nye County Commission, by a vote of 5-0, then took action to remove all of the water board members, including Hall, Williams, Chris Jim, Joe Westerlund, James Weeks, William Knecht and Dennis Gaddy.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com