District actions are smear tactics and bullying
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
As the Chairman of the Flathead Joint Board of Control of the Flathead, Mission and Jocko Valley Irrigation Districts, I would like to respond to a recent opinion letter in area newspapers attempting to justify the actions of four irrigation commissioners to withdraw the Mission and Jocko Valley Districts from the twelve-commissioner FJBC. It is unfortunate, but at this time these few people, with the help of a former consultant and commissioner, are stooping to misrepresentations, smear tactics, race-baiting, and fear-mongering in trying to impose their will on the majority. Here are the facts.
One week before the recent Irrigation District election closed on May 5, one of the current minority admitted that the election would be a referendum on the Proposed Water Use Agreement (WUA). It certainly was. Both candidates who supported that agreement were defeated handily. A solid majority of irrigators voted not to accept that version. Since then, the commissioners of the responsible majority, including the newly-elected commissioners, have been conducting an internal review process to ensure we fully understand not only that proposal, but possible concerns and tweaks to improve it. Progress has already been made in discussions with the Federal team. We are almost finished with that review. We have informed the other parties about this process and our timeline to come to them with concerns by the end of July. While they may prefer the FJBC simply accept the previous agreement, they have expressed patience and understanding with this process. We appreciate their wise approach.
To kick this process off, the responsible majority of commissioners passed a resolution, 2013-3, at the first meeting after the election. It states unequivocally that we support aspects of that agreement and prefer agreement over litigation to solve water rights issues related to the Irrigation Project. You can read it at flatheadjointboard.com.
What have the minority commissioners been doing? Curiously, they voted against this resolution, so commissioners Johnson and Doney are simply not being truthful when they assert we oppose negotiation and they support it. In addition, they are seeking to disband the FJBC and the unity of irrigators, having voted to leave their Districts, which represent a minority of acres in the FJBC, dangling on their own to pay their own O&M charges, their own consultants, their own attorneys, etc. They have also engaged in continual fear mongering, race-baiting, and diversionary, obstructive actions, such as illegal recordings and publication of private conversations (see below).
Why do they so desperately oppose our review process? Why do they fear attempts to improve the WUA? The current version may work for some, but we are trying to make it work for all. Is it right to impose it on our neighbors simply because it works for us? Is one big operator’s ranch more important than everyone else’s? Should just those who are cozy with the powers that be succeed and the rest wither? We all know the answers to these questions.
These four commissioners pompously claim they will work “cooperatively and respectfully with the CSKT, the Federal team and Montana,” and assert the majority commissioners will not. This is blather, to be polite. First, we have been working respectfully with these parties for years and will continue to do so. We had a productive three-hour meeting with the Federal team on June 19. Secondly, one major problem with irrigator acceptance of the WUA is that these minority commissioners, a former commissioner, a consultant and others involved in the process (though not tribal representatives), did not work “cooperatively or respectfully” with irrigators last year when they were in charge. Instead, they were demeaning, bullying and evasive.
They spent last summer trying to cram down a version of the WUA that took no account of extra-duty lands. And for that reason they are now regarded with suspicion, rejected by most irrigators, and are not persuasive. Their behavior promoted distrust and suspicion from irrigators rather than respect and support.
So, we the responsible majority of commissioners, will continue to work respectfully with all stakeholders that want to treat us the same. But our first job is to treat our own constituents with respect, something sorely lacking previously.
On this issue of acting respectfully, just one of the misrepresentations the minority made is that the FJBC failed in this regard because it replaced “all four members appointed by the FJBC to the CME.” This is false. The FJBC replaced two, not four, of its CME appointees, who, as appointees after all, serve at the pleasure of the FJBC. The two replaced were no longer in step with the majority of the FJBC. Replacing them was our duty. As for the other two, what you were not told is that one of them was defeated in the election and the other did not run. The voters replaced him, not the FJBC.
Finally, the “race card.” It is so easy to play, but it is nothing but destructive. Your readers understand that, but they should also know the entire context. Here’s the key in this case: I, a Commissioner elected by the irrigators of the Jocko Valley Irrigation District and elected as the Chairman of the FJBC by my fellow commissioners, am a card-carrying, registered member of a federally-recognized Indian Tribe. This is no secret, and it is highly relevant to understanding the remarks these minority commissioners twist when they accuse me and other commissioners of making “ugly” statements. Born and raised on the Flathead Reservation, I have witnessed and experienced racism, both against Indians and against non-Indians. My statements, and those of my fellow commissioners, cannot be understood outside this context. When understood within this context, it is clear they are not and were not meant to be racist.
Another bit of context your readers should know is that the recording at issue, it appears, was illegally made, illegally accessed and recorded, then stolen from the FJBC office. Its dissemination and publication are also illegal acts, violating individuals’ fundamental right to privacy. That is the sort of people we’re dealing with.
Irrigators cannot be forced into anything by threats. That was tried and it failed. There are reasonable concerns with the WUA that can be addressed reasonably, perhaps through relatively minor changes. We know the Tribes are reasonable and professional, because that is our experience with them over years of discussions. Once we can talk with their representatives, they may well agree with us on some issues. These Commissioners, though, these “my way or the highway” guys, are not helping advance to that stage. They are in fact standing in the way of an agreement.
We respectfully ask for your support and we ask that you reject the race-baiting, fear-mongering hysteria these minority commissioners are shamefully spreading.
