Menconi appointment roils water
board
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Cliff Thompson
August 8, 2004
County Commissioner Arn Menconi
has been appointed to the board of directors of the Eagle River Water and
Sanitation District representing the Avon area.
This bit of public service - which requires he attend monthly meetings - has
created controversy for the Democratic candidate running for a re-election as
county commissioner.
It goes like this: Menconi will have to step down from the water board when
county projects come before that board because he cannot act as a representative
for both. When he's wearing his commissioner's hat, he will have to step down on
matters involving the water board.
Both instances - the county appearing before the water board and vice-versa -
have already occurred during the year prior to Menconi's appointment. Eagle
County appeared before the water board to resolve a water issue in Edwards and
the water board appeared before the county commissioners with some of its
development plans, also in Edwards.
Menconi's appointment fills a vacancy on the water board created by the
departure of former town of Vail employee Larry Pardee. The Eagle River Water
and Sanitation provides sewer service from East Vail to Wolcott and water
service from East Vail to Avon.
Officials from other elected bodies regularly serve on multiple boards.
Minturn's Mayor Gordon "Hawkeye" Flaherty also serves on the Water and
Sanitation District board. Before he was replaced by voters in April, Avon Town
Councilman Howard "Mac" McDevitt served on the water board, too.
Commissioner Tom Stone serves on the board of directors of
the Colorado River District and also on the Statewide Water Supply Initiative.
Summit County Commissioner Tom Long also serves on a water board.
State statutes support and allow elected board members to serve on additional
boards outside of their elected positions. So there's no problem, right?
Not exactly. A number of public officials have taken issue with Menconi's
appointment. Some are candidates running to unseat him while others simply have
opinions on Menconi's new responsibility. While reality can be distorted during
election campaigns, the philosophical issues raised by his appointment have
withstood campaign rhetoric.
A deeper understanding?
"It compromises his ability to be independent," said Stone, a frequent
critic of Menconi. "It should be obvious to everyone that Eagle River Water
and Sanitation is a big advocate of the Wolcott Reservoir.
"My concern is that if Arn is not careful that he will allow the cities of
Colorado Springs and Aurora to argue that we treat different entities
differently," Stone continued. "If we allow the Water and San district
preferred treatment (Aurora and Colorado Springs) will seek the same
treatment."
Stone is referring tangentially to the benchmark 1996 state Supreme Court
decision on the Homestake II reservoir project that upheld the county's ability
to regular large water projects. Eagle County denied the Homestake II
application to expand the Homestake reservoir system and draw more Western Slope
water to Colorado Springs and Aurora.
"That's the only thing that stopped Homestake II from happening,"
Stone said. "We have a responsibility to the entire headwaters
region."
Menconi said he doesn't think the appointment will hinder his ability to
represent voters.
"The water district board appointed me with the
understanding that my first responsibility is to the citizens of Eagle
County," he said. "The times I would have to recuse myself would be
few and far between. I am better able to serve the citizens of Eagle County by
being a county commissioner who has a deeper understanding of water needs."
He deflected the criticism as politically motivated.
"Why am I the lightning rod?" he said. "A certain amount of this
is I'm Arn Menconi and this is an election year. I'm not the first person to go
down this road."
He also criticized Stone, who was in the forefront over a now-settled spat
between the water board and the county over water for the county's Miller Ranch
project in Edwards regarding how much water homes there needed.
"I have perceived a rift between the county and the water board,"
Menconi said. " I have tried to work together with different government
agencies rather than looking at it as us and them.
"I would hope the people would trust me to understand that if there was a
decision that would compromise the board of county commissioners, that I would
make the right decision."
'Who are you serving?'
Not all candidates are critical of the appointment. Avon Mayor Albert "Buz"
Reynolds, an independent candidate for Menconi's seat, said it is important for
the county to be involved.
"I think it's good if they have a representative on the
water board," he said. "That way the county has some realization of
what's going on with water."
The third candidate, A. J. Johnson, an Edwards Republican and former sheriff,
said he doesn't agree with Menconi's appointment.
"I would not get on the board," he said. "If you have to abstain
on voting on an issue you're not representing the board. You're just creating
more problems. It's kind of common sense."
Fellow Commissioner Michael Gallagher, a Democrat, said the appointment could
create some problems.
"I do see a potential for Arn being in a position where he has to choose
which master he is serving," Gallagher said. "Sitting on the board in
and of itself isn't a problem. We all sit on a dozen or more boards. It's when
that other entity comes before the commission - who are you serving?"
But McDevitt, who served on the water board brought up another issue.
"It's a pretty time-consuming job," he said. "It's not a trivial
thing. You can't just show up to the meetings and be prepared. I don't know how
much time he has. If he's re-elected commissioner it might be too time consuming
for him."
Menconi will serve until May 2006 and then will have the opportunity to run for
the remainder of the term that expires in 2008.
Cliff Thompson, a writer working for the Vail Daily, based in Vail, Colordo, can
be contacted via e-mail at cthompson@vaildaily.com
or by calling (970) 949-0555 ext. 450.