Cherokee Water District Recall Election Coming
A special election is around the corner for the Cherokee Metro Water District.
Three board members are being recalled after a petition headed up by the Concerned Citizens Group, the same group that sued the Cimarron Hills Fire Department last year and lost. The group has since filed an appeal.
The recall process began at the end of 2011 and petitions were approved on Feb. 14, 2012.
Cherokee Water customers will vote on May 22nd to recall President Dave Hammers and Directors Bill Beahan and Jan Cederberg.
Cederberg said the three protested the recall petitions in front of El Paso County Clerk and Recorder, Wayne Williams.
She said many voters were not told about the recall when asked to sign the petition.
?We have witnesses that were told if they signed, their water rates wouldn?t go up,? she said.
Steve Hasbrouck, current water board member and member of the citizens group, said the recall petition was deemed sufficient with ample signatures above the 300 signature threshold and was certified by Waybe Williams, the court appointed DEO and Clerk and Recorder for El Paso County on March 12, 2012.
He said all protests by Hammers, Cederberg and Beahan were deemed irrelevant by Williams, so the recall moved forward.
The group behind the recall blames the three board members for the district having less water and higher rates.
?The charges against us include secret meetings, bonding issues and getting rid of previous management, which isn?t true,? said Cederberg.
She said the previous management resigned on his own free will and it?s documented in the board minutes.
The board recently approved a $15 million pipeline project and is in the process of applying for bonds to pay for it. The water will come from Sundance Ranch in Black Forest and is expected to be completed in 2013.
Cederberg said this plan is affordable and reliable.
?Right now we are buying water from Colorado Springs Utilities and we pay what Colorado Springs people pay, plus another percent on top of that,? she said.
Cederberg blames the district?s financial and water situation on the former board members who were recalled in 2010 and said it?s the same people trying to recall her now.
?People need to look at all the facts. Look at the people in the concerned citizens group, they?re former board members. They are the reason we?re in this mess,? she said.
The one thing both sides can agree on, is the fact that water rates will never go down.
?Water is never going down. Water is valuable, it?s a rarity and it?s harder and harder every day to find any,? said Cederberg.
For more information on the Cherokee Metro Water District Click here to go to Cherokee Metro
Regular board meetings are scheduled the second Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m.
For more information on the Concerned Citizens Group Click here to go to KRDO.com
