The recall group, ABBO (Christoper Smith (alias “Arlen”), Brenda Bronson, Rita Bertolli, Kathe Odenweller) provided us all with yet another official statement in support of their recall petition during the most recent meeting.
You may remember
- ABBO paid outsiders to collect 75% of the signatures on the recall petitions
- Since February, ABBO has been harassing the board majority (Karen Morgan, Jeff Baker and Alex Plotkin) alleging that the board members are
- violating Title 32,
- violating the Open Meetings Law and
- violating the Constitution
- ABBO filed a lawsuit with the same allegations,
- then dismissed it
- then threatened at Green Mountain meetings that they will file a new lawsuit,
- this time with a real attorney,
- but they haven’t
- perhaps because they did talk to a real attorney.
- On June 29, the board heard from new counsel with actual experience in advising Title 32 water and sanitation districts and board operations. The attorney explained:
- that the majority are not violating Title 32,
- are not violating the Open Meetings Law and
- are not violating the Constitution.
See:
Here is the Recall Group’s Official statement in response.
Note that Brenda Bronson, not the usual spokesperson – Christopher Smith, was selected to provide the group’s response (its 5 minutes long but well worth the time to hear what they have to say):
Essentially, the recall group is now taking the position that,
- “ok” so what if all of our abusive complaints the past 6 months that consumed hours and hours of board time were “technically” wrong.
- We were legally wrong.
- The majority of the board members were “technically” and legally correct.
. . . . the recall is still justified because . . . .
We (ABBO),
- who have absolutely no experience in these matters,
- have absolutely no legal education, training or experience and
- who were not elected by anyone to run the district
WE know that the majority of the board violated the “spirit” of the law – as WE define it.
There you have it. The recall group (ABBO) will
- have the residents spend at least $80,000 for a special election,
- will blanket the community with more paid outsiders to go door to door telling residents to vote “yes” on the recall and
- will continue to attack the majority
Because they believe the majority and the new attorney (who was brand new to the district a few weeks ago) are violating the spirit of the law – in ABBO’s opinion.
Which invites the obvious question.
- “Technically” ABBO has the right to file a recall petition with no genuine justification
- “Technically” ABBO has the right to pay outside people to get signatures on a petition,
- “Technically” ABBO has the right to file a lawsuit against the majority,
- dismiss it
- and then threaten to file a new one “with an attorney”,
- and never file one.
But is a recall the “right” thing to do.
You all will decide that in the recall election on October 5, 2021.
Speaking of which, here are the dates announced by the Designated Election Official (appointed by the Court over ABBO’s objection):
- The self-nomination forms will be due August 2, 2021 by 5 pm.
- The ballots will be mailed out between September 13 and September 20, 2021.
- The ballots must be mailed in or dropped off by the date of the election – October 5, 2021.
- The most convenient place to drop off ballots will be the Offices of the Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District at 13919 W Utah Ave Lakewood.
The ballot will first ask whether or not you vote
- “yes” to recall Karen, Jeff and Alex
- “no” don’t recall Karen, Jeff and Alex
The ballot will then ask, if enough people vote “yes” to recall Karen, Jeff or Alex
- who do you vote in to replace them
- there will be at least one person for each position for you to vote for
Even if you vote “no” on the recall, you will still want to vote for the best person to replace them in the event enough people vote “yes”.
Keep in mind what this election is really about. It is not about whether or not there were any violations of Title 32, the Open Meetings Law or the Constitution.
Its really about whether or not you have board members running the district who believe, as Christopher Smith (alias “Arlen”) one of the ABBO leaders does, that the district’s job is to provide sewer service to the developers in another sanitation district outside the Green Mountain district boundary.
ABBO members and their supporters have stated during the meetings that they want the board to enter into a new IGA with Big Sky and the Rooney Valley developers outside the Green Mountain district.
Karen, Jeff and Alex do not favor entering into a new IGA with the Rooney Valley developers.
But even more importantly, they believe the residents should have a say in whether or not Green Mountain’s sewer system is filled with sewage from non-residents outside the district.
The Rooney Valley developers believed the way to do business was with a secret election night IGA signed by the board being voted out of office.
Karen, Jeff and Alex believe in having informed public hearings where all the issues can be presented and the residents have a say before any decisions are made to open the district’s sewer system to other districts (which have their own sanitation district).
That is the real reason they are being recalled by ABBO.
The developers lost the litigation. Now they are trying to change the board.
As with much of what they preach, the ABBO group is not being honest about their motivations or intentions. There will be more on this in a later blog.
For now, see,
Source of Green Mountain Recall: “You are Just a Toaster; An Appliance”
John Henderson