On Monday, October 3rd, Klamath Irrigation District Vice Chairman Grant Knoll submitted his Statement of Justification to KID office manager Linda Seater. In his statement, Knoll went on the offensive, focusing on his election win record before addressing the “baseless accusations”.
As written in Vice Chairman Knoll’s statement:
“I have been on the KID board for 5 years. I have always striven to do the Right Thing in all the decisions presented at KID. The person mounting the recall attempt has baseless accusations that are completely false and have no merit. He lost an election election against me by 90%. The actions that I have supported of accepting the resignation of our former manager and legal council, negotiating a proper C-Flume Contract, and ending our membership with Klamath Water Users are fully justified and I stand behind them. I do not understand why the prior board members are so opposed to the current board actions. They have been given more access to board meetings than they deserve; used FOIA attempts, Bar Complaints, and ethics complaints to try and disrupt KID business. While working for constituents I represent at no time was water delivery in jeopardy this past irrigation season. My priorities if I retain my board position are to implement proper business practices at KID that reduce assessments, work for true reliable water supplies, and protect the dams in the Klamath watershed. Please vote no on this truly crazy recall attempt.”
In the October 5th Herald and News article, “KID’s Knoll justifies board participation“, Vice Chairman Knoll went on to explain he feels the KID board has “outdated” bylaws (which a committee was formed to address already), and new work rules, financial policies and employee descriptions need to by updated as well. He also went on to explain his position on dam removal, which from what we can tell does not effect KID patrons since the only dam in Klamath County is near Keno.
While we can appreciate Mr. Knoll’s ability to look forward and see what KID needs to address to continue operating, why haven’t those issues been addressed in his last five years of service to the Board of Directors?
Are the patrons not justified in the opinion that wasting nearly $130,000 on New York City attorney Lawrence Kogan to “negotiate” (which apparently means not to change a word of a document) the C Flume Contract while the legal budget spirals out of control?
We still have the issue of approving the funding for the C Flume contract, and then standing in the way of signing the contract with R&G Excavating to get the C Canal Flume replacement started.
As far his concerns about the need to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information, perhaps that wouldn’t need to be an issue if he, Cheyne and Smith were more transparent and honest in their work for the board. And hiring an attorney that’s not licensed in Oregon and another that represents a party that is working against KID patrons’ interests would result in a Bar Complaint.
However:
They have been given more access to board meetings than they deserve . . . .
– Grant Knoll, Statement of Justification
In our opinion, that comment justifies our push to recall Vice Chairman Knoll even more. The fact he feels only some patrons should be given access to meetings speaks to either arrogance or an agenda he, Cheyne and Smith are hellbent on pushing. Does he feel Commissioner Tom Mallams and State Senate candidate Dennis Linthicum – who are not KID patrons – should be allowed at these meetings and not former board members or those who oppose his various positions that appear to have a negative effect on KID patrons?
Vice Chairman Knoll may feel this is a “truly crazy recall attempt”, but that doesn’t change the facts and issues we have addressed. There have been bad decisions made by him, Cheyne and Smith that are going to impact KID irrigators for a very long time. Some of these decisions have been very expensive – and irresponsible.
Read Grant Knoll’s Statement of Justification:
