All open positions on the Heights Water District Board were filled by newcomer challenges in Tuesday’s election—the first election in at least 20 years. But the woes of the board are not going to diminish, as uncertainty still looms about when the terms of the previous board members end and when new board members are seated.
Ming Cabrera, Dennis Cook and Laura Drager defeated another new challenger, Janet Carson, as well as incumbents Donna Hager Dinsmore, Roger Ostermiller and Steve Blood.
The results follow a highly visible and contentious campaign amid accusations that the district board was not following state law in how it conducted meetings and business, and counter claims that misinformation was being disseminated about the district’s policies and rates.
About the election, Jennifer Owen, vice-chair, Billings Heights Business Association said, “The ratepayers have resoundingly voted for change in the way the water district operates. This is great news for the economic future of the Heights. With more transparency and better operations, we have a chance to bring real prosperity to this side of town. It is another step forward for the Heights.”
Discontent with the board first started percolating through the Heights Task Force which found itself fielding complaints about the board from citizens and developers who claimed that it stood in the way of efforts to bring new business and development to the Heights. Despite invitations to speak to the Heights Task Force no one from the Heights Water District Board responded.
The controversy took on an edge with the board’s refusal to seat the County’s appointee to the board, with the claim that while the county and the city are allowed by state law to be represented on the board, only the board has the authority to make those appointments – not the county commissioners or city council. Vague language in state law prompted a legislative effort to clarify the language but the bill failed largely because of concerns from other water and sewer districts in the state that other changes proposed in the bill would have negative impacts on districts that were operating without any problems.
The Heights Water District Board engaged the services of a Bozeman attorney who supported the board’s claim that state law did give them the authority to make the appointments for the city and county, an opinion countered by Chief In-House Deputy County Attorney Jeana Lervick, who asserted the county held the authority to appoint their own representative.
Pam Ellis was the county’s appointee who the board refused to seat. Ellis’ conflicts with the board unveiled to the public that there were three positions open on the board, which led to the first call for an election of the board in many years – a campaign in which Ellis and other Heights residents were very active. On Wednesday morning Ellis issued a statement saying, “Thank you to Heights residents who researched the candidates and voted for three new Heights County Water Board candidates.”
However, Ellis said that there are still issues ahead since state law indicates that the new board members do not take their positions on the board until after the sixth Monday following the election (June 14).
The next regularly scheduled board meeting of the Heights Water District is next Wednesday. The question arises as to which board members can be seated at that meeting, since the terms of the three defeated incumbents expired at the end of February 2021. There are numerous issues pending before the board, including the replacement of its former president, Wynn Pippin, who announced her resignation at the last board meeting.
In the election Cabrera captured the highest number of votes with 1,470, followed by Laura Drager with 1,389 and Dennis L. Cook with 1,178. Janet Carson had 732 votes. Incumbent Roger Ostermiller had 1,072 votes, followed by Donna Hager Dinsmore with 781 and Steve Blood with 594. There were 59 write-in votes for a total of 7,275 votes cast.
