[Vision2020] Sell-Outs: Senator Gary Schroeder and Moscow City Councilman Walter Steed

[Garrett Clevenger]

I want to publicly state that Senator Gary Schroeder and Moscow City Councilman Walter Steed are sell-outs. In their zeal to pander to out-of-state developments, they not only sold out Moscow businesses, but the rest of Idaho. They have taken the responsibility voters gave them, and abused that power to financially benefit some at the expense of others.

Walter Steed and Gary Schroeder rewrote Idaho's water appropriation code:

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/legislation/2009/S1002Bookmark.htm


Basically, they extended a city's water service area to include adjacent out-of-state developments. They took the authority Idaho's Dept of Water Resources (IDWR) has in determining if a city could sell water out of state, and gave that power to cities. I imagine their reasoning is that it is the city's water, not all of Idaho's, and therefore, the city should determine if it wants to sell that water.

I think this bill, though intended to make money for Idaho government, may potentially decrease revenue to government by facilitating out-of-state developments, which will put competitive pressure on Idaho businesses. In essence, the bill is bad for Idaho businesses and may help take away sales tax revenue from Idaho, while using a limited precious resource that should be prioritized for Idaho's use.

Why do we need this law, one that potentially will have serious negative consequences for Idaho, when there already is a mechanism, IDWR, that can allow cities to sell water out of state?

Do any of the adjoining states have a similar law, or will Idaho be the only one making it easier for these other states to use another state's water?

How will this bill benefit Idaho in the long run, especially if Idaho will be committed to supplying water out of state and the only way to break that contract apparently is if the out-of-state recipient does not pay their bill?

Is it really fair to expect Idaho businesses to suffer from out-of-state competition that is facilitated by city governments expecting to profit, though ironically, will potentially have a decreased sales tax revenue due to decreased purchases in those Idaho cities?


The problem with this bill is that cities often don't lack the expertise regarding water, and are susceptible to conflicts of interest (corruption) and therefore decisions they make about selling water out of state can be detrimental to not only those cities, but the rest of Idaho.

IDWR, on the other hand, is accountable to the whole state. They can be more unbiased in regards to seeing the bigger picture of selling water out of state. They are trained to understand implications of opening the floodgates. They are obligated to hold public hearings to weigh all the pros and cons before making their decision. 

Water is too important to be treated as a common commodity. Misuse of water can affect too many people to be treated as expendable. People are too susceptible to corruption to not give selling water the utmost importance and safeguards to prevent misusing it.

Senator Gary Schroeder wrote this bill at the urging of our city councilman Walter Steed. They wrote the bill because Moscow is faced with the Hawkins mega-mall. The city agreed to sell water to Hawkins but that sale would need to be approved by IDWR. I believe Gary Schroeder and Walter Steed want to circumvent IDWR's authority to be the deciding factor, perhaps because they fear IDWR will not approve the sale because public pressure will be enormous for IDWR not to approve the sale. Instead of letting the entity that historically has been the ones responsible for managing Idaho's water, they want to give that power to cities.

Walter Steed was elected with the help of the Greater Moscow Alliance, a group representing developers in our region. The president of GMA, Steve Busch, owns land across the road from the potential Hawkins mega-mall in Washington. I believe Steve Busch's land value will increase if Hawkins is built. Thus, Steve Busch has a financial interest in ensuring this development occurs. That being the case, he has an interest in helping get people supportive of him into office, and the people he helps elect, in this case Walter Steed, have an interest in helping Steve Busch. Thus, Walter Steed encouraged Senator Gary Schroeder to write S1002 to facilitate corridor development. Gary Schroeder, for some reason, feels a need to encourage out-of-state developments and doesn't think IDWR should be responsible for deciding if water should be sold out of state.

Though Steve Busch and Walter Steed stand to gain from Hawkins being built, Moscow businesses may suffer from this out-of-state competitor, thus Moscow tax revenue may suffer, too, and thus these people have done a tremendous disservice to Idaho, all while allowing out-of-state developments to use Idaho's limited water.

I am a farmer and have a great appreciation for water, as we need it to grow our crops. I am very concerned that by opening the floodgates by allowing cities to sell this precious commodity out of state, without the proper oversight of the rest of Idaho, we will see a misuse of this limited resource. Moscow is not much different from the rest of Idaho. The concerns we have regarding facilitating out-of-state development by selling them this limited resource without the proper oversight should concern all Idahoans, as they potentially will face a similar future at some point, which potentially can affect the rest of Idaho.

These out-of-state developments can sell for a profit the water Idaho sells them, as there doesn't seem to be any way to prevent them from doing so. Hawkins, for example, may get 65 acre feet of water per year. They would be responsible for selling it to the businesses in their mall. Potentially, they may make a profit doing that.

If this bill is passed, the city may extend water services beyond Hawkins. In other words, they are more likely going to sell more of Idaho's water to more developments in the corridor, leading to even more competitive pressure on Moscow businesses.

Walter Steed and Gary Schroeder should be ashamed of bending over to developments in the Whitman County corridor. Instead of representing Idaho, its businesses and its water, they obviously feel a need to serve out-of-state interests instead. If they really wanted to stand up for Moscow businesses, they would not be making it easier for corridor development. I assume its because they want the corridor to be developed. I suggest they leave their Idaho posts, and go to work in Washington, instead of continuing their disservice here.

This bill will be heard by the Idaho House Resources and Conservation Committee on March 9. If Walter Steed and Gary Schroeder didn't have so much pride in their bill, they would testify to the committee and ask them not pass it because they have seen the light, and realized this bill is unneeded, and potentially very harmful to Idaho.

I doubt they will, though, as Norm Semanko, the chairman of Idaho's Republican Party, who also happens to be the Executive Director and General Counsel of the "Idaho Water Users" Association (they are more like water pushers), will testify in support of the bill, as they stand to financially benefit from it.

In a double dose of corruption, to have the person who has a big influence over Idaho Republican elected officials' future encouraging a yes vote seems heavy handed. Are Republicans really going to stand up and question this bill, and vote no, if Norm Semanko, who can make or break their political career, is watching and expecting them to vote yes? This conflict of interest should be questioned by all Idahoans, as it shows how deep this bill goes into the power structure of the Republican party.

Our state representatives Tom Trail and Shirley Ringo are against this terrible bill. I think they understand the implications of it, and have more of an ear towards Moscow's businesses, so have questioned why we need this bill. So to balance out my Sell-Out Award given to Walter Steed and Gary Schroeder, I give my Most Valuable Elected Official Award to Tom Trail and Shirley Ringo.

Sincerely,

Garrett Clevenger