AZ - CAP board - 5 tea party candidates on ballot

[Catshrink]

Only one of them has any experience in water resource management and he's the incumbent in the race. Granted, this isn't a "big" and well-publicized race, but can affect us all in the long run.

From the Repulive:

"In a reflection of how far political ideology has burrowed into elections, tea-party activists are gunning for a majority on the nonpartisan board that manages the Central Arizona Project, the state's largest single source of water.

Most of the tea-party-backed candidates lack experience in managing natural resources. They are campaigning almost solely on fiscal issues, arguing that the district needs to cut costs, rein in spending and reduce the property taxes levied in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties to support water deliveries in the CAP Canal.

The activists say they can take control of the board if their "good government" slate of five candidates is elected on Nov. 2. The five, including one incumbent, would join an existing "Stop the Spending" coalition on the 15-member panel, which oversees the district's $248 million budget."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/10/10/20101010tea-party-arizona-water-panel-race.html

The article says that in the last election, four very conservative people were elected to the board and they began trying to micromanage the district's operations but didn't have enough votes to be successful. If they get their majority, watch 'em try to privatize Arizona's water.

The five tea party candidates are:

Mark Lewis (incumbent)
Cynthia Moulton, retired nurse
John Rosado, retired software engineer
T.C. Bundy, business consultant
Raymond Johnson, an insurance broker.

Other candidates have water resource management experience:

Tim Bray, incumbent, a water consultant
Sid Wilson, retired general manager of the CAP
Jim Holway, former Department of Water Resources regulator
Ray Jones, former president of Arizona American Water Co.
Karl Kohlhoff, longtime municipal water consultant

I just marked my ballot for this race so I wouldn't forget.

[jillan]

1. THANK you for this - that's one of those races where you're not sure who to vote for.

[Catshrink]

2. Yeah

It's as blah as judges. I'm glad someone posted the ratings site for judges - I'll look at it this weekend and vote.

[amb123]

3. There's also my friend Arif Kazmi

www.arifkazmi.com

30 years of professional Water Engineering experience.

He and Jim Holway (www.jimholway.com) are the only Democrats running for the Central AZ Water Conservation District (CAWCD) Board.

[Catshrink]

4. I missed listing him in the OP... but I did vote for him.

Why do the 'baggers disregard experience? They are not long term thinkers, that's for sure. They don't consider the effect of having people with no knowledge of a field making decisions on that subject. It's the ultimate in stupidity.

[lonestarnot]

5. Thanks Cat!