Board Vacancy; 2023 Will Be An Election Year

The Prudence Island Water District expects to hold its regular election in June of 2023, with two of the five board seats on the ballot. As Helio Melo resigned from the board last month, there will not be two incumbents to re-elect.

The board feels that ideal candidates would have some familiarity with the current state of PIWD projects, typical board business, and other affairs, but notes that no members of the public are regularly attending meetings. We would encourage anyone interested in joining the board to attend meetings, talk to our members, and ask questions.

The board has used its authority to temporarily appoint Phil Brooks to the seat vacated by Helio. Phil brings significant experience and has served the board well in the past. Sadly, he no longer meets residency requirements and would not qualify for election in June, so we’re hoping the public can help us find promising new candidates. Identifying people who will learn the background and “hit the ground running” would be of great benefit to us all.

October 17 Update: The PIWD board has confirmed with the State Board of Elections that appointing Phil Brooks to serve until the next election was well within its authority granted by state charter (as well as the PIWD bylaws). Section 4.a. of our charter reads, in part, “Any vacancy that may occur in any of the aforenamed offices shall be filled by some person to be chosen by the other members of the board to hold the office until the next regular meeting”. In addition, the board firmly believes that appointing Phil Brooks, an individual with a long history of service on the board and extensive professional experience, served the public interest better than leaving the seat vacant. It is also worth mentioning that the board appointed Phil unanimously and without any reservations expressed. However, as we had heard rumors that some were dissatisfied with this move, perhaps on the basis that Phil is no longer a resident or customer, we requested that Phil abstain from voting at our October meeting until we had checked with the relevant state officials. Now that we have done so, we are confident that Phil can continue to serve the Board as a full voting member until the next election.