Dade's newly-anointed water board, from foreground clockwise: Robin Rogers, legal advisor; Sherri Walker, water company assistant manager; H.A. McKaig, vice chairman; Eddie Cantrell, chairman; Dr. Billy Pullen; Jeff Pendergrass, water company general manager; Travis McDaniel, board member; Darrell Pardue, member.
The Planet was loaded for bear at Tuesday night's organizational meeting of the brand-new governing board of the Dade County Water Authority. The so-called water board had just been reshuffled by local legislation, the county commission chairman had been unceremoniously booted from its leadership, and more of the water company's financial peculiarities had seemed to bubble to the surface with every passing week.
We left the drama last week with yet more financial rewards being discovered buried among the water company's dusty accounts for the retiring general manager, another senior employee asking what about me, may I have some, too? and the water board's legal advisor replying, "Does he still work there?"
All this on top of ongoing and often surreal arguments about what kind of fodder to allow a farmer to grow on a pasture the water board had recently, for reasons large portions of the ratepayers had forgotten and many more never grasped in the first place, paid him $400,000 for.
In any case, The Planet, knowing the newly-anointed water board had some slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to deal with, primed the musket, packed some snacks and left the porch light on. But life and boards of directors are full of surprises, the meeting adjourned 10 minutes after it began and The Planet orbited home in time to cut okra before the horseflies set in.
The water board met just long enough to elect officers and to set future meetings for the fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the county Administrative Building. That starts this month, on July 23, at which point the newly-anointed board will, presumably, start taking arms against its sea of troubles.
The water board elected as its chairman Eddie Cantrell, the affable Baptist preacher who has sat on the board since 2012 as District 3 representative. He has now been appointed Trenton representative, while new member Darrell Pardue, the also-affable proprietor of Rising Fawn Hardware, will represent District 3.
District 4 member H.A. McKaig was voted vice-chairman, and Travis McDaniel of District 2 will be treasurer. Dr. Billy Pullen remains the board's District 1 member.
