Questioning RUSS

May 7, 2012

Richmond, Iowa

To the Editor:

Washington County?s newspapers have been busy reporting our county?s troubled relationship with Regional Utility Service Systems (RUSS). The April 17 meeting was a well-staged public relations event ? obviously planned in advance, but added to the agenda at the last minute.

At the April 24 meeting, Supervisor Ron Bennett challenged an attempt to quietly pass a $25,000 budget amendment to pay RUSS for Lake Trio?s unfortunate involvement with that dysfunctional bureaucracy.

Homeowners in Lake Trio ended up doing what they probably should have done in the first place ? installing on-site septic systems. They seem to have agreed to pay $15,000 for RUSS? botched up ?services? because defending themselves against a predatory government agency would have cost them even more in legal fees ? especially when their county government seems to care more about RUSS than it does about them.

Supervisors Ron Bennett and Wes Rich had a lively dispute over the history of RUSS? Lake Trio debacle. The excellent, well-documented column ?Northern Exposure? in the May 1 North Washington County Free Press clearly shows that Ron Bennett was right, and Wes Rich was dead wrong. Now that we have accurate information, it seems that when, as reported in the April 26 Wellman Advance, Rich said to Ron Bennett, ?you don?t want to be confused with the facts,? Supervisor Rich was actually talking about himself!

The phrase, ?if you knew the facts? is such a favorite with Wes Rich that perhaps we should call him ?the man with the facts.? However, ?Northern Exposure?s? accurate reporting reveals many of Mr. Rich?s famous ?facts? to be mere fictions.

Also, we were especially gratified to read that Jack Seward, candidate for county supervisor, was at the April 24 meeting pointing out the misplaced loyalties of some present supervisors who are putting RUSS? interests ahead of those of Washington County citizens.

For Wes Rich to sit on both Washington County?s board of supervisors and RUSS? board of directors, while technically legal, has always seemed like a serious conflict of interest to us.

In a recent newspaper letter we drew some criticism for comparing Mr. Rich to ?a man trying to serve two masters.? So we feel vindicated by Mr. Seward, who said that the supervisors should stand behind their own people and not ?another organization such as RUSS.?

Except for Ron Bennett, our present county supervisors are stepping on their own people for the benefit of ?another organization,? RUSS! Do they consider citizens to be their own people, or just resources to be used?

Voters should start paying much more attention to their county board of supervisors and understand that it really matters whom they elect. Kalona and Riverside residents also should be aware that the election of their district?s supervisor will be decided in the Republican primary on June 5 ? their only chance to influence our county government?s future.

Dick and Joanne Horesowsky