The Storm Lake Times

Reading the first couple of paragraphs in each of the editorials we were
given this week, reminded me of my high school days when I was in a watershed program. In the watershed program we tested the quality of water in creeks around my hometown. I was in charge of testing the nitrate levels, which is what some of these articles are talking about.

In Unveiling the Hidden Truth, the main concern is not what the opinions of the public are, but rather just exposing where the money is coming from to pay for these water works lawsuits. When reports asked BuenaVista County Auditor Sue Lloyd if she knew any of the arrangements to pay the lawyers and apparently is a very credible women because they believed her. The real question then is who is paying these legal fees?

So, turns out there is an account that is funded by Farm Bureau and groups
like corn growers, pork producers, soybean association, and others. This seemed okay to have an account like this as long as the public is told the total of the bill and yet again who’s paying it.

You’d think for a big enough lawsuit like this someone would have to be
paying the legal bills. Otherwise, how else would anyone move forward in a
lawsuit if no one was being paid? It seems like one of the big concerns BV is
having is the fact they elected a board of supervisors and a county attorney to
lead and protect the taxpayers of the county but didn’t elect an interest group
to help “lead” them.

Something I find a little sketchy with this article as I read it is the
county isn’t giving the public any kind of information. And they have every
right to this information. The county could be responsible for $100 million in
damages or violating the Clean Water Act and they have no clue what is
happening within the lawsuits. Keeping vital information from the public will
just come back and nip them in the butt, especially since Iowa law requires the disclosure of information the supervisors are trying to hide.

They say a settlement with the water works is impossible. The county is
withholding information that could help the public understand why an agreement can’t be settled and would also help the public understand how they are handling this lawsuit. Why keep the public out of the loop when they are the ones to be affected by it the most? Just tell the public who’s paying the lawyers and how and maybe the public can finally understand the steps the supervisors are having to take to move past the lawsuit.

A continuing story in the water works lawsuits all because county officials
seem to want to fight rather than solve problems. Counties are asking for
donations since the Agribusiness Association of Iowa bailed on counties because they didn’t want to reveal who its mystery donors are.

Settle, now continues to ask how and who is going to finance the defense against the Water Works suing three counties. It seems that there was an agreement made between county officials who were involved and law firms that were involved to keep the finances a secret and protect the donors at all costs.

There are so many higher ups that are allowed to act sketchy and are keeping
information hidden. How are they able to do this without getting into major
trouble? Is all this hassle to keep everything a secret really worth it? Why
can’t they just release who is paying the legal fees?

The articles seem to kind of keep repeating themselves, but the little
information they are given still isn’t answering their big question of who is
paying for all the legal fees. All of the secretiveness could’ve been avoided
if names were released and if they were to figure out a way to mediate the
problem. Now, it’s time to talk settlement.

The county could try to continue forward with the trials but are running out
of money. If they dip in the county’s general fund, then Dave Patton will
become involved again and he suggested in the first place a settlement
agreement. He was shortly ordered off the case. It seems as neither the Buena Vista County taxpayers nor the Des Moines drinking water consumers can afford to keep going, so they’re going to be forced to settle. Imagine going through all this secrecy and money just to find out in the end the bank is dry, and you have to settle.

So, in the end hopefully the county officials realize that the public are
the ones who put them in office and should really listen to their concerns
about Iowa’s water problem. The county officials have drained the funds and now are seeking help. Iowa just needs clean water and strong agriculture but didn’t need to go through all this secrecy just to get there. The public just wanted a solution and some answers.