Brent Batten: Challengers seeking to upset the status quo at Bonita Springs Utilities

There’s an election, but not everyone gets to vote.

The candidates are spending money, but it’s hard to tell how much and where it comes from.

The winners will take part in meetings and generate records that are open to the public — sort of.

In a year of under-the-radar elections, the one for the Bonita Springs Utilities board of directors may be the most under-the-radar of all.

Brent Batten

Operating as a member-owned, nonprofit corporation providing water and sewer service in Bonita, southern Estero as well as a portion of unincorporated Lee County, the utility isn’t bound by the state’s open government and campaign finance laws, nor is it subject to the Public Services Commission, like electric companies and telephone providers are.

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Its election, by mail-in ballots that went out this week and are due back by March 16, will be tallied by a local law firm, not the Supervisor of Elections.

Bonita Springs Utilities, not a government agency and not a company competing in the free market, has generated criticism from some in the community.

Three of the nine seats on the board of directors are being contested. Three incumbents — James Strecansky, Mike Malloy and Frank Liles Jr. — are running as a bloc, sharing advertising costs. They’re running on a platform of no rate increases in seven years, award-winning water quality and a strong financial condition.

Two challengers — former Bonita Springs fire commissioner Ed FitzGerald and Jude Richvale — running in tandem, are threatening to shake up the status quo.

Bonita Springs Utilities sold 246 acres to the developer of Coconut Mall for $5 million.

They cite a list of concerns, among them a claim that the utility is undercharging a private company for reclaimed water.

They also point out the utility’s practice of granting only one vote per customer water meter in the board elections. That means that thousands of condominium, apartment and mobile home residents don’t get a vote if their community uses a single central water meter.

A sixth candidate — Steven Kissinger, executive director of the Immokalee Foundation — is not formally aligned with either group.

The top three vote-getters in the election will win three-year terms on the board. So far, it’s a low-budget affair, with each side spending a few hundred dollars on newspaper advertising. But because candidates aren’t required to file financial reports, there’s no telling how much will ultimately be spent or who is donating to which candidates.

Already this year, a Naples City Council election drew just 25 percent voter turnout. A Bonita Springs council election scheduled for March 20 has attracted only four candidates for three seats. Two incumbents will return to office without opposition and two others are facing off to replace a councilor leaving due to term limits.

If you’re looking to the BSU election to light a fire in the political brush, you’ll likely be disappointed. In recent elections, after more than 20,000 ballots were sent out, just over 4,000 have been returned.

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Even the utility itself is barely making a fuss. There’s no mention of the election on the BSU home page. Clicking the “What’s New” link reveals a brief biography of each of the six candidates and the basic election framework.

Critics of the utility’s practices say the information provided is not only hard to find but designed to subtly influence the casual voter.

Incumbent board members should not be identified as such, for instance, said Ron Pure of the Taxpayer Action Group, a watchdog in Bonita politics.

Other concerns include the meeting practices of the board, which is not subject to the state’s open meetings law. While board meetings are open to members, the board can go into closed session whenever it wants. Government boards can meet behind closed doors for only a narrow set of criteria, such as discussing lawsuit strategy.

Records of the utility may or may not be provided upon a member’s request, said Dave Jaye, a Bonita resident who has challenged the utility’s practices in the past.

TAG has put together a list of proposed changes for BSU.

They mirror parts of the FitzGerald and Richvale campaign.

Suggestions include making BSU rates subject to approval by the PSC, a franchise extension fee of $1 million to the city of Bonita Springs for exclusive rights to serve city residents through 2044, compliance with open government laws, cuts to employee benefits such as pension and take-home car policies, and requiring candidates to file campaign reports.

Pure said as long as the water is flowing, people tend to take water and sewer service for granted.

“Just because you get water from your faucet and you can flush the toilet doesn't mean things are A-OK at BSU,” Pure said.

Jaye, who frequently uses the word “monopoly” when talking about BSU, said the service should behave more like a government agency.

“I’m amazed at the transparency in Florida. It’s the Sunshine State. But not at BSU. They have, in my estimation, denied accountability and explanation.”

Connect with Brent Batten at brent.batten@naplesnews.com, on Twitter @NDN_BrentBatten and at facebook.com/ndnbrentbatten.