Tuscan an example of a democracy is in crisis

On Tuesday, September 28th, the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted to recommend that LAFCO approve the formation of the Tuscan Water District. This water district, elected on a “one acre, one vote” basis, will disenfranchise thousands of domestic well users and will essentially allow the 50 largest landowners to pick their own board. This isn’t democracy, it’s feudalism.

We are experiencing a crisis in American democracy — with the Republican Party questioning a presidential election it lost and GOP state assemblies across the nation. embracing gerrymandering. And now we see three of our supervisors choose to empower a few large landowners at the expense of thousands of others. Why are these three supervisors choosing to protect the powerful rather than creating a governing structure that will force competing interests to compromise? What could be more unAmerican than taking away the right of small landowners to meaningfully speak?

What happens if the Tuscan cannot procure the surface water it has promised to buy from Paradise? Do you trust a district run by a handful of large landowners to make any choices besides the one that benefits them most? I do not.

LAFCO will consider the formation of the Tuscan Water District next month. It should deny the application. With such a skewed governance structure, there is a high risk that the Tuscan Water District will ultimately act against the thousands of domestic well-owners who will have no say in the groundwater they depend on.

— Max Steiner, Chico