Dear Dir. Hickle-how do you feel now about the future of water and country?
Ramona MWD president favors journalists “who focus on reporting facts and strive to separate their opinions from the information they present.”
A journal: “We the People” part 3.
Southern California water agencies are at a critical crossroads. Can they be trusted to resist the Trump administration’s unconstitutional and reckless attempts to dismantle our democratic republic and undermine state laws designed to combat the escalating climate crisis?
The stakes couldn’t be higher, as these actions threaten not only the very foundation of our governance but humanity’s ability to survive in the future environment of its own making.
In the second installment of my journal, “We the People,” I questioned the potential influence of Trump’s MAGA-fascist governing style on the political leaders managing our water-supply agencies.
The challenges they face on our behalf are immense, and the consequences of inaction are dire. I questioned whether these leaders are prepared—or even willing—to rise to the occasion.
History shows that most water boards often fail to tackle significant issues—if they address them at all—until a crisis is imminent. The mounting challenges of our time, such as declining water demand, rising water rates, expensive large-scale projects, and the escalating climate catastrophe risk becoming insurmountable.
The situation becomes even more dire when compounded by the rise of fascism, coupled with monarchism, gangster-style oligarchy, and kleptocracy. Last July, I aimed to provoke our would-be water protectors who subscribe to this newsletter—by pressing them on the issue of looming fascism head-on.
At the time, the presidential election was still contested between Trump and President Joe Biden. The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority had recently ruled in Trump v. United States, effectively granting any president the authority to govern as a monarch or dictator.
I asked the water protectors to share their thoughts on “what water management policy might be like in America—guided by the Supreme Court’s ruling granting presidential immunity from prosecution for criminal acts, including treason.”
Perhaps because the question was posed casually in the introduction to a satirical, fact-based crosspost by Jonathan Larsen—author of The Fucking News and a former journalist and producer at MSNBC, CNN, ABC News, and editor at The Young Turks—rather than as a formal survey, only one reader responded at the time. That reader was James Hickle, president of the Ramona Municipal Water District in north San Diego County. While I had hoped for responses in the article’s comment section, Hickle chose to reply via email.
Director Hickle expressed his dislike of the crossposted article and my introduction to it. In an email requesting to cancel his subscription, he stated his preference for journalists “who focus on reporting facts and strive to separate their opinions from the information they present.”
He explained:
What I don’t need is another divisive email telling me how their side is right and those idiots are all wrong, terrible and end of democracy or our great nation. I just wanted factual information about local water issues, not another attempt to polarize people with disrespect for our institutions and fear mongering half truths of either side.
I responded to Hickle, outlining my plan to conduct further polling of water districts to explore the potential impacts of federal policies on state and regional water management after the presidential election.
And then I asked him, “Based on the history of the Trump and Biden administrations, which of these two candidates for reelection as president would be best for water management in California?”
Hickle answered:
It’s been going so well these last 4 years for water, particularly with 2 straight years of plentiful supply, I am surprised you would even have to ask.
With Capital project inflation costs of + 20%, debt service costs doubled, prevailing wages and Public Employee contributions exceeded all budget expectations….I don’t need another partisan survey to confound the facts and data in an attempt to justify their candidates value or berate their opponents.
“All we want are the facts, ma’m”!
Around that time, President Biden’s campaign was faltering under concerns about his age and mounting pressure from anxious Democrats urging him to step aside. This opened the door for Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, only to suffer a decisive defeat months later to America’s man who would-be king.
I wonder what President Hickle would say now about President Trump’s performance so far—just after his first 100 days in office—and if he thinks it portends well for the future of water management in Southern California and the Colorado River Basin states, not to mention the United States of America as a whole and the world at large.
Next in We the People: For the love of life or power; MAGA’s Golden Age, looking at just the facts; and, MWD’s “OneWater” going, going, gone?