After an explosive discussion Wednesday morning, Nevada Irrigation District directors ended a political standoff and approved seating retired construction manager and rancher Jim Bachman as the representative of the water district's largest division.

In the process, one director called into question the integrity of the district.

Bachman replaces R. Paul Williams, who stepped down in April after holding the post overseeing mostly rural parts of Lincoln and North Auburn for 27 years.

Bachman was competing for the seat against his neighbor, organic farmer William Morebeck. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's decision, directors had been split 2-2 on who should replace Williams, with directors Nancy Weber and Nick Wilcox supporting Morebeck and directors John Drew and Scott Millersupporting Bachman.

They approved Bachman 3-1, with Wilcox switching his preference and Weber alone in her opposition to his appointment.

“I was pleased that it finally came to an end,” Bachman said after the dramatic conflict was resolved.

Directors dropped their option of sending the final decision to the Placer County Board of Supervisors. The neighboring county's supervisors and farm bureau sent letters supporting Bachman, a move that Morebeck felt was premature and inappropriate.

Weber questions NID ‘integrity'

Weber called Placer County's process of supporting Bachman “predetermined.”

“It left a bad taste in my mouth,” Morebeck added, saying he wasn't given a fair chance to represent himself and he believed Placer County supervisors had made up their mind before hearing him speak.

“I only had two weeks, and I don't think that was enough time,” Morebeck said.

“I'm concerned about the integrity of NID,” Weber said at Wednesday's meeting.

Weber charged Williams had lobbied and used his influence with supervisors to “manipulate the system” and sway their support for his friend.

She also criticized Placer County District 2 Supervisor Robert Weygandt, who resides in Lincoln, of not recusing himself from the matter even after he openly spoke of his family's history purchasing property from Bachman's family.

“That's a black mark on NID,” Weber said.

Weber's comments outraged Chairman Drew, who grew red in the face as she spoke.

“I think you're out of line,” Drew told Weber. “How you can hold him responsible for what his parents did?”

Miller queried NID's legal authority to see whether Weber's “accusatory” comments against Williams were crossing libelous lines.

They were not, lawyer Jeff Meith advised.



Weber, who represents the Nevada City area in Division I, has a history of fiercely protecting water she believes should first go to Nevada County residents who have sought water hookups for years, rather than committing NID water to a treatment plant being built to serve yet-undeveloped areas within the district's boundaries near Lincoln.

Until the recent real estate collapse, Lincoln was the fastest-growing town in California.

“Sometimes I get a reputation as kind of a lightning rod,” Weber said.

Wilcox changes vote

During the meeting, Division V director Nick Wilcox offered to change his vote to support Bachman if the board declined to fully support his own motion to call a special election.

He and Weber had supported a special election, even though it would have left the Division IV seat empty until an election in October and would have cost taxpayers living in Placer County as much as $45,000.

As if given the green light, both Drew and Miller voted “no” for a special election, knowing to do so meant a win for their candidate.

Bachman's endorsement from Williams, his “passion for agriculture,” and his 50 years experience in construction won over Drew, the board chairman said.

The water district is facing $250 million in construction projects over the next decade, he added.

With suburban populations of Sacramento encroaching, Bachman acknowledged development is coming to his home turf.

“Large ranches to the north of Lincoln. If they sell and develop there will definitely be a shift in usage,” he said.

Bachman lives on 80 acres of an original 240 acres his parents owned on Garden Bar Road near Lincoln, said he will put agriculture interests first before development.

“We want to hold out as long as we can,” Bachman said.

To contact Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call 477-4231.