When you send an email to ValleyWater’s Board, surprise! We may not receive it.
Here’s another look into my life as a Board Director elected to oversee a highly corrupt government agency. I am still on the “small things” — when compared with the big things I eventually will get to.
Today’s topic: Email sent to the email address Board@Valleywater.org does NOT go to the Board of Valley Water directly. It goes to Valley Water’s CEO and staff, who intercept all of the email. They claim that they are “helping” us by taking control of our email when it comes in, despite my requests to see all emails that are directed to me and my colleagues.
Why does the CEO intercept all email sent to Board@ValleyWater.org? According to the CEO and Board Clerk (both of whom report to the Board), they intercept the emails so they can review the emails, filter out emails that they in their own discretion believe are “inappropriate” or “unworthy,” and so they can craft proposed responses to “save us time.” They do not ultimately forward the email to us, unless they determine, in their (not our) discretion that a certain email might be interesting or relevant to one of us, and at that point they forward with their proposed response. Meanwhile the person who wrote the email does not receive a response for days.
Eventually the Board Clerk copy/pastes all of the emails that they did not disregard, and she compiles them into a PDF called“Non Agenda Items,” that she distributes with Board Agendas. This indirect distribution can take up to 10 days or 2 weeks after the original email was sent by the sender and received by the District. And during that whole time, the intended receipients of the emails have not had a chance to see those emails in the form of emails. This also means that responding to the emails also requires another copy/paste. Often the email address of the sender is not included on the PDF.
Why won’t they let us see our emails when they see our emails? The Board Clerk, confoundingly, claims that she is prohibited from giving us, the elected Board Directors, access to these emails that are sent to us, due to the “Brown Act.” For those unfamiliar, the Brown Act is a California law that requires transparency in government communications, deliberations, actions, and meetings. The Brown Act would never require that emails be withheld from their intended recipient — in fact, the Brown Act, if anything, would require immediate delivery of the emails to the Electeds.
The Clerk nonetheless claims that *eventually* sending the emails to the Board through the indirect means of a PDF titled “Non Agenda Items” is the best way to satisfy her Brown Act requirements, rather than actually allowing the emails to reach their recipients in real time. How she understands so little about email is mind blowing. For example, she does not seem to understand that forwarding an email does not delete the original email when it is forwarded. She still can compile the emails into a PDF, but she also can show them to us — which is the way group/alias emails to elected boards and councils are handed virtually everywhere else.
What makes matters worse is that none of my six Board colleagues are remotely interested in receiving the emails that are sent to them via the “Board@Valleywater.org” email address. They have pushed back against my request, claiming that I am being unreasonable by wanting to see, in real time, the email that is sent to me/us. Personally, I do not know why people consider themselves entitled to hold public office if they are unwilling to hear from their constituents. I won’t solve that problem, but I should be able to solve the problem that I do not receive emails sent to me.
Worst of all, I tried instead to direct people to email me at the email address posted on the Valley Water website instead of using the faster and more convenient Board@valleywater.org email address, but they told me that I still was not responding to their email. Only today I learned why. Not only do I not receive emails sent to Board@valleywater.org, but also I have not — ever — been receiving emails that were sent to me by clicking on the links on the valleywater.org website, because in both places on the website where my email address is listed, the words reisenberg@valleywater.org linked to the email address jvarela@valleywater.org — the former Board Chair. (I wrote about this earlier.) So I have not been receiving almost any of the email sent to me since the time I was sworn in 13 months ago.
All I can say is: I work for a profoundly corrupt government agency. And, if you want to reach me, please use one of my personal email addresses, including rebecca at rebecca4water dot com.
Or give me a call.
Addendum: PS This is the CEO’s response, emphasis added mine. Notice that he focused only on my mention of him in the email. He never addresses the underlying problem that he deprives me of access to my emails. And he bizarrely argues that even though all staff report to him, and he is responsible for staff, that somehow he is not at all involved in this equation. A narcissist only sees as far as his reflection in the mirror.
Directorn Eisenberg,
On another note to clear up the incorrect and erroneous information that you have stated that the CEO screens, receives, or even has access to your emails is indeed completely false, erroneous, and incorrect.
I Dont review any emails coming to you to determine any actions that should occur at all. I have never done so for any Board Member in my 28 years with Valley Water and I don’t now, and will not be doing so in the future. Your incorrect assertions below are simply false, inaccurate and lack truth. In fact I don’t even have access at all to check the emails you state are coming into the Board account.
Always feel free to fact check your information on our operations with me. I would be more than happy to provide you factual and correct information.
Thanks
***
In other words, Go to H*ll, B**ch! You will never receive your emails! Bwahahahaha. Sigh.
