DRIPPING SPRINGS WATER SUPPLY CORPORATION BOARD ELECTION AND PROXY VOTES
If you are a voting member of the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation
(that is, in a nutshell, DSWSC is your water utility and you're not a renter),
you should have received a voting proxy package from the Corporation which
includes a proxy sheet to sign and return, a self-addressed stamped envelope,
and a flyer with details on prize drawings (including gift certificates to local
retailers starting in the hundreds of dollars). The prize drawings are offered
as incentive to be one of the first to sign and return your proxy. By simply
signing your name and returning the proxy, you turn your vote over to the DSWSC
Credentials Committee who will vote in your stead for two new Board members at
the Annual Meting, this year scheduled for April 28, 2009. And, of course, you
may win a prize.
But what if you don’t want to simply turn your vote over to the Credentials Committee? Short of not signing the proxy and actually showing up for the meeting, how would you know who is running for the DSWSC Board and how would you cast your vote? There is no information in the package as to the candidates.
Looking at the 8.5 x 11 proxy form, in the middle in bold type are instructions that the form must be returned by April 24, then there is a large "MEMBER'S SIGNATURE" line, next to a label with your name and address. Below some more text, at the bottom of the page, to the right side is the following information in a box:
"This section is to be filled out ONLY if you wish to assign your Official Proxy to a person other than the Credentials Committee who will be attending the meeting. If you want your Proxy assigned to the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation Credentials Committee, leave this box blank. My Proxy is assigned to:"
Below that, in definitely smaller type size, is "Print Name of Person to Vote Your Proxy" with a line above it. It is on this shorter line where you would write-in the name of someone other than the Credentials Committee to cast your vote.
We recently received a forwarded email letting us know about one candidate who is running for the board, Shawn Connolly. Connolly makes his run in the wake of the news-making revelation earlier this year of an employment contract for DSWSC’s General Manager. The contract provides a base annual salary of $97,522.32 net (income tax, FICA and all other deductions are paid by the corporation), a bonus (on top of salary) in 2008 of $128,500, a vehicle for company and personal use (all insurance, maintenance and fuel costs paid by the DSWSC), health insurance, dental and vision for the employee and family, $250,000 life insurance for the employee’s beneficiary, and $48,761 (present value) a year for 20 years starting in 2019 (approximately $1 million, present value), when he retires. The Statesman has a copy of the contract posted on their site. Connolly’s run and platform to "stop this wasteful spending" is a direct response to that employee contract.
In his grassroots effort email, Connolly writes: "It’s not just mismanaged banks, corporate America and PEC handing out your hard earned money by the truckload. In your own backyard, your Water Supply Corporation Board has put together a benefits package for one employee that would embarrass even Wall Street."
As we understand it, there are three candidates for the two Board positions. Jim Walden and Larry Brewer are the two candidates recommended by the Board, and whom the Credentials Committee will be voting for with your proxy. Perhaps not too surprisingly, candidate Connolly is not a recommended candidate by the Credentials Committee which, of course, is comprised of the same Board members who approved the compensation contract.
After receiving the forwarded email, we called DSWSC to ask about the Board candidates for the two positions. We were provided with the names of three candidates: Jim Walden, Larry Brewer, and Shawn Connolly.
If you signed and returned your proxy without printing the name of another person, such as Shawn Connolly, in that lower, right-hand box, you are casting your vote for Jim Walden and Larry Brewer. Simply put, to cast your vote for Shawn Connolly (without you or someone else you designate actually attending the Annual Meeting on April 28), you would need to write his name on the line in the box and return it to DSWSC by April 24 pursuant to the specific instructions on the proxy sheet.
We don’t know Misters Walden, Brewer, or Connolly and this is not an endorsement of any one of them. Just a relay of information not provided in the DSWSC proxy vote package. We started this blog as a Dripping information resource. The coffee crews at Oak Creek Cafe and the Valero certainly already know the three candidates, but many of us are new to Dripping and have desk and computer-centric jobs that limit our access to live and in-person local buzz. So, for what it's worth, that's what we know about the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation Board election and proxy votes.
Note: We did contact Connolly to confirm that the email we received was true and correct. He confirmed and offered that anyone with questions about his candidacy could contact him directly (Shawn Connolly, (512) 626-3958 (Cell), (512) 419-1893 (Office), or shawn@connollyinsurancegroup.com. The phone number for Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation is (512) 858-7897.
But what if you don’t want to simply turn your vote over to the Credentials Committee? Short of not signing the proxy and actually showing up for the meeting, how would you know who is running for the DSWSC Board and how would you cast your vote? There is no information in the package as to the candidates.
Looking at the 8.5 x 11 proxy form, in the middle in bold type are instructions that the form must be returned by April 24, then there is a large "MEMBER'S SIGNATURE" line, next to a label with your name and address. Below some more text, at the bottom of the page, to the right side is the following information in a box:
"This section is to be filled out ONLY if you wish to assign your Official Proxy to a person other than the Credentials Committee who will be attending the meeting. If you want your Proxy assigned to the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation Credentials Committee, leave this box blank. My Proxy is assigned to:"
Below that, in definitely smaller type size, is "Print Name of Person to Vote Your Proxy" with a line above it. It is on this shorter line where you would write-in the name of someone other than the Credentials Committee to cast your vote.
We recently received a forwarded email letting us know about one candidate who is running for the board, Shawn Connolly. Connolly makes his run in the wake of the news-making revelation earlier this year of an employment contract for DSWSC’s General Manager. The contract provides a base annual salary of $97,522.32 net (income tax, FICA and all other deductions are paid by the corporation), a bonus (on top of salary) in 2008 of $128,500, a vehicle for company and personal use (all insurance, maintenance and fuel costs paid by the DSWSC), health insurance, dental and vision for the employee and family, $250,000 life insurance for the employee’s beneficiary, and $48,761 (present value) a year for 20 years starting in 2019 (approximately $1 million, present value), when he retires. The Statesman has a copy of the contract posted on their site. Connolly’s run and platform to "stop this wasteful spending" is a direct response to that employee contract.
In his grassroots effort email, Connolly writes: "It’s not just mismanaged banks, corporate America and PEC handing out your hard earned money by the truckload. In your own backyard, your Water Supply Corporation Board has put together a benefits package for one employee that would embarrass even Wall Street."
As we understand it, there are three candidates for the two Board positions. Jim Walden and Larry Brewer are the two candidates recommended by the Board, and whom the Credentials Committee will be voting for with your proxy. Perhaps not too surprisingly, candidate Connolly is not a recommended candidate by the Credentials Committee which, of course, is comprised of the same Board members who approved the compensation contract.
After receiving the forwarded email, we called DSWSC to ask about the Board candidates for the two positions. We were provided with the names of three candidates: Jim Walden, Larry Brewer, and Shawn Connolly.
If you signed and returned your proxy without printing the name of another person, such as Shawn Connolly, in that lower, right-hand box, you are casting your vote for Jim Walden and Larry Brewer. Simply put, to cast your vote for Shawn Connolly (without you or someone else you designate actually attending the Annual Meeting on April 28), you would need to write his name on the line in the box and return it to DSWSC by April 24 pursuant to the specific instructions on the proxy sheet.
We don’t know Misters Walden, Brewer, or Connolly and this is not an endorsement of any one of them. Just a relay of information not provided in the DSWSC proxy vote package. We started this blog as a Dripping information resource. The coffee crews at Oak Creek Cafe and the Valero certainly already know the three candidates, but many of us are new to Dripping and have desk and computer-centric jobs that limit our access to live and in-person local buzz. So, for what it's worth, that's what we know about the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation Board election and proxy votes.
Note: We did contact Connolly to confirm that the email we received was true and correct. He confirmed and offered that anyone with questions about his candidacy could contact him directly (Shawn Connolly, (512) 626-3958 (Cell), (512) 419-1893 (Office), or shawn@connollyinsurancegroup.com. The phone number for Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation is (512) 858-7897.
Posted by DSBabble.com at Tuesday, April 21, 2009 11:38 AM 
Categories: dripping springs water supply corporation
Tags: dripping springs water supply corporation
Categories: dripping springs water supply corporation
Tags: dripping springs water supply corporation
I greatly appreciate DS Babble posting the information that another candidate other than the hand-pick candidates of the DSWSC is running. Due to the closed society of the DSWSC a culture of over spending, mismanagement and conflicts of interest have been allowed to prosper. I'm outside looking in and what I've seen so far has not been in the interests of the members of the DSWSC. We as members must put a stop to this before all that is left is a hollow shell of a corporation and a millionaire manager paid for on the backs of each and every member.
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To Whom it may concern,
It may be necessary for me to move back to Texas to live and work close to my mother. She has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy, and will spend 2/3 of the next year in Dallas for treatment. It will be beneficial for me to have employment in the area (my mother lives between Sandy and Johnson City). I hold a variety of licenses in the State of Arkansas;
- Class 4 water distribution
- Class 3 water treatment
- Class 1 waste water
- Industrial waste water
- Class A CDL w/Air Brakes
It is my desire to use my experience and licenses to serve in your community. I will be happy to send my resume for your reviewal.Please consider me for a position with the City. I am a native Texan, 6th generation Houstonian, and a graduate of the University of Texas.
Sincerely,
Graham McCullough
501.802.3526
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