Selling much of a county-run water system owned by 75,000 people to a village of 10,000 people might also warrant unity of decision. Yet on April 28, Moore commissioners voted to sell Pinehurst a county-run water operation in a 3-2 decision. There were no public hearings. Commissioner Virginia Saunders, a hairdresser from Robbins, cast the swing vote.
I’ve only known one hairdresser-politician. Emil Porfido was the Democratic Mayor of Ramsey, N.J. and a smart businessman who operated a beauty parlor and barbershop under one roof. He knew everybody, yet in spite of his personal popularity was first elected by just one vote. He listened to the people, worked successfully with a usually all-Republican council, did his homework and was re-elected very four years.
In talking to Virginia Saunders, I didn’t sense she’d done her homework before her tie-breaker vote, a power move establishing her as the Evita Peron of Moore County, because it determines for residents served by the remaining county system what price they’ll pay for water for generations to come. It may discourage job-creating industrial investment because Pinehurst can inhibit load-adding needed by the county to satisfy high-demand industrial water users.
I asked Saunders if a public hearing should have been held. She seemed surprised anyone might even want to be heard. Two other commissioners thought a countywide vote would have helped, rather than just the unbinding vote promised Pinehurst citizens. I asked Saunders if the county hired an independent accountant to appraise the system’s value. She said no, it had relied solely on an analysis done by KPMG, a firm hired jointly by county and village. A home seller is wise to employ a different lawyer than the buyer’s. When selling a utility, the county may have been unwise to depend upon the same evaluator used by Pinehurst. Instead of having two independent valuations to compare, there was only KPMG’s.
Saunders acknowledged no competitive offers were sought. She and Commissioner Michael Holden both rationalized that there’d been sufficient publicity in the past, and if another water company wanted to bid, they’d have been heard from. I asked another commissioner if it was legal to sell such a large county-owned asset without soliciting competitive offers. He admitted he hadn’t raised the issue with the county attorney. Holden believes its 100 percent legal to do so. Unlike businessmen who always bargain for the highest possible price when selling a valuable asset, the commissioners never advertised seeking competitive offers. Had they done so, county residents might be getting a far higher price from a company like American Water. Legally they may not have been obligated, but ethically they had a fiduciary obligation to maximize county asset values.
Saunders’ determinative vote gives 13 percent of county residents control of a vital asset without concern for the future well-being of non-Pinehurst residents. I asked her if the county protected the jobs of its affected employees, or if their employment rights were even discussed. The answer: “No. county employees were given no protection.” One commissioner assumes the best workers will join Pinehurst, thereby wounding an emasculated county system even more.
I asked Saunders how non-Pinehurst county water system users would benefit. Her answer, “If the Pinehurst system breaks down now, all county residents are financially responsible. Soon only Pinehurst residents will pay.” The negative impact on non-Pinehurst residents was never formally studied. She expressed zero concern that water rates for other users are expected to go up, perhaps dramatically. Several commissioners agreed that plans to efficiently import water into Moore County from other counties must suffer.
Commissioner Colin McKenzie admits voting for the sale to ensure “justice is done for Pinehurst.” Justice is supposed to be blind, yet McKenzie, elected to represent all county residents, sees the issue only through the narrow lens of a lifelong Pinehurst native.
A former Moore Water and Sewer Authority executive estimated potential income from user tap fees (paid by 3,091 Pinehurst and Pinewild lot owners to the county) to be worth $4.5 million. Because that amount equals exactly half the selling price, it brings into question the total value placed on the system by KPMG. The $9 million realized from the sale won’t be dedicated to future county water needs but will evaporate into the general fund.
If Pinehurst has won politically, then Vass, Seven Lakes, the Love Grove Church community, Addor, Jackson Hamlet, Hyland Hills, areas in East Moore and north of Robbins have lost financially. In those places Saunders’ name may long live in infamy.
Evita Maria Duarte Peron’s birthday is May 7. Throughout Argentina, the Descamisados, or “shirtless ones,” still march in her honor and pray for her soul. How will Moore residents celebrate Virginia Saunders’ birthday in years to come? I somehow doubt they’ll put her likeness up on a marble pedestal in Courthouse Square.
Paul Dunn lives in Pinehurst. Contact him at lakeshore@pinehurst.net.
