Woodmen Hills Metropolitan District Board president Jan Pizzi is facing a recall election. Marti Wallner, Joann Seeker and Ron Pace formed a recall committee and filed paperwork with the courts March 9. They served Pizzi with the notice the next day.The recall petition accuses the WHMD board of refusing to respond to repeated requests to decrease the cost of district salaries, spend district monies responsibly and remove the district from involvement in civil matters regarding covenants.The documents claim that “Pizzi has demonstrated her lack of commitment to this community by supporting poor decisions on these matters … (and) by refusing to address these matters during recent board meetings.”The current recall effort comes on the heels of a recall threat that resulted in the resignation of three WHMD board members last November. The remaining board members, Jan Pizzi and Jennifer Barber, appointed three new board members in December.Wallner said recalling Pizzi is necessary to prevent further damage to Woodmen Hills.”I need my home to have value,” Wallner said. “I didn’t buy my house to flip it. As a resident, I need the rec center and the water district to be successful.”She said Pizzi should be giving clear leadership as the district faces complicated water issues and the rising cost of debt services. “I don’t see it (leadership), we’re flying by the seat of our pants,” Wallner said.The WHMD board lacks a master plan, clear cut goals for 2009 and needs an official mission statement, she said. Also, Wallner said she wants to see the board develop a flexible timeline for needed projects and begin working within a structured budget and spending plan.She said current action by the district does not appear to be thought out and is cloaked in secrecy. “What is our crisis management plan?” Wallner asked. “If we have one, I need to know it. I need to be confident my district is not knee-jerking.”Wallner wants the district to educate the community as a way to justify their spending. “Even if they don’t change things, justify it,” she said. “Why are our salaries 20 percent higher than other districts our size? What makes us different? Educate us.”Pizzi said educating the community about the board’s responsibilities and actions is difficult. “Some things are negotiation sensitive,” she said. “I can’t come out and say what we’re doing or I might jeopardize the lot.”In an effort to be more transparent, the WHMD board shared information regarding the bond negotiations at a January town hall meeting. Pizzi said the effort backfired when residents used the information to contact bondholders directly, upsetting the balance and pushing back the likelihood of a resolution by two months.Since then, Pizzi said the board is holding back and keeping their cards close. “We have to put on our poker face.”Pizzi said she will not resign, an option allowed by law to avoid a recall election. “I’ve put too much work into this community,” she said. “I’m not going to let Ron Pace run me out of town. I want to see my vision for the future come through.”The new WHMD board is better prepared to handle the difficulties coming down the road, Pizzi said. “We really came up with a board where we have to work together to build a consensus,” she said.The agenda is set by the board – Pizzi said it’s a team effort toward the good of the community.However, she is admittedly proactive. “I do things, I get things done. You can’t just sit around and order people around,” she said. Pizzi said she singlehandedly fought for the completion of the SPC Dane R. Balcon Memorial Park and was instrumental in overseeing the transition of the East recreation center after the YMCA left the facility.She said she stepped forward because no one else did.Woodmen Hills resident Stan Burgess frequently speaks out at board meetings about his concerns with the current board administration. He is not an official member of the recall committee but supports the action. He said Pizzi needs to be removed, but she is not the biggest threat to the community.Burgess noted that the constitution of the board has changed dramatically over the last year. He said the one common denominator is the current district manager, Larry Bishop.”We have a one-man show and we have a chair (Pizzi) that doesn’t know what to do. Bishop is the wagon master and the board blindly follows,” Burgess said.If Pizzi is removed and the right person is elected in her place, the WHMD board could move quickly to dismiss Bishop. Burgess said he believes Bishop is misleading the community concerning the bond negotiations and the need for a wastewater plant.Larry Bishop, WHMD district manager, said he respects the right of the recall committee to move forward. However, “the committee disagrees with my salary, my being here,” he said. “I work for the board of directors and I answer to them. I won’t permit (the recall committee) to blackmail the board.”He said his current actions are for the good of the whole community. “The board has to represent all the citizens, not just one or two individuals and their agenda.”Pizzi said the community’s top priority is developing a solution for the district’s wastewater. Pizzi said Colorado law mandates the district discontinue use of the current lagoon system by 2012. “The money we save on bond negotiations will help finance a wastewater treatment plant,” she said.”Having our own plant puts us a big leg ahead of other districts in the area. With our own plant we will control the water at the end of the process and be in control of our own destiny.”She said the district also is looking for funding through the federal stimulus package, along with incentives to go green.Al Kreps, Woodmen Hills resident and senior vice president of The State Bank, spoke against the impending recall at the March 17 WHMD board meeting.Kreps cautioned the community to avoid rushing in with the recall because it could negatively impact the bond negotiations and cost the district thousands of dollars for an election commission.
