Western Kern County growers vote to expand water district board, which will reduce one wealthy farmer’s power

A proposal by farmers in the Buena Vista Water Storage District to expand the district board in order to better represent farmers, and which will dilute the voting power of one large grower, was unanimously approved earlier this month.

Of 68,000 votes available district wide, 53,365 were cast in favor of the expansion. Zero votes were cast opposing the expansion, according to Buena Vista General Manager Tim Ashlock.

“The unanimous nature of the vote underscored the importance of the change,” wrote Buena Vista farmer Beau Antongiovanni in a text message.

He said farmers were looking forward to getting significant work done in the next few years as “…a seven-man board that can function even if a couple members choose not to, or cannot, attend meetings.”

Farmers have become increasingly frustrated that board members John Vidovich, who controls Sandridge Partners LP, and Craig Andrew, who works for Sandridge, have missed numerous meetings. As a five-member board, that has meant Buena Vista has often lacked a quorum to do district business, leading to delays in necessary projects.

A fix wasn’t as simple as voting them off the board because Buena Vista apportions votes by land ownership. Sandridge owns enough land in the northern end of Buena Vista that he and Andrew could never be voted off the board. 

So, for that and a general need for more representation, farmers came up with a new district map that expands the board to seven divisions. A seven-member board also means Vidovich’s voting power will be cut from 40% to about 28.6%

And, crucially, it will mean his and Andrew’s absences will not prevent a quorum.

Vidovich did not return phone calls from SJV Water.

Just a few days after the successful board expansion vote, Buena Vista held another election to approve a land assessment fee that will facilitate moving forward on the 300-acre  McAllister Ranch Water Bank.

Farmers approved the assessment measure on a vote of 25,194 to 17,794 giving Buena Vista the ability to assess land at up to $94 per acre for up to the next 30 years, according to Ashlock.

Antongiovanni said a lot of farmers were closely watching the board expansion issue before supporting the land assessment fee.

The district has been working to convert McAllister, a failed housing development on the extreme southwest edge of Bakersfield, to a massive water bank for more than 15 years. Farmers’ patience had worn thin as progress repeatedly stalled because the Buena Vista board lacked a quorum.

There are a lot of moving parts to the water bank, including contracts and timelines to support a small solar project intended to power the facility. 

At a meeting earlier this summer, growers launched into Vidovich accusing him of dragging out the project when he questioned various contracts. Vidovich defended his stance as wanting to define costs before spending millions. But farmers shot back that all the options, costs and vendor comparisons had already been laid out by district staff.

“As long as I’ve known you it’s been build, build, build and now you’re stalling. I don’t get it,” one farmer exclaimed during that raucous meeting in late June.

Now, with an expanded board, Antongiovanni said, a lot of farmers feel the district is heading in the right direction.

“Without the seven-man board, there would have been a lot more ‘no’ votes,” he said of the new McAllister assessment fee. “A lot of people had more trust with the expansion that the board would spend the money right.”

He said several farmers are interested in filling the newly created, vacant seats.

Ashlock said the board will consider how to fill those vacancies at its November meeting.

The new divisions are: Division 1, Jeof Wyrick; Division 2, VACANT; Division 3, Julien Parsons; Division 4, Tom Toretta; Division 5, VACANT, Division 6, John Vidovich; and Divisions 7, Craig Andrew.