Amador County – The Amador Water Agency last week greeted its three new directors, who will start work this week.

Registrar Sheldon Johnson administered the oath of office Friday morning for Paul Molinelli Senior, Robert Manassero and Art Toy, who gave brief statements. Manassero said he “won’t go for a rate increase immediately,” as the crowd laughed, “but things change.” Toy said he was happy to be there, but often in the campaign wondered why he was running, and Molinelli said he “still has no clue.” Molinelli apologized in advance for “alienating you,” and said he will ask a lot of questions at first, but then he will be ready to move forward.

Three supervisors also spoke, with John Plasse of District 1 saying he had frequent lunches with Manassero and Molinelli in the campaign, and often had to remind them why they were running for public office. He said he did so with a quote from Plato, around 400 B.C., saying: “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

Supervisor Chairman Brian Oneto said he met a lot with Toy in his campaign, and Supervisor Ted Novelli said as a former AWA director, he looked forward to seeing the board improve how it works together, expecting it to be better than it has in the last several years. Novelli said he also looked forward to seeing people again being pleased with the decisions and actions of the AWA directors.

The induction ceremony Friday was followed by a retirement reception for District 5 Director Terence Moore, who was retiring after three terms. Moore told directors that for 12 years, the AWA board members have received $119.80 for each meeting they attend. He said he tried for 12 years to get the board a 20-cent raise, and that fight now falls to the new board.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo, with 20 years at the agency, said Moore was an asset to attaining the Amador Transmission Pipeline, and he saw several incarnations of that project over his term.

Moore said the last two years on the board of directors has been tense and stressful. His wife said the “outgoing board member” is “already gone,” and she expected his “Scotch consumption will go down on Thursdays.”

Moore also jokingly said he looked forward to attending AWA board meetings as a member of the public, and “telling you what to do.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.