Ever wonder why elected officials get involved in other entity’s elections? It makes sense that Republicans or Democrats get involved in their respective races. But, to get in the middle of a water district board race, why?
Well, one must look back several years to put the pieces together. We could go back as far as 2014 when Commissioner Gardner served on the City Council (2014-2018), but we will save that story for another day. Commissioner Gardner has had his eyes set on controlling ECUD for several years. He successfully got his campaign advisor Patti Kappauf, husband Will Kappauf, appointed to the ECUD board on May 18, 2021.
Then March 15, 2022, Troy Walker, part of the Tish Crow Republican Party cabal group was appointed with pressure put on existing board members. In November 2023 and April 2024, pressure was again put on the board to appoint John Kelley, and twice the board voted unanimously against John Kelley’s appointment.
His uncontrollable outburst of not being chosen at the April 2024 meeting resulted in all future board meetings being held in the ECUD field warehouse along with security.
While Commissioner Gardner sat on the dais at the commissioner’s court meetings on November 16, 2023, December 5, 2023, December 14, 2023, February 13, 2024, and March 26, 2024, the cabal with Patti Kappauf, Will Kappauf, Shirley Kelley, John Kelley, and Jeff Russell repeatedly tried to convince the court that they had jurisdiction over the ECUD water district.
After hundreds of thousands of taxpayer’s monies were spent by the county and ECUD the Texas State Attorney General, Ken Paxton ruled that ECUD was NOT under the commissioner’s jurisdiction and that all formal complaints were found to be unjustified.
Now Commissioner Gardner’s political adviser Patti Kappauf is campaigning for John Kelley, Jesus Sanchez, and Darrell Pando for positions on the ECUD board for the Nov. 5 election. Commissioner Gardner emailed an invite to an ECUD candidates forum HE is hosting. While we appreciate Gardner hosting a candidate’s forum, we also know that this forum will be as unfair as the debate between President Trump and Harris.
A complete setup of failure for their not-so-chosen candidates. We respectfully will not attend the forum on Oct, 15, hosted by Commissioner Gardner and orchestrated by Patti Kappauf. We make this public because we all know the truth will be twisted into their narrative.
Sadly, dirty politics for power or money are not only in the City of Odessa but have tricked down like a slow leak to the Ector County Utility District. We will continue to fight for less government and no taxes.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Shaw, ECUD Board Position 1 candidate
Penny Wilkerson, ECUD Board Position 3 candidate
Linda Hall, ECUD Board Position 4 candidate
