I noticed with interest that there will be a contested election for two seats on the Fountain Hills Sanitary District’s board of directors. Apparently, this is somewhat unusual.

A sanitary district is not a glamorous place and so few people want the job. But wastewater treatment is critical to both public health and the environment. The qualifications of the two incumbent directors, Thomas Reski and Gregg Dudash, are impressive. Between them, they have over 50 years of experience in the field of wastewater treatment.

Their challengers appear to have no relevant experience in that area. So why are they running? Both challengers have stated that their focus is on improving water quality in Fountain Park. That’s curious. From what I can gather, the water is given free to the town and is considered to be Class A effluent.

I also noticed that the two challengers are both members of the local Rotary Club. A quick check confirms that Art Tolis, the town councilperson who is pushing the Crystal Lagoon project, is the president of the local Rotary Club. It’s not hard to connect the dots. Mr. Tolis is the primary motivating force behind the controversial lagoon scheme.

The sanitary district has pointed out that they own underground facilities near the proposed lagoon site that would need to be moved. It would cost well over $1 million and the district said that such a cost would have to be borne by the lagoon project, not the district’s rate payers. I appreciate that but, apparently, Mr. Tolis does not.

So, is this an effort by Mr. Tolis to take over the sanitary district by getting his friends elected? Are the two unqualified challengers nothing but a Trojan Horse for this Crystal Lagoon boondoggle? It certainly seems so. Connect the dots.