Union official alleges illegal contract
RENO -- A union lawyer Thursday accused the Truckee Carson Irrigation District's board of directors of illegally approving a secret contract to pay for the legal defense of district officials charged with defrauding the federal government.
The lawyer for the union representing district workers also said that all of the approximately half dozen employees who testified before the grand jury that indicted the officials received notice Thursday they are being laid off.
Michael Langton, representing the Nevada Classified School Employees and Public Workers Local 6181, said he is investigating whether the layoffs were in retaliation for blowing the whistle on what federal prosecutors alleged was a conspiracy to falsify records to secure extra water supplies from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
He estimated the contract with three lawyers that the district's board of directors approved Wednesday was more than $100,000. He questioned whether the board had the authority to spend the money out of funds Northern Nevada farmers pay the district to get their share of the water for their crops and livestock.
"I'd like to know where they are getting the money from," Langton said.
"What they are charging farmers has to go for providing water for users, not for defending persons who are accused of violating the law," he said.
Michael Van Zandt, a lawyer who appeared on behalf of the district in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, did not return a telephone call or e-mail seeking comment.
The Lahontan Valley News first reported that the district's board went into a closed session Wednesday before approving the contract for lawyers who appeared in federal court earlier this week with the four district officials charged with conspiracy to defraud the Bureau of Reclamation, falsification of records, false claims and false statements.
The accused include Dave Overvold, project manager for the district, and Lyman McConnell, the district's lawyer.
Federal prosecutors alleged in the indictment Dec. 5 they were part of a scheme to inflate water delivery data to secure extra water credits from the bureau and boost supplies primarily for area farmers and ranchers from 2000-05. A trial is set for Feb. 23.
