Free Republic

The president of a suburban water district on the verge of financial collapse reportedly paid himself, his girlfriend and her daughter a total of $111,000 a year to work jobs that an expert said are typically handled by volunteers. With little oversight, the water district — one of the smallest in the state, serving a working-class neighborhood east of downtown Aurora — became the first in Illinois to go into foreclosure in more than 30 years. The federal government took the highly unusual step of placing the Moecherville Water District in foreclosure last fall after it failed to make a...

Today, at the Water District where I work, following a Gay, Lesbian and Trans Gender celebration at lunch, they hoisted the rainbow diversity flag in place of the California flag on the pole in front of the headquarters building. The flag stayed there for about 2 1/2 hours. I would like each of you to take a stand on this incident and at least take the time to call or write the Water District at the following phone number and addresses: Main office: 408-265-2600 Ask for Stan Williams CEO Address: Santa Clara Valley Water District Website: www.valleywater.org Email: swilliams@valleywater.org If...

<p>Dewight Kramer is accustomed to going first. As general manager of the Sacramento Suburban Water District, he used to fly around the country in first-class airline seats. Now he has become the first to enter a guilty plea as part of a federal probe into the past financial shenanigans of the water district.</p>

<p>Dewight Francis Kramer Sr., former general manager of two scandal-plagued water districts, pleaded guilty Friday in Sacramento federal court to his role in a major tax fraud and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors pursuing other water district officials.</p> <p>Kramer has no criminal history other than the federal charges. He admitted to the judge that, while general manager of Northridge Water District, he conspired with his assistant and co-defendant, Jerry Allan Ness, to conceal from the Internal Revenue Service $516,332 earned by them and other district employees from January 1999 through December 2002.</p>