Last week, Spicewood News published a detailed analysis of what Texas communities are experiencing after selling their water systems to private‑equity‑owned companies like Aqua Texas and Central States Water Resources. CSWR is the company we allegedly sold our system to (despite the lack of a 2/3s vote of all members necessary to change corporate structure. That will be a future post.)
The Spicewood News post documented statewide evidence from other communities who regret selling out: skyrocketing bills, loss of local control, and rate structures that no longer reflect a community’s actual cost of service.
These were complaints about 200 and 300 percent increases because of volumetric rates, meaning a household using the same amount of water as it previously did suffered 200 to 300 percent billing increase.
As expected, the two NextDoor Trolls in our neighborhood responded —not by addressing any of those facts—but by attacking me personally. That’s how they operate their ongoing con of this neighborhood.
That’s fine. Politics in Windermere Oaks has always had its personalities and the disorder they cause. But personality-driven disorderliness doesn’t change math or the consequences of selling our water system to private equity. So let’s return to the facts.
The Attacks Ignore the Central Issue: Private Equity Eliminates Local Rate Protection
Both commenters avoided the core point of the article: Once WOWSC is sold, Windermere Oaks loses the ability to appeal rates, challenge rate structures, or correct billing inequities. Forever.
Under member ownership, WOWSC could—and did—adjust base rates, correct tier structures, and reduce charges once litigation concluded.
The 2020 board publicly stated, at the time we raised the Base rate 71%, that it was temporary and would be revisited after the lawsuits ended. The plaintiffs, not the board, were in the driver seat on that. Sorgen was a plaintiff in the suit against the company and he could have worked to withdraw the suit then, instead of pursuing it through a jury trial two years and $100s of thousands later, for a whopping $70,000 jury verdict
That possibility — of a local board lowering base rates — disappears the moment Central States Water Resources, a private‑equity backed corporation takes over.
Aqua Texas customers cannot appeal their rates. CSWR customers cannot appeal their rates. Their bills are set by corporate strategy and PUC rate processes, not local cost of service. Customers only have rights during a rate-hike process at the Public Utility Commission. Aqua Texas is doing that right now and has promised it will do so again soon after.
That is the entire point of the original article. And neither commenter addressed it.
Bruce Sorgen’s Attack Omits His Own Role in Creating the Rate Increase He Complains About
Bruce Sorgen wrote that “under Joe’s leadership” there was a 71% increase in the water bill.
What he left out is that he was the plaintiff in the lawsuit that forced WOWSC to raise those rates.
WOWSC had to hire attorneys, respond to filings, and defend itself in court—costs that were directly triggered by Bruce’s litigation. The board explained this repeatedly and stated that once the lawsuits ended, the temporary rate structure would be revisited.
Sorgen’s lawsuit created the cost. The board responded to the cost. And now Bruce is attacking the response to the cost he created.
But again, even this is a distraction from the real issue: Aqua Texas and CSWR do not revisit rates. They raise them. Repeatedly.
Danny Flunker’s Comment Misstates What “81%” Actually Means
Danny Flunker wrote that “81% of the membership voted to sell the co‑op.”
That is not accurate, but what would else would you expect from the Con Man?
81% of the people who showed up or mailed in their ballots voted to sell. That is not the same as 81% of the membership. (I have not even reviewed that number — 81 % — and I have documented many instances where the ConMan uses half-truths and engineered numbers, so we will have to come back to that.)
Anway, WOWSC has about 300 members. Only a fraction of that, maybe half, attended the meeting, or mailed in ballots. IIRC it was only 50% of the membership that actually took the time to vote.
But even if the number were correct, it still wouldn’t change the consequences of the vote:
Selling to private equity eliminates local control and locks the community into permanent, non‑appealable rate structures.
That is the issue. Not who attended a meeting. Not who posted a video. Not who dislikes whom.
The Facts Remain: Communities Across Texas Regret Making This Exact Decision
My original article documented what Aqua Texas customers are telling the Public Utility Commission right now:
- Bills doubling and tripling even when usage goes down.
- Wastewater charges applied to irrigation water that never enters the sewer.
- Rate tiers jumping 60–90% in a single year.
- Customers paying for corporate salaries and infrastructure in other towns.
These are not opinions. These are sworn statements, filed in official PUC proceedings.
And these are the consequences Windermere Oaks voted to adopt. No personal attack on me changes that.
The Bruce Sorgen “Serving on Boards” Con
Bruce Sorgen’s response to last week’s post is another example of how personal attacks are used to distract from the actual policy consequences facing Windermere Oaks.
His NextDoor comment did not address the substance of the article. Instead, he attempted to turn my years of volunteer service into a negative against me. Talk about disorders…
For most people, serving on a neighborhood board—year after year, through difficult issues, litigation, and community conflict—is evidence of care, commitment, and willingness to do the work that keeps a small community functioning. Ordinary homeowners understand this. They know that volunteer governance is often thankless, often difficult, and always necessary.
Bruce frames that service – my 8 years here and 6 years elsewhere – in derision.
Let’s look at his record:
Beyond a brief and tumultuous stint on the Windermere Oaks POA in 2015-16, when he was working with the lead ConMan to exert POA control over the Marina associations—and ending in his resignation—Bruce’s most consequential action in this community has been suing his neighbors, twice.
He lost his first lawsuit seeking to overturn the land sale because of an Open Meetings Act violation, and that cost the WOWSC $100,000, approxmiately.
Then, his second lawsuit produced only a $70,000 jury award at a cost of roughly $2 million in legal fees from all parties, destabilizing the water system and triggering the very rate increase he complained about. (BTW, He also wanted $1 million in damages and penalties from me and others. He didn’t win that either.)
That is his legacy in Windermere Oaks. Lawsuits and quitting. Conning the neighborhood with relentless misinformation campaigns. He sued volunteers, and his lawsuit sought damages from them. Helluva guy he is.
My legacy, by contrast, was years of volunteer governance, years of showing up, years of doing the work required to keep a member‑owned utility functioning. You may disagree with decisions made during those years—that is normal in any community—but the record shows a consistent commitment to service, not self‑interest, not suing volunteers to make them pay you, like Bruce did.
And again, none of this changes the central point:
Selling WOWSC to a private‑equity water corporation eliminates the community’s ability to correct rates, appeal rate structures, or protect itself from corporate billing practices.
That is the issue. Not personalities. Not grudges. Not who dislikes whom.
Windermere Oaks Deserves a Serious Conversation—Not Deflection
The future of this community’s water system is too important to be reduced to personal insults.
The question is simple:
Do Windermere Oaks residents want to pay rates based on their own system’s cost of service—or based on the financial strategy of a private‑equity corporation headquartered in another state?
That is the only question that matters.
And until someone addresses that question, the ad hominem attacks are just noise.
Ad Hominem Attacks that ConMen Employed
