





After my last post questioning whether Henry Haas is a fake person who is part of confidence job, I learned that indeed Mr. Haas has many interests and acquaintances, now extending to the airport and as a supporter of Jeff Walker, a candidate for the Windermere Oaks Water Supply Board.
Here is a letter which Mr. Haas wrote in July 2022, bullying for an apology from a person who had felt threatened by Mr. Walker at past meetings of the pilot’s association:
The email begs many questions:
So we now know that Mr. Walker — instead of attempting to behave in a less threatening manner, or taking the neighborly action of learning from the person why they had felt threatened and promising to cease those activities — sicced Mr. Haas upon that volunteer Board member with legal threat.
Tomorrow, at the Windermere Oaks Water Supply Corporation Board, the company has hired two security guards to promote a sense of security for all members attending and wanting to hear — without continuous interruption — about the public issues being discussed by the Board.
By the way, remember from my previous post that I had received a letter from a Stewart Nelson of “Haas and Associates” only nine days prior:
What’s the con and how is Jeff Walker involved?
Remember the movie called “The Sting”? Robert Redford, Paul Newman. Robert Shaw. It won seven Academy Awards for twists and turns of a group of con artists who scored $500,000 on a fake horse race, and then a fake FBI raid on the gambling parlor, and the fake shooting of Robert Redford at the end.
The Windermere Con Job is entering a new phase: fake NextDoor posters.
In recent weeks we’ve seen two new people join the neighborhood page: Henry Haas and Harry Haas. But who are they?
Burnet County Appraisal District records don’t show them as property owners here.
And yet both Henry and Harry — out of nowhere — seem to have in-depth knowledge of all that has gone on here the last several years, and Harry yesterday chimed in with his expertise on the Public Utility Commission hearings. Hmmm.
Henry, before his account was removed, had posted a picture from my business Facebook page, from a 2019 event where I served as the moderator for a candidates forum before a Pedernales Electric Cooperative Board vote. Here’s the photo:
Henry Haas thought that to be evidence enough to link me to a recent indictment of County Judge Oakley on counts related to his use of a Burnet County car to travel to a PEC meeting, and his alleged tampering of evidence by clearing the road of a car bumper at a gas station fender bender. The cases just recently hit the news and the cases are pending. In the photo above, Judge Oakley is behind me. Henry Haas cropped his NextDoor photo so that only Judge Oakley and I appeared together.
Wow!
So therefore, Henry Haas concluded, Judge Oakley and I were “brothers in arms” in corruption. Seriously? Give me a break. What kind of high school dropout logic is that?
But “Henry Haas,” whoever he or she really is, counts on their Windermere Oaks followers to believe their portrayals of corruption / incompetence / whatever. They also count on their followers to ignore other evidence, portraying everything posted by me or the water company or others to be “propaganda.”
Now, out of the blue yesterday, a “Harry Haas” showed up on the Windermere NextDoor scene. I will address his posts later. NextDoor apparently shut down Henry Haas’ account.
What makes all of this so funny and surreal is that last summer I received a letter from a “Stewart Nelson” from a “Haas and Associates.” I received it about six weeks before the first attempt at a trial in the Ffrench, Dial, Sorgen vs. WOWSC and Directors matter.
Notice how fake it is. A questionable PO Box 4567 in Burnet. No phone number. No email address. And go ahead and google search for Haas and Associates. Doesn’t exist.
If anyone knows of this Stewart Nelson, the Democrat Action Network, or Haas and Associates, let me know. Maybe I’m missing something.
To me, it is more evidence of the Windermere Con Job playing out before your eyes. Why are people going to these lengths? What’s their Con?
I moved here in 2014 and while I can’t exactly remember which year I attended my first water company annual meeting, I do remember being amazed at the “passion” expressed by some people who berated and belittled the Board and management of our water company. It caused me to question what was going on! Their “passion” was so convincing, and they seemed to have really deep knowledge of what they were talking about.
It was easy to walk away with the notion that all the volunteer board members who have ever served the corporation and its members have been corrupt, inept, incompetent, whatever. And now that NextDoor has added even more thunder to their “passion” even more community members seem convinced that year-after-after the water company boards are made up of “those people,” a derogatory term that allows neighbors to feel good about setting themselves against neighbors who are actually trying to serve the community.
Over time though I came to understand that it was the same small group of people who were standing up, year after year, loudly berating the volunteers, dissatisfied with one matter or another: Land sale. Company debt. Audit. Online bill payment. Whatever. They change the goal posts year after year, raising new issues to convince new people about volunteers’ supposed ineptitude, corruption, whatever.
Now that I am four years into being on the Board of Directors for the water company, I have come to realize that the “passion” of some members should be understood for what it is: a “Confidence job.”
The term “Confidence job” got its meaning from William Thompson, a man in the late 1840s who walked the streets of New York asking complete strangers: “Have you confidence in me to trust me with your watch until tomorrow?” Many people did! Thompson was pleasant and unthreatening in appearance, and many of his victims thought they recognized him as a previous acquaintance. They misplaced their confidence in him, and he stole their watches. Thus was born the notion of a “con job.” Read more here.
To use a dictionary definition, the con job is an act or instance of duping or swindling, of talking glibly to convince others or get one’s way.
In my opinion, we have people in Windermere who have the gift of glib talk, convincing others of one thing or another, to get their way.
It’s truly remarkable, but their ongoing CON JOB continues every day, every month, every year, one email or NextDoor post after the other. The quantity of their emails and posts shows their obsession with continuing their con.
Here are examples I’ve seen on emails and NextDoor Posts regarding WATER COMPANY elections:
For those who remember the Paul Newman, Robert Redford movie “The Sting,” a con job can be long, elaborate, and detailed to the n-th degree. Don’t count out that con jobs, for whatever reason behind them, are occurring now.
Today we will see the Mother of All Con Jobs, from the ratepayer’s representatives filings to the Public Utilities Commission. They are going to throw the kitchen sink at us. I can’t wait to read it! Come back for analysis.
Greetings Neighbors,
I am the president of the Board of the Windermere Oaks Water Supply Corporation. I started this website some time ago to address questions which our members have from time to time. Please scroll down to see the history of posts which may address questions. But this post and subsequent posts are specific to some recent NextDoor comments.
One candidate for the Board election occurring March 19 has asked some questions on NextDoor and they deserve attention. If that candidate is elected, I want him to be up-to-speed from day one.
However, the candidate I support, Dorothy Taylor, is already versed in these matters and would make the better choice of candidate. But in the interest of the neighborhood, I will provide this briefing book in the event that the newcomer is elected. Let’s start with the candidate’s second question in his NextDoor post:
“Does anyone find it hard to understand why the person, who collects the election ballots from the office, has an “Elect Candidate…..” sign in their front yard? …
I don’t find it hard to understand at all. Our water company manager rents that house from Norm Morse, a former WOWSC director. Mr. Morse has apparently approved the sign’s placement on his yard.
Incidentally, the Board appointed Dorothy Taylor to replace Mr. Morse when he was unable to attend six consecutive Board meetings, per the bylaws. The water manager did not sanction placement of the sign on the rental property, nor did he need to. He doesn’t own the property and is not voting.
By the way, our bylaws only permit property owners to vote in the election. The ballots are sent to the address on file for property owners, not to known renters. The water company manager will not be voting in the election.
Now, let’s tackle the candidate’s first question. There’s a lot there so let’s unpack it, in this and subsequent posts. The candidate says the following:
1) In the past 5 Years our Water Rates have risen 87%. That is a fact. This is mainly due to Legal Cost the WOWSC has incurred defending current and past Board Member actions.
True that the rates have increased in the last five years, but let’s be clear on the reasons and the timing.
There have been two rate increases in the last five years. I’ll handle the 2018 increase in this post and then describe other issues in subsequent post or posts.
After a lengthy year-long evaluation process with the help of the Texas Rural Water Association, the 2018 Board raised rates to keep up with infrastructure challenges that were affecting the company. Look specifically at meeting minutes from March 7, March 12 and March 20, 2018. Please realize those discussions had started some time before — in 2016 and 2017 — because those Boards were being advised that the water system was underfunded and suffering. We have a growing community and WOWSC Boards have always had a pay-as-you-grow-and-improve approach. This has involved the use of debt financing, selling land, and raising rates.
The 2018 Board also was dealing with a lawsuit filed by TOMA Integrity, LLC in December 2017 against the water company. That Board was composed of Bill Billingsley, Bill Stein, Jeff Hagar, Jerry Ingham and Dorothy Taylor.
That lawsuit was not filed against Board directors.
Dial, Ffrench, Flunker and Sorgen filed suit against the company itself. The lawsuit sought $100,000 from the company, voiding of a 2015 land sale, and a judge’s order to the Board to regain the land. You can view the TOMA Integrity LLC filing here. Effectively, they were asking all WOWSC customers to pay them $100,000 plus the other likely costly remedies. (BTW, Flunker left TOMA Integrity LLC at some point.)
Again, let’s be clear here — the Board was in a defensive position. It could not ignore the lawsuit. It had to evaluate, with the assistance of legal counsel, the implications of either agreeing to all of Dial, Ffrench, Flunker and Sorgen’s demand, or using legal counsel to oppose their demands. That Board was composed of Bill Billingsley, Bill Stein, Jeff Hagar, Jerry Ingham and Dorothy Taylor. Ultimately, they voted to retain legal counsel to oppose the demands. Refer to the minutes previously provided and the other minutes in 2018 that are on the WOWSC.org website.
TOMA Integrity LLC lost the suit in November 2018, and you can view the Judge’s order here. That year, 2018, the Board was required to pay attorneys about $38,000 to protect the company in that judgment.
While raising rates to pay for legal expenses may certainly have been a consideration to Billingsley, Stein, Ingham, Taylor and Hagar when they raised rates, that $38,000 was not part of the calculation in the TRWA rate analysis. In other words, they had conducted the rate analysis on the financials for 2017, when only a small portion of legal fees were included.
The larger point here is simply that the candidate’s broad statement about water rates having been raised exclusively to defend directors is not accurate to the facts in the first case.
Despite losing their case, the TOMA Integrity plaintiffs appealed through the Appeals Court system and then all the way to the Texas Supreme Court throughout 2019 and 2020. On Valentines Day 2020, the Texas Supreme Court ended any further appeals, upholding the decisions of the Trial Court Judge and the Appellate Judges. Just estimating here, but those actions ran up another $40,000-$60,000 in legal expenses to the WOWSC and its customers.
Okay, so that is enough for today. That should provide good background material for briefing of the candidate and any WOWSC member who has interest in these matters. I will tackle more in coming days.
P.S. — I want to nitpick my own post here. The newcomer candidate’s assessment was that the rate increases were “mainly due to Legal Cost the WOWSC has incurred defending current and past Board Member actions.” I did not fully address the “Board Member actions” portion of his sentence. I will do that in a subsequent post.
The Windermere Oaks Water Supply Corporation set new water production record in August 2021, producing 2.6 million gallons for our neighborhood.
To produce that much water, extra costs must be incurred, for chemicals, electricity, pump maintenance and repair, man-hours, etc.
Hi Taylor. Great questions. I will be happy to answer them. I have tried to be as brief as possible below.
a. Toma Integrity (Ffrench, Dial, Sorgen) Vs. WOWSC — decided in WOWSC favor. Judges denied remedies sought by TOMA. Appeals court agreed in 2019 and Texas Supreme Court agreed in Feb 2020.
b. 48292 — originally named “Double F Hanger Operations LLC, Lawrence R. Ffrench, Jr., Patricia Flunker and Mark A. McDonald v Friendship Homes & Hangars, LLC, and Burnet County Commissioners Court” and then recaptioned and filed as “Rene Ffrench, John Richard Dial, Stuart Bruce Sorgen, and as Representatives for Windermere Oaks Water Supply Corporation v. Friendship Homes & Hangars, LLC, WOWSC, and its Directors William Earnest, Thomas Michael Madden; Dana Martin; Robert Mebane; Patrick Mulligan, Joe Gimenez, Mike Nelson and Dorothy Taylor” — Final motion on the legal merits of the case were filed Wednesday of this week. It is available here. http://spicewoodnews.com/wowsc-court-documents. Dial, Ffrench and Sorgen can drop the case any time so that the corporation’s legal defense fees can stop.
c. Two cases filed to protect the company’s attorney-client privileged information (and one of which was settled positively with the Attorney General’s office before intervention by Danny Flunker) — withdrawn. No longer in court. See one final document here https://wowsc.org/documents/778/Order_Granting_Notice_of_Nonsuit__D-1-GN-20-007251___file_marked_2021.03.15_.pdf Another should happen any time.
d. Public Utility Commission Rate Case — Ratepayer Representatives walked away from mediation in January. An offer from the company for settlement in lower rates was ready but never entertained by ratepayer reps Josie Fuller and Patti Flunker because they dropped out of mediation. Case will continue through July. Ratepayer Reps can re-enter mediation to consider offers of lower rates or drop the case to stop additional legal fees. You can see the document describing discontinuance at this page http://spicewoodnews.com/wowsc-court-documents
The Board had hoped the 48292 case would end in mid-2020. Mediation was attempted and is legally considered ongoing to this day. The Board wanted to lower rates in September 2020 but could not given the status of the case and mediation. See item 1b above. Also see item 1d because all legal fees incurred in defending the rate increase can be judged as being recoverable in the form of higher fees.
All of this is in the president’s report which is available here https://youtu.be/cad8iOxO0bg and will be provided at the annual members meeting as well.
I hope that helps.
Best regards,
Joe Gimenez
PS — Please vote for Gimenez, Nelson and Schaefer. Our accomplishments and plans for WOWSC are available here:
http://spicewoodnews.com/gimenez-nelson-schaefer-accomplishments-for-the-neighborhood-water-company
*These important achievements were accomplished, all while defending your water company against several member-initiated lawsuits/petitions (essentially members suing themselves and you) and dealing with unprecedented numbers of public information requests from the supporters of the lawsuits.
Re-elect Gimenez-Nelson-Shaefer so they can continue working for you! They are honest, ethical, and dedicated volunteers who have a proven record and have worked tirelessly for you. Don’t be fooled by their opponents who are supporters of the lawsuits, have been or are directly involved with the lawsuits, or directly involved with publicly defaming our water supply company and its past and present volunteer board members.
What’s Next:
VOTE for JOE GIMENEZ, MIKE NELSON, RICH SCHAEFER
On or before Saturday, March 27th, 2021
Please don’t let a small group of disgruntled people destroy our beautiful peaceful community with lawsuits (which you are paying for and are the direct cause of the rate increase), falsehoods, twisting of the facts, and their personal vendettas. There is already too much fighting and extreme negativity in our society. Our neighborhood and home should be a respite from these negative forces. Let’s end this madness!
For more information: WOWSC.org, Spicewoodnews.com, www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-windermere-oaks
Water company members have a right to know about the company, including the costs it incurs for facilitating that right to know.
I was elected to the Board on March 9, 2019. Soon after that the water company began receiving a large number of Public Information Act requests, mostly from the plaintiffs suing the water company and their allies in the neighborhood.
The Board has done everything it can to honor these requests in hopes that they might help everyone learn more about our neighborhood water company.
To familiarize yourself with how the company handled this situation as it began to unfold in the spring of 2019, please take a look at meeting minutes here, here, here and here. The corporation had never had to fulfill so many PIA requests in all its years of operation and the Board was on new ground. In 2019, there were 46 requests which required delivery of hundreds of documents. There were approximately 3-5 requests in 2018, and a few in 2017. Before that, it was probably zero. In 2020, the company has received 32 requests thus far.
So recently, at the September 22, 2020, the Public Information Officer (me) and the company’s attorney reported to the Board on the number of requests and some special situations. All requests need some degree of legal review because the corporation has been sued. The company’s lawyers have advised us to retain the company’s rights to attorney-client privileged information contained in their invoices to the WOWSC so that opposing counsel cannot glean litigation strategy from their content.
This matter was discussed in the 9-22-20 Board meeting, particularly with regards to our law firm’s efforts to minimize their charges for response to multiple requests from the same person for the same attorney-client privileged material.
I found the time recently to excerpt that portion of the 9-22 meeting, which you can now view here, on a Zoom-recorded video. I encourage you to spend the 8+ minutes familiarizing yourself with these requests and our attorneys’ efforts to deal with them as inexpensively as possible.
Previously, our handling of this matter was described on NextDoor in this way: “The WOWSC board spent the better half of an hour disparaging me due to my PIA requests.” I hope you will watch the eight-minute discussion and determine for yourself whether the comments were disparaging — or just informative about the costs being incurred.
Please also remember that the continuing kerfuffle over these invoices is also a significant issue in the rate case filing, and you can click here to see a document describing all the legal entanglements these requests are causing — and costing.