Infighting, a pending state audit, allegations and name-calling have turned an election campaign in Admirals Cove Water District into the most contentious political situation in Island County.

On paper, it all looks fairly straightforward. Incumbent commissioner Adel Saba is being challenged by newcomer Michael Shannon for a seat at Position 1. For Position 2, former Admirals Cove Beach Club president Sid Iverson is seeking to unseat incumbent Howard Duncan.

Position 3 Commissioner Lana Wallace’s term doesn’t expire until 2005, but she, too, is highly involved in the current campaign.

Move one step beyond these basic facts, however, and you’ve entered a battle zone that at times resembles the bad-blood feuding of the Hatfields and the McCoys. Legitimate issues are often overwhelmed by seemingly endless accusations of foul play and dirty campaigning.

At the center of the controversy is the question as to whether Saba should be re-elected to serve as a commissioner to the water district and its 343 homes.

Wallace, who actually appointed Saba to his position about two years ago, said she doesn’t think so. “I’ve never worked with anybody so unprofessional,” she said. “Mr. Saba doesn’t really do anything for the district.”

Wallace added that she “would pick anybody but Saba for this job.”

Duncan said that Saba has the backing of “a certain element in here that wants control of everything,” and he characterized said element as “little old ladies and men that don’t have anything else to do.”

According to Duncan, this element has caused disruptions at recent district meetings.

“I’ve been in better riots,” he said of one meeting in particular.

Saba refuted allegations that he is seeking control-for-control’s sake. “I don’t care about the power,” he said. “To me, it’s the community that we’re supposed to be looking out for.”

Saba said that Wallace is the one who is “power hungry.”

On a more specific level, there are a number of allegations about commissioners falsifying or refusing to rectify past expense vouchers.

According to audit manager Nestor Newman of the Washington State Auditor’s Office, all three commissioners are currently undergoing what is called a special limited audit as requested by the commissioners themselves. Such an audit involves a review of each commissioner’s activity sheet to make sure they are in compliance with the district’s financial regulations.

Newman said that it’s fairly unusual for his office to get this sort of a request for a limited audit. Despite this, he said that he is treating it as he might any other audit.

“I’m not speeding up the report and I’m not slowing down the report,” Newman said, attesting to the potentially touchy nature of the outcome of the audit.

Newman said that “very possibly” the results will not be made public until the first week in November, at the earliest. The election will be held Nov. 6.

Saba said that any allegations of voucher fraud are “strictly a political ploy” by his opponents and that he has never been proven guilty of any wrongdoing. He added that he thinks the motivation for such “unfounded” charges is Wallace’s fear that both he and Iverson will be elected, thereby stripping Wallace of her current political strength.

Iverson, who openly aligns himself with Saba, said that Wallace has exhibited “autocratic” tendencies during her two years as commissioner and president, and that both she and Duncan, at district meetings and elsewhere, have “become very defensive and almost super aggressive at times.”

Iverson said that he is running his campaign on the principal of returning integrity to the office of commissioner, and that his primary approach would be “to develop a means whereby communication can be re-established.”

As for the controversy over Saba’s alleged financial wrongdoings, Iverson said that he sees nothing at all to substantiate the charges.

Duncan, however, referred to Iverson as someone who “doesn’t know anything about the water district.” He also called his political adversary a mere “puppet” for the members of the Admirals Cove Beach Club. It is Duncan’s allegation that both Saba and Iverson want to combine the beach club, a community agency, with the financial functioning of the water district.

“Your water districts are run by the state and the county,” said Duncan. “It’s an identity on its own. You can’t combine them like some playground and run them both together. That’s impossible, and illegal.”

Shannon also said that it would be improper to combine the beach club and the water district in any way. He added that the members of the beach club “are used to running everything” and that this might account for much of the recent controversy.

“From what I gather,” Shannon said, “there does seem to be a lot of personal grudges that are being held by the people … of the Admirals Cove Beach Club toward the newcomers, or anybody that doesn’t fit in.”

“This whole thing is about power and control to the beach club,” Duncan added.

In his capacity as the district’s auditor, Duncan also said that, since April of this year, he has refused to sign any of Saba’s pay vouchers. He alleges Saba wasn’t putting in the time he was claiming.

He said that it was his duty as auditor to protect both himself and the district from any possible malfeasance.

“If my name is on something that’s not correct,” Duncan said, “I could actually serve time. I won’t serve time for that man.”

Wallace has also accused Saba of “double billing” the district.

The minutes of a regular meeting of the Admirals Cove Water District dated Aug. 14 of this year show that Duncan made a motion that Saba repay a total of $1,914.63 (at 6 percent interest) in allegedly unexplained charges to the district. It was further requested that this amount be deducted “from Saba’s future authorized payments.” The motion passed, with Saba dissenting.

Saba said that he shouldn’t be required to pay for what amounts to mere allegations of past misconduct, especially when the results of the audit still pending.

“I was putting in the same time for less money every month,” said Saba about his financial vouchers, and yet “I have not received anything.” He added that he has not agreed to the terms of the current withholding, nor has he ceased doing his job as a commissioner.

“They have never proved that I did anything wrong,” said Saba. He said that he’s “ninety-nine percent sure” that he’ll be exonerated of any allegations of inappropriate conduct when the results of the audit finally come out.

As to the issue of the Admirals Cove Beach Club, both Iverson and Shannon deny that they wish to meld the two into a single unit.

“The only thing I’ve mentioned,” said Iverson, “is that since we both serve the same community, the leaders of both those organizations should have a greater degree of cooperation.”

Saba said that there is currently too much unnecessary “friction” between the beach club and the water district, and that he only wants to open up the dialogue.

It would appear that this friction extends to every corner of political life in Admirals Cove Water District. Three separate lawyers have been hired on by the district over the past two years. On Sept. 5, police were called to diffuse a confrontation between commissioner Duncan and a resident concerning the proper distribution of political pamphlets (no charges were filed). There are allegations of missing records, slander and threats of physical violence.

Island County Sheriff’s department spokesperson Jan Smith said that the department has received numerous calls over time from Admirals Cove residents seeking some sort of enforcement action. Smith added that, so far, officers have avoided attending district meetings in order to maintain a semblance of political impartiality.

Wallace described the whole situation as “a nightmare.”

“It just goes on and on,” she said.

Most recently, at a regular district meeting held on Sept. 11 — the day of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. — a yelling match broke out among commissioners and residents over the alleged impropriety or illegality of Wallace’s decision to end the meeting early. Duncan claims the disruption was “pre-planned” by Saba.

“We were spit on and cussed at by the good citizens of Admirals Cove,” Duncan said.

Saba denied that he was behind the disruption. “I had no idea how many people were going to show up,” he said.

If a concrete issue can be discerned in this race, it is the subject of if and when improvements should occur to existing water conduit systems throughout the district.

Both Saba and Iverson said that there is no need for the district to move too quickly with further improvements after the recent completion of a plan called “phase one,” which replaced a sizable portion of dangerous asbestos piping in Admirals Cove. The candidates said that the board should wait until it gets its finances in order and pays off existing loans before it moves on with replacing pipes that they claim pose no immediate health hazard.

Saba said that he wants to “conserve money for the district, so the rates don’t have to go up too high.” He added that, as far as the rest of the water system goes, “there is no health danger” and “nothing that has to be replaced.”

Duncan, Shannon and Wallace, on the other hand, said that it is important to continue on with phases two, three and four, which would replace asbestos cement piping in other regions of Admirals Cove. Wallace also said that, as far as financial health goes, the district is in the black through the year 2003.

“I want to see this completed,” said Duncan of the rest of the phases of the replacement project.