Birmingham Water Works meeting erupts over lawsuit, dissent

A lawsuit accusing the Birmingham Water Works Board of withholding public information from its longest-serving board member is months away from a resolution, but its ramifications are already being felt in the utility’s boardroom.

George Munchus was for years a member of a dominant majority of the board, often voting with previous chairmen. However, Munchus most recently became the lone dissenting voice on the panel and one of the few to raise questions ahead of the council’s votes.

In addition to suing his fellow council members, he has shifted positions on several policy and spending issues, creating a powder keg that exploded at this week’s council meeting. when the president unleashed his rebuke.

“I don’t understand, but I’m telling you I’m frustrated,” board president Tereshia Huffman told Munchus during Wednesday’s public hearing. “Why are you on this board?”

Huffman read off a list of grievances: his lawsuit alleging the board withheld public documents about legal expenses, his opposition to the sale of Moody’s water system, his willingness to speak to the press and his criticism of the company’s spending.

Munchus did not respond during the board meeting, but later told AL.com that he does not regret his current board positions or actions.

“The chairman of the board should conduct the meeting in an orderly manner,” he said. “For her to attack me at the beginning of the meeting because she’s frustrated with me, that’s not good board leadership. I am simply trying to obtain public documents that the public is entitled to.”

Munchus filed a lawsuit against the water works in Jefferson County Circuit Court in December, accusing the board of violating Alabama’s open records law by withholding detailed legal fees from him and the public. The case will be judged on July 29.

On Wednesday, Huffman said Munchus had an opportunity to see the legal bills but declined to follow agency policy. Waterworks wants him to see the documents in the office, not take copies with him.

“But you’re wasting taxpayer money with a lawsuit,” Huffman said.

Huffman’s public comments provided a rare public discussion of ongoing litigation, which board members typically have in closed-door executive sessions with their lawyers.

She also cited Munchus’ current opposition to the potential sale of water assets back to the city of Moody and his criticism of the purchase and destruction of cabins along Blount County’s Inland Lake. Munchus has voted in support of these measures in the past, but now opposes them.

“It seems like she’s upset with me about a decision I made in the past, and I reserve the right to change my mind based on the information I have at the time I vote,” Munchus told AL.com. . “I still think selling the Moody part is an absolutely bad decision.”