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<br />OOlO?;, <br /> <br />to periodic change. Property-weighted voting, for eumple, may not lead to a representative <br /> <br />board. Where there is concentrated land oWnership, the large owners may become the <br /> <br />dominant members of the local political system, and may be the nained representative of the <br /> <br />local district in state-wide organizations. <br /> <br />If accountability is important then we should consider allowing elected officials to <br /> <br /> <br />appoint board members in tbe same manner as the historic appointment of conservancy district <br /> <br /> <br />board members by elected judges. One problem of elections in multi-purpose districts is tbat <br /> <br /> <br />district functions are often obscure to most of the electorate particularly in the urban areas, <br /> <br />It is possible one reason appointments may work is there has not been mucb need for <br /> <br /> <br />change, but this situation may be changing, It is too early to tell if the current system of <br /> <br /> <br />governance is going to work in light of the current climate of change, For example, the <br /> <br /> <br />marketing of water by rural districts to cities will be a gOod test as to whetber or oar tbe <br /> <br /> <br />system of appointments in the Northern Colorado Conservancy District is working, <br /> <br />The Missouri Plan also provides an alternative for some irrigation districts. It bas <br /> <br /> <br />previously been used in judicial systems whereby judges are appointed and then must stand for <br /> <br /> <br />re-election. This suggestion has been made in agricultural coops in the midwest, and public <br /> <br />irrigation districts are really just an offshoot of agricultural coops. It is important to consider <br /> <br />this analogy because the coop movement understOod governance, They bad principles of <br /> <br />governance; the same principles that informed irrigation districts. These principles spell out the <br /> <br />duties of the board members. And it is interesting to note the movement away from one <br /> <br />42 <br />