Ben Mavy believes it’s time for a change. “I don’t feel like our area’s being represented well,” he says. Mavy is adamant money from the Middle Fork hydroelectric project should be used strictly for water and power projects. He fears both PCWA and the Placer County Board of Supervisors will divert those revenues. “Nobody knows how to waste money like the government,” Mavy asserts. He calls the current plan to distribute the project revenues “a slush fund for politicians.” He is particularly concerned the board of supervisors might use revenues to underwrite the cost of unfunded, state-mandated welfare programs. “I’m dead set opposed to that,” he says. Mavy’s top priority is to re-purpose the current joint powers authority. As currently structured, the authority is designed to simply channel revenues 50-50 to PCWA and Placer County. Rather than let the JPA funnel the money to the two government entities, Mavy wants to restructure the board so that it can capture the funds and decide how the money should be spent. One plan would be to increase the current four-member JPA (two Placer County supervisors and two PCWA board members) to a seven-member panel by adding a city representative, a special district representative and an at-large member. “This is the only chance we’ve got,” he argues, referring to the Nov. 4 election. If the JPA isn’t restructured now, the 2012 PCWA election will be too late. Mavy disagrees with incumbent Otis Wollan that PCWA is prohibited by law from getting involved with wastewater issues. Thus, he reasons, project money could conceivably be used to assist Colfax with its current sewer system problems. Although he is not convinced that a regional wastewater pipeline is necessarily the answer, “I don’t have a problem with the pipeline.” Mavy currently serves on the Weimar/Applegat/Colfax Municipal Advisory Committee.