ST. JOHNS - It was Apache County Attorney Criss Candelaria who was on the hot seat last week as he defended himself against charges of harassment filed by a Concho business owner.
     In a hearing before Greenlee County Superior Court Judge Monica Stauffer last Thursday, Concho Country Club owner Ron Walker said that Candelaria had harassed him and his employees at his golf course. The hearing was held in response to a protective order filed by Walker last month where he asked the court to order Candelaria to stay away from the country club property.
     While Candelaria did file a motion to dismiss the petition because it showed only one occurrence of harassment (the law requires a series of harassment acts to grant such a petition), the judge decided to hear testimony before making her ruling.
     The issue is over water rights. Candelaria, a member of the Concho Water Board, alleges the golf course was using water from a community water source prior to the official irrigation window as set by the water board. Candelaria, who lives in Concho, passes the golf course on his way to and from work. He alleges that on several occasions, he has witnessed the golf club irrigating the golf course prior to the beginning of the water season which this year began on May 1.
     In his court document filed May 21, Walker indicated that when he arrived at the golf course at about 8:20 a.m. on the morning of April 4, Candelaria was being asked by golf course manager Maggie Heath to leave the property.
     "I introduced myself as one of the owners," Walker wrote. "He proceeded to threaten me that he was going to turn off the water for the golf course and also take all the water rights away from the golf course. He was wearing an Arizona city attorney uniform and was acting as though he was an official attorney for the water board."
     On the witness stand, Walker told the court he felt threatened when Candelaria told him he was going to shut the golf course down and take away their water rights.
     "When he presented himself as being an attorney, to me he was really trying to intimidate me," Walker said. "And he also threatened to shut (the golf course) down."
     Questioned by Candelaria, Walker admitted that Candelaria explained that the golf course had no special privileges with respect to water and that Walker should consult an attorney to better understand the rules concerning the country club's water rights.
     Candelaria asked the judge to advise Walker of his rights because taking water is a Class II misdemeanor, a criminal offense.
     "I had attempted on many occasions to get the Sheriff's Office to investigate the theft of water, three times as a matter of fact. I wanted to find out why they (the golf course) kept turning the water back on when (the water board) were turning it off," Candelaria told the judge. "You probably need to admonish him that anything he says may be used against him in a criminal prosecution."
     The judge told Candelaria that while the water rights and related issues are important, she wanted to strictly limit the proceedings to just the allegation of harassment.
     Candelaria asked the witness if he ever threatened him with his fists, threatened to hurt him or called him names. Walker agreed that Candelaria had not threatened him physically or called him names. Walker asked Candelaria to "leave my help alone and stay off my property."
     Before stepping down, Walker told the judge he doesn't think it's right for Candelaria to be at the golf course harassing his help, especially when they've asked him before to stop. Walker called Heath to the witness stand. She told the judge that there had been a water board meeting shortly after she started working at the golf course a year ago that became very heated.
     "All four members of the water board accepted and understood the position of the golf course, but (Candelaria) did not," Heath said. "He became very argumentative and argued with Ron Bryce who was the acting owner at that time - he was purchasing the club. We got done with the meeting and we asked them to leave. Mr. Candelaria refused to leave. He had an attitude that we can't tell him what to do on our property. I told him to leave the property. I told him he was not allowed back on the property, and he wouldn't leave. Finally I just told him he had one minute to leave or I was going to call the police and have him removed. He finally did leave."
     She said Candelaria returned to the golf course on March 30 during the club's busy Sunday morning breakfast. "He caused a scene again in the restaurant, asking us to shut the water off, saying that we had no right to water and that he was going to have me arrested or press charges against me for stealing water," she said.
     "This board that he sits on and that we argued with is self appointed. They have no legal right according to all the legal documents I have read for them to tell us when to water. I told him I refuse to shut the water off and he threatened to charge me with theft of water. He became very argumentative in front of all the customers that were in the restaurant. I told him he was trespassing several times and asked him to leave. He would not leave. Then finally he did and I did not call the police because he did finally leave."
     Heath said the last time Candelaria was at the golf course was on the morning of April 4. She said she told him to leave several times in front of a handful of customers who were at the club.
     "I had informed him he was trespassing and that he needed to leave the property," Heath said. "That was at 7:40 in the morning. He came in with his county attorney's shirt on and again threatened me that he was going to charge me with stealing water. He told me I had to shut it off. He became very argumentative about leaving the course and about what I was doing."
     She said that after Walker arrived and the three took the conversation outside and away from the customers, she continued to tell Candelaria that he was trespassing.
     "He continued to argue with you (Walker) and he never made an attempt to leave the property until after I had called the police. Then finally he left about 8:20 a.m., the police didn't show up until about 8:30 a.m. I had told him in front of everybody several times that he was trespassing and he had to leave. His attitude was very rude and very arrogant. When you and I were standing outside talking with him, he told me to shut my mouth, go inside, I didn't know what I was talking about and I had no right to tell him anything. That's at the point when I had gone inside and called the police and tried to have him removed."
     Candelaria asked the judge to review a water decree that sets the rules for water rights and usage in Concho. He explained the decree also discusses how the water board will be elected and charged with overseeing the water rights to the spring-fed Concho Lake.
     "Mr. Candelaria, let me interrupt you," the judge said. "I'm not here to make a decision on the water. I'm not here to make a decision on whether they started early or not, whether they interpreted the bylaws or the 1929 document correctly. I'm here to determine if Mr. Walker has set forth a claim of harassment with you. So all the talk about the water and use of the water is an important issue, but it's not an important issue to this case. What's been filed is a petition against harassment and what this court has to determine is not if they are using their water properly, not if you were telling them properly, but was there harassment against Mr. Walker?"
     The half-hour hearing concluded with the judge very carefully explaining to Walker that his petition failed to meet the legal requirements for her to order Candelaria to stop harassing him and his golf course personnel.
     "I understand there is obviously a big controversy going on about the water," the judge said. "That's not what was filed - to resolve the water issue or the board's authority or Mr. Candelaria wearing a uniform - none of that. What you asked for a hearing on, Mr. Walker, was to stop his harassment against you.
     "But the law requires there to be a series of acts against the plaintiff and you only named yourself and so you failed to establish your claim."
     In Concho, an Arizona Game and Fish-owned spring fills Concho Lake during a filling season which typically begins in March after the winter snow and freezing temperatures have subsided. Each year around May 1, Concho Water Company evaluates the available lake water and determines how much the company will be able to deliver to all water shareholders and when the water delivery season will begin.