Somebody will meet next Tuesday, but whether it’s the Diking District 3 commissioners is a matter of conjecture.

There are three positions on the board, one of which is filled for sure by Bob Lang. He claims the other two are held by Dave Burbank and Joe Cerullo, but it won’t last long.

Lang’s first order of business Sept. 26 is to swear in the new commissioners, Bonnie Newkirk and Joe Ducken, who were appointed by the county commissioners after Burbank and Cerullo did not file for election.

Newkirk, however, says she and Ducken are already the commissioners, having been sworn in by Island County Auditor Suzanne Sinclair several weeks ago. She doubts that she will even attend Lang’s meeting, scheduled for Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Dugualla Bay Heights Clubhouse. “I have a commitment,” she said.

Sinclair leans toward Newkirk’s side in the dispute but she chooses her words carefully. “To the best of my knowledge and belief they are” commissioners, she said of Newkirk and Ducken.

Lang has become a student of diking district regulations since setting out to change how the district operates, in what he sees as a more public manner. He cites a state law that differs with Sinclair on exactly when Newkirk and Ducken can take their seats on the board.

“They don’t take over until the new meeting takes effect,” Lang said.

The diking district hasn’t held a public meeting in recent memory. Newkirk is a long-time former commissioner, but temporarily lost her position when she did not file for an election.

Lang said that if Newkirk and Ducken don’t attend then the meeting will proceed without them.

Of course, if Newkirk and Ducken are already commissioners the meeting Lang arranged may be meaningless.

Commissioners have taken care of the dike that supports Dike Road at Dugualla Bay since the district was formed in 1914, generally doing it without formal meetings or public announcements. “We all work together,” Newkirk said. “We’re a special district, we don’t have to have the public involved in anything. It’s all private property.”

Lang said he never had any luck in learning about the meetings, and he wants the diking district to operate according to state laws that govern special district meetings.

Lang said the law calls for announcing meetings in advance, allowing the public to attend and following an agenda, among other items.

Lang has a lengthy agenda for Tuesday, whether or not Newkirk and Ducken attend. There are numerous housekeeping items to bring the district into compliance with state law; an item to consider hiring an attorney for the district; and another item to discuss how to pay for an attorney if one his hired.