This is an opinion column.

Finally, he was going to get his way. No matter what.

Rep. Jim Carnes, R-Vestavia Hills brazenly co-conspired with three other over-the-mountain state senators to wrench the Birmingham Water Works, the state’s largest water utility, from the city and county where the preponderance (92%) of its customers reside.

Like thieves in the night, they dropped SB330 late during the legislative session near the end of a combative day, on Thursday, April 17. Just five working days later — a miraculous pace for a bill to fly through the usually ponderous legislature — Carnes was the last Republican standing between what would be a sham of a House hearing last Thursday morning and Gov. Kay Ivey’s signature.

So, he was going to get his way, no matter that his justifications for the takeover were fungible, vague or just plain wrong.

He was going to bring the power grab home. No matter what.

The bill would flush the current nine-member board, which includes six members appointed by the Birmingham mayor or city council., The new board would include seven (maybe) board members, with the Birmingham mayor and city council each filling one seat.

Another seat would be appointed by the president of the Jefferson County Commission. (Clearly, Carns doesn’t trust the full commission, which includes two Democrats, to tab an appointee to the Republicans’ liking, so he empowered commission president and fellow Republican Jimmie Stephens with sole discretion over the seat.)

The other seats would be appointed by folks outside Jefferson County, including Blount, where, according to Rep. Kelvin Datcher, just 592 of the Water Works’ 770,000 ratepayers reside.

SB330 sailed through the Senate 30-0. The vastly outnumbered Democrats in the upper chamber clawed out a few concessions before curiously agreeing to go silent while the takeover ensued.

So buoyed by a rare shutout in the Senate and another super-majority in the House, Carns was going to stand at the lectern for as long as it took.

He was going to hear as many pleas, questions and facts as it took to accomplish what Republican lawmakers have sought for more than two decades. Most questions he answered with variations of a promise of “better service, better rates, and long-term stability,” even as speakers brought facts that contradicted his shaky, outdated justifications for the bill.

Carns stood for 102 minutes and “tabled” (translation: killed) every amendment request and dismissed every argument against change. Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, a historian in the long, twisting journey of the water works board, doused knowledge on Carns like a Gatorade shower.

Yet there was no winner in the chamber.

Carns deflected every challenge like an NHL Hall of Fame hockey goalie.

He would have swatted away an amendment to give Jesus a board seat.

I do not consider it a friendly amendment, he no doubt would have said.

The bill passed 66 to 27 and was DoorDashed to the governor’s desk. No indication yet if she’s signed it. When she does, it becomes effective immediately — the current board is flushed.

Though maybe not?

Let’s be clear, the water works board can be trifling.

They were way too slow to embrace automatic metering, which ignited the tsunami of customer complaints that put the board in the crosshairs two years ago. Now, complaints have slowed to a trickle, the board says.

There’s, too, their papal-like conclave of attorneys and public relations firms receiving sizable checks every month, spending that simply can’t be the wisest use of public money. I get why they buy homes and properties surrounding reservoirs that supply the water, but, man those prices. And the petty infighting that characterized previous boards was childish.

Oh, and this: some board members have served far too long because their appointing entities are either lazy or just poking a system that allows some to serve until a new member is appointed. That’s shady.

All of these reasons, and more, became fodder for the takeover culprits. But know this: the water works is not a failing entity. It is not in crisis. It is not a failing school system. Current board members aren’t being fitted for orange jumpsuits.

The board does not merit this takeover. This suburban takeover.

No matter what Carns said.

BWWB may sometimes be a messy cousin, but it’s our messy cousin. Mind your business.

Now, in an age when presidential executive orders are regularly challenged in the courts, it’s hard to imagine this state takeover of a local utility will not go unchallenged.

In a Facebook post late Friday afternoon, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin teed it up.

“The people of Birmingham deserve to have a say in decisions that directly affect their lives,” Woodfin said. “Yesterday’s vote was a blatant act of overreach that diminishes that voice. But let me be very clear: we are not powerless. We are not voiceless. And we will not be passive.

“We will fight this — legally, politically, and morally. Birmingham will not be dictated to by those who refuse to represent it.”

Later by telephone, Woodfin, who is an attorney, would not say if a lawsuit would be filed seeking to curtail the soon-to-be new law. “We will use every available means,” is all he would say.

On Saturday, Jefferson County Commissioner Sheila Tyson said she intends to join other water works ratepayers in throwing hot water on the takeover with a lawsuit once Ivey signs the bill into law.

So don’t turn the spigot off just yet.

Let’s be better tomorrow than we are today. My column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at [email protected], and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, Instagram @roysj and BlueSky.