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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Quick, Grab the Garlic. And a Mirror. Cross? Wooden Stake?

Well, there’s good news and bad news. First, La Donald has decided he likes show business better than being President so he’s out of the race. His announcement was all very anti-climactic. For a while there, you couldn’t turn on the television or open a paper without La Donald bloviating about some ridiculous topic or another. Hilariously, he ended up being hoist by his own “birther” petard when the President produced his long form birth certificate, (topic over), then at the Washington Press Corps Dinner, Obama stuck a few pins into the Comb-over King and SNL Weekend Update’s Seth Meyers went in for the coup de grace. La Donald was not amused.

A few days later the news came of Osama Bin Laden’s death and La Donald was heard no more. And who says God does not listen to prayers?

Mike Huckabee, another birther, decided God didn’t want him to run. More likely, it was God and Mamon now that he’s one of the well-paid Faux News Fellows.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is running around doing his version of I Voted For It Before I Voted Against It, declaring that the Massachusetts health care plan, which apparently is working very well and liked by most people in the state, is o.k. for them, but the nearly identical ObamaCare means the death of the republic and can’t be allowed for other people in other states.

And finally, we now have Newt Gingrich. Really. Newt? Seriously? He wants to be president because, well, he wants to be president. And once people see the wonderfulness of Newt in all his glorious bloviating gas-baggery they too will flock to bask in his breathtaking gloriousness.

Really. Newt. Dear God in Heaven.

Two? Now there’s TWO?

Recent headline announces that there has been a “second rape in less than a week involving Cal Poly students,” both victims “reportedly intoxicated and unconscious during the attack.”

I don’t know why they bother putting these stories on the front page. Clearly when it comes to some students and booze, Nobody Learns Anything. These young women are lucky they didn’t die of alcohol poisoning, and if they don’t end up pregnant or with an STD (or worse) they should consider themselves lucky. The young men, if they get caught, will find out how changed their lives will become, and not for the better. And the whole thing will Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Which is why Mother Calhoun can’t even get worked up over the whole issue.

But two? Really? That goes from Unfortunate Incident to, Aw, Just How Dumb ARE these Girls, Anyway?

Speaking of Dumb

The May 13 Tribune got around to writing about the May 5-6 Regional Water Quality Control Board Ag / Atascadero water pollution issues (reported here on the May 6 entry). If reporter Tonya Strickland attended the meeting, she clearly missed Chairman Young’s dog-whistle message. The City of Atascadero missed it, that’s for sure. The story quotes City Council-woman Roberta Fonzi as saying, “We’re not happy with the way the decision went. Their rules will be very expensive for us, and we don’t see the need for them.”

Hahahahahah. Councilwoman Fonzi doesn’t understand the game she’s now trapped in. When the State Water Board approves the stealth rule changes, the trap will be set.

In my blog report on this topic, I had two words for the dear Aggies and Atascadero: Los Osos.

Both Chairman Young and the Board’s attorney gave the game away but clearly nobody in the room was listening. And the Tribune missed the real story. As usual.

Freedom Riders

Don’t know if any of you had a chance to watch PBS’s “American Experience” program last night on the Freedom Riders, young black and white college students, many members of CORE (Congress on Racial Equality) who were trained in the principals of non-violence and set out to challenge Jim Crow laws in the south as they applied to interstate travel. In the late 40’s the Supreme Court had ruled that interstate travel could not be subject to segregation, a ruling that was utterly ignored in the south, which meant Whites-Only and Colored-Only bus station facilities throughout the state.

It was this situation the kids set out to challenge by riding on Greyhound and Trailways busses into the 1961 heart of darkness. And dark it was. The KKK-fueled mobs met the kids at their stops. One bus was fire-bombed, the riders nearly burned to death, other bus stations were scenes of riots, the kids severely beaten while local police stood by and/or arrested them (not the men assaulting them) and in the case of Mississippi, betrayed by a “deal” cut by the Feds and the Mississippi Governor, sent them not to city jail, but to prison. All of it documented by some equally brave newsmen.

The two-hour documentary is riveting, the bravery of those young students absolutely breathtaking (Imagine talking back to Birmingham, Alabama’s Commissioner of Public Safety, “Bull” Conner, an out-of-control psychopath who was even feared by the state’s governor. Astonishing.) The footage is often sickening in its accurate portrayal of the hatred and bigotry that was part and parcel of the “southern culture.” (And found in a more polite form outside the south.) And in the willing to face this danger in order to change the world, the documentary echoes events in Egypt’s Tarhir Square: Young kids, fearful, at terrible risk, who still go on, determined to change their world.

For someone born in the ‘70s or later, the documentary would likely look like ancient history that happened on some other planet occupied by ignorant, evil troglodytes. But for me, the film brought back so many memories of how the world was within my lifetime. I remember reading of the Freedom Riders, seeing the shocking images of “Bull” Conner and his police dogs attacking protesters, cringed at the ugly racial stereotypes, the easy use of the N-word, the hatred that usage implied. That was the given reality of the world the film so beautifully depicts; a world where, in many states, black people couldn’t get a cup of coffee in a J.J. Newberry’s, couldn’t use a “white” restroom in a Greyhound bus station, couldn’t even vote, let alone get elected dog catcher. And now, a black man sits in the White House.

Thanks to the young Freedom Riders, thanks to so many extraordinarily brave people willing to risk their lives to make the Constitution a living reality, that world changed utterly. And changed almost beyond recognition within my lifetime.

Which is what made watching the “American Experience” documentary so amazing; as a child and young adult, I lived in one world. Now I live in another world altogether.

That’s how quickly things can change when good people stand up.

55 comments:

Alon Perlman said...

leaving out the cringe factor, as to the order of Good news/Bad news
would the Donald:
1) Make the Palin look respectable?
2) The Huckster could be said to have congeniality and more experience than a late in term aborted Governess.
3) The Newt was the sharpest in a shed of full of flashy dull tools.
4) Mitt?
5) Etc...
6) The gipper? or someone once said that the Best Politics are Local Politics- Going on right now at a board of chambers close to you
Perhaps the Cameras will pan back. (I gave in the morning, and while wild horses wouldn't had normally kept me from the afternoon session, my battary is exhausted from not turning the lights out, and cant wake the tame horses)
waiting for a report.

Mike Green said...

Looks like you need a quick edit, the SLO drunken orgy rapist count has gone to three!
And they outlawed Mardi Gras?

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Sorry you missed it Alon! I didn't see Ann there either but maybe she was in the back?

It was a full hoopla event, complete with Ripley (Lisa there but not talking), the usual mud thrown at Gibson. The hot topics: liquefaction, quake faults, the BOS's disrespect of the (Oh, So Respectful) LO citizens, money grumblings, need for SEIR, two lawsuits now and two on the bench (waiting I presume?), the people want Step (correction; some people want Step), etc.. All 5 Supes voted to advance the project.

Mecham took a point or two back at the break for staff to answer, which John Waddell answered after the break. Patterson pointed out that both the Planning Commission and the Coastal Commission both approved THIS project, facts which made the the pro-Step-anti-County crowd angry.

Hey, I'm reading a good book right now called, Denialism by Michael Specter.

M said...

No need to crow Sewertoons. We're all very aware of where your loyalties are placed.
Sincerely, M

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

My loyalties are to getting a sewer in the ground. I'm going with the team that can get this done. I also see where your loyalties are M.

I'm sorry that there are those in the community that hold such fierce hope to the County changing direction. All that energy could be going toward something productive. As it is now, they only function to scold the RWQCB and the County, and put their energy out as non-productive anger.

What is most interesting from an observer's viewpoint is their lack of belief in the choice the community made. Gravity, not Step. They continually insult us that we did not know what we chose.

Churadogs said...

Mike Green sez:"Looks like you need a quick edit, the SLO drunken orgy rapist count has gone to three!
And they outlawed Mardi Gras?"

I could hardly believe my eyes when I opened the paper. There's the old joke, guy before the judge pleads for mercy on account of he's n orphan to which the judge replies that to lose one parent is a misfortune but to lose two is carelessness. THREE?? I hesitate to open the paper.

Toonces sez:"What is most interesting from an observer's viewpoint is their lack of belief in the choice the community made. Gravity, not Step. They continually insult us that we did not know what we chose."

One of causes for believing the community made a "clean" choice, is likely because they are more keenly aware than the "we" of "we did . . . know what we chose" (i.e. the general public) , because they were paying close attention, is the bait and switchy "Paavo-promised" design build/let the best technology determine the outcome which Gibson shut down with his phony "shovel-ready" ploy to switch to design-bid-build with a short list & etc. the spun survey (sans real prices)& etc.etc. Unless a court flips this, the community will get and pay for whatever the BOS will be giving them. Period.

and sez:"they only function to scold the RWQCB and the County,"

Both of which soundly and royally deserve a scolding.

Churadogs said...

churadogs sez:"One of causes for believing the community made a "clean"

Oops, meant to type DIS-believing, as in One of the causes for disbelieving the community . . . as in "lack of belief" etc.

FOGSWAMP said...

Toonz sez "Some people want Step".

Many, If not all, local environmental groups support STEP vs Gravity, for many good reasons, some of which were stated in the fine screening presentations.

They are;

The Santa Clara Chapter of The Sierra Club.
The San Luis Chapter of The Surfrider Foundation
Northern Chumash Tribal Counsel
Terra Foundation
SLO Green Build

Perhaps this is why our new Governor rejected one environmental hypocrite from a seat on the Coastal Commission just recently.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

So Ann, with your mention of a lawsuit - which Mr. Gibson is not worried about (and one might think that his level of comfort has been informed by County Counsel), I hope the originators of this lawsuit also realize what they are asking for at this point would result in years of delay, thereby compromising the water basin further due to no conservation measures (so we KNOW that this cannot be supported by LOSG, right?). I hope they realize that they are asking, no begging, for this project to cost more to restart a process that will result in the same outcome: GRAVITY. Oh, wait a minute! DELAY is their actual GOAL here - not a sewer! Well, I hope these originators are aware that enough in the community (and the County) are hyper aware of what they are up to and do NOT support this.

I guess what you are saying is that because your idea of what process was to be wasn't followed, we should stick to your version of justice? Well, with this version, the fallout to the community in terms of cost and water basin damage is HORRENDOUS.

I'd like to see a version by someone putting forth this plan as to just how it is going to work - going back to the Planning Commission, Coastal Commission, USDA and SRF funders. Just lay it out so we can see how it would work. And explain how years won't be lost. haven't seen that yet. Sounds like another half-baked "move the sewer" with NO PLAN!

If so many supported Step, whether in a eco-group or not, why was it NOT a CLEAR winner in the survey? If so many supported it, it should have won, right?

SLOTowner said...

Who is this person to shove "gravity" down our throats? Creepy.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Ha-ha-ha! Hi SLOTowner - no one is shoving here - except perhaps the Step proponents who can't seem to understand that their pet technology was not chosen by the citizens of LO.

TheOpenEye said...

SLOTowner:

Who is this person to shove "gravity" down our throats? Creepy.

This, uh, person you've had the misfortune to encounter is officially "THE CREEPIEST PERSON" in Los Osos. You might as well argue with your foot.

Sorry. That's just the way it is with the dumb-ass County-fed LO wackjobs.

Churadogs said...

Toonces sez:"I guess what you are saying is that because your idea of what process was to be wasn't followed, we should stick to your version of justice?"

No, that's not what I'm saying. Your previous comment refered to the fact that you thought that many of the folks protesting at the BOS are expressing "their lack of belief in the choice the community made. Gravity, not Step. They continually insult us that we did not know what we chose."

And my reply was that I thought they held that "lack of belief" on account of they, more than the average member of the community, were paying close attention and knew about all the bait & switchy Paavo Promises/fake shovel ready/spun "survey" & etc shenanigans the county has engaged in so they knew the "process" wasn't "clean" and therefore it might well be logical for them to feel that the community DIDN'T really know what they were voting for.

Not that it makes a lick of difference.

Toonces also sez:"Well, with this version, the fallout to the community in terms of cost and water basin damage is HORRENDOUS."

I would add, because a clean "process" wasn't followed FROM DAY ONE, the fallout to this community continues to be HORRENDOUS.

As for your saying, "If so many supported Step, whether in a eco-group or not, why was it NOT a CLEAR winner in the survey? If so many supported it, it should have won, right?"

Couple of things are clear to me: 1/3 of the community is permanently otu to lunch (don't now, don't care,don't vote on even important stuff). and, had the Process been followed as promised, the best technology would have floated to the top, with a clear, design/build solid, guaranteed bid price tag would likely have emerged. That certainly could have then been compared with a design/bid/build/add-on, guestimate for gravity option, all that spelled out (complete with much more solid figures for individual hook up costs)on a survey. It's possible that a clearer vote might have appeared. '
Or not since it's possible that more than 1/3 of the community are out to lunch.

One of the point's I've tried to make, also nearly from Day One is when you follow the process correctly, you save both time and money because "objectors" don't have a leg to stand on. When you start bait and switching and getting all fake shovel-ready fake, you keep opening up can's of delaying worms.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

C'mon Ann! The objectors will always have a leg to stand on! It doesn't have to make sense, but stand on it they will! The community knows as much or as little as it ever did and votes as it votes. I could say the very same thing about Measure B, in fact I have, but that is how the vote went. We can see how well protesting that went can't we? Apparently that is yet another lesson not learned to apply now. They can THINK their suspicion is correct, but at this stage to ACT on it would be insane. But apparently they are hell-bent on stopping the project by mounting lawsuits.

I agree, 1/3 is out to lunch - and they may be vacation home owners, the old and infirm, or people just too busy with other stuff to care one way or the other how it goes. Who knows? That is a fact for all elections, best just to drop them out of the equation instead of wishing they would be informed/engaged. Those who vote elect to influence the outcome. Period.

Had the process been followed as you wanted it to, and Step still was not chosen, the screams would have been heard as loudly as they are now, perhaps they would have been louder.

You and many others assume that the "best" technology is Step, but in fact the peer review said the two technologies are functionally equivalent! And what happened when that pronouncement was public? The Step supporters went nuts stating that the peer review was biased and flawed!

But we are losing sight of a couple of points. And both of these unanswered questions would inform those who do listen:

1. What happened after the CSD was formed and the pond project was nixed. What happened at those meetings that people didn't have a clue about how Tri-W came into being? Was a large chunk of the community "out to lunch" and woke up one day not liking what they saw (or politically persuaded to not like it) and are now (actually HAVE BEEN) attempting to put the blame that they deserve onto others?

2. What is their "plan" in attempting to stop the current project? This would need to follow a process too, wouldn't it? What is THAT process. We have seen nothing.

Footnote to 2: If you don't want ANY project, this is the road you would take. Being vague works best as outlining the process would only muck things up. These people are code-wording what they are doing to attempt to fly under the radar, but I do believe the majority of the citizens "get" it this time and offer no support.

SLOTowner said...

You're crazed. I don't know much about "gravity" or "STEP," but even if I did, I wouldn't spend all my time complaining on the blogs. Creepy.

TheOpenEye said...

SLOTowner said about Sewertoons: "You're crazed. I don't know much about "gravity" or "STEP," but even if I did, I wouldn't spend all my time complaining on the blogs. Creepy."

You have no idea how creepy. Creeper is after-hours lap secretary for Bruce Gibson, the most disgusting phony on the coast, destroyer of Los Osos community... Creeper is spokesperson for Taxpayers Watch gang of nuisance-suit-happy recalled CSD board members and failed CSD candidates, sequel to Pandora Cash-Karners' Save the Dream/Tri-W diehard platoon; Pandora who she worships... Best friend is Maria Kelly, CSD wackjob who split from her hubby to be with...Paavo?... Husband is blogging tyrannical CalPoly prof with MWH connections who threatens people who don't agree with him...
These are selfish, classless, malevolent Venice Boardwalk rejects who picked Los Osos to infect.

Is that "creepy" enough for you? There's more if you're still not creeped to the max.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Interesting how when people have nothing to contribute to the TOPIC that two or more writers are discussing, they attack the writers that they don't like, tag teaming in this case.

Why bother to read if you don't like the topic?

Rather, why bother to write on blog topics that do not interest you? Apparently you need to blow off some anger, or actually maybe a LOT of anger. Well, if that makes you feel better…

Just know THAT is your loud and clear message here, YOUR ANGER, rather than the specifics you mention about others.

SLOTowner said...

Uh... Anger? I'm not angry. I don't care about the topic. I think you need help, though. Perhaps you should make an appointment with a psychologist. My barber told me Jill Denton is a good therapist in the area. Look her up!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Oh, sorry SLOTowner, guess I should have addressed parts of my post to TOE alone.

And thank you so much for taking the time to post your concerns and give advice about my mental welfare! The fact that I don't know you is a little peculiar - but whatever. The word nosy comes to mind, but like I said, whatever.

Just curious. Do you take the trouble to give advice to all of the strangers that you meet for the first time on a blog we've never seen you on before? Do you think that I or others are likely to take advice from strangers? Would you?

Would you put your real name to your comments? Everyone here knows me as Lynette Tornatzky. Who are you?

SLOTowner said...

No, I will not put my real name to my comments. I said you need help. Deal with it. Enjoy ruining Ann's blog. I don't post here anymore because of your kind.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

You could leave off reading here too then - for your own mental health, of course. Sayonara.

TheOpenEye said...

Sewertoons sez to SLOtowner: "Do you think that I or others are likely to take advice from strangers? Would you?"

Absolutely, at least those who value truth wherever it comes from. For example: A stranger just gave wackjob very sound advice -- advice her best friend would tell her -- if she had one. Therefore, wackjob, it follows that your best friends are total strangers.

SLOTowner sez to wackjob: "Enjoy ruining Ann's blog. I don't post here anymore because of your kind."

Exactly! And enjoy it she does! It's her job. She stalks this site like the worst of trolls on the darkest of nights...

And on top of killing any conversation she doesn't approve, and blotting out the sun with her bias, she's the dullest and dumbest of dimwits! Party over!!!!

This is intentional and purposeful and slavishly mirrors Gibson's general systematic oppression of Los Osos BOS speakers. This is an ominous, oppressive, destructive personality with nowhere to go, nothing to do... and nothing to say...

I'm afraid no shrink could ever help Lynette Berti Tornazi's fuzzy old white shrunken head.

Churadogs said...

Toonsky sez:"1. What happened after the CSD was formed and the pond project was nixed. What happened at those meetings that people didn't have a clue about how Tri-W came into being? Was a large chunk of the community "out to lunch" and woke up one day not liking what they saw (or politically persuaded to not like it) and are now (actually HAVE BEEN) attempting to put the blame that they deserve onto others?"

Actually, that's exactly what happend: Community was promised a $47 a month Ponds of Avalon, went back to sleep, and when they woke up, here was a MWH gravity sewer plant in the middle of town with a $100+++-and growing -- price tag and they said, WTF?, and were told, repeatedly, There Are No Options, this is the ONLY way, etc. Then the Los Osos Task Force formed to look into "options" and lo and behold, here came "options" and "other ways" and the battle was on to the death. At no time during this period was the community told what Ron Crawford has now so carefully laid out: Ponds were a no-go even prior to the CSD formation, there WERE sites/options out of town, there were other ways. And at no time were the citizens told, O.K. there are other options, here they are with best guestimate on price, vote for which one you want (The Chinese Menu method)even tho they repeatedly asked for that vote/choice.(And are still asking, oddly enough.)

As for blaming others, citizens cannot make informed decisions if they are given wrong information. That's why a "clean" process is so critical if you want to try to prevent a train wreck.

But, out of this whole crack-up ruin, one piece of truth-telling remains and was likely inadvertent:Paavo Ogren was the original CSD's general manager, so he was present at the creation, so to speak. When the county took over the project, at a poorly attended public info/workshop, in casual discussion, he said what is likely to be the ONLY true statement about the whole sewer nightmare and it was this: The CSD did not/never did have the resources to do a project of this kind properly.

The irony in that statement is that even if the original CSD hadn't lied about the Ponds of Avalon, they still didn't have the resources to do a proper "let the best technology float to the surface," search & etc. (The county spent MILLIONS on their fake "process," millions the CSD didn't have at its disposal.) And the other irony is that Paavo's Promised Process was also fake and soon was diddled off the stage with phony shovel-ready nonsense so you ended up with a sort of mirroring.

Moral of the story? It's possible that sewer projects simply can't be run cleanly. Too complicated, too much money to be had, too many professional and financial agendas? Sewer projects = Chinatown.

SLOTOWNER sez:"No, I will not put my real name to my comments. I said you need help. Deal with it. Enjoy ruining Ann's blog. I don't post here anymore because of your kind."

Uh, so why are you posting here right now? This is constantly weird to me: Anonymous posters who obviously read the blog then log on to chew on one another's ankles, or make crude personal remarks completely off topic about certain posters or tag-team with other posters and then go all postal on each other or just go all postal and rant, all the while loudly declaring how much they hate the blog or how the blog's been ruined by the OTHER posters and how THEY never post on the blog . . . all while reading/posting on the blog.

Churadogs said...

Continued:

Slotowner also sez:"Enjoy ruining Ann's blog. I don't post here anymore because of your kind."

ST: Uh, nobody posting here "ruins" my blog. You're free to read and enjoy the blog without ever clicking on "comment," you know.

It's a puzzle to me why anonymous posters spend so much time chewing on other commentors ankles while protesting loudly how THEY never waste their time commenting on creepy stupid ugly evil commentors . . . all while posting their comments about creepy stupid ugly evil commentors.

All of you who read this blog regularly know EXACTLY who will comment on sewer-issue postings, and EXACTLY what they will say. EXACTLY. The ankle chewing begins to resemble listening in on an old married couple bickering: "You never take me to the movies." "Yeah, well, you remember back in 1987, you forgot my birthday." "Oh, yeah? Well, I never DID like your mother!" "Yeah? Well, I slept with your best friend and you never knew it!" "Yeah, well, you're a mental case and I hate your face, you witch!"

Wash, rinse, repeat. As predictable as a metronome. Until Mother Calhoun has to come in and spank.

Here's a suggestion, try commenting on other non-sewer postings. Surely you have something interesting to say about a poem? A posting on Donald Trump? I mean, c'mon, La Donald? Think of the fun you could have discussing that guy.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

I like the "Toonsky" part Ann, cute!

So the community, having been asleep, doesn't blame itself when things changed while IT was not paying attention, but blame those THEY elected to take care of it - never following what CAUSED those elected officials to change direction? They just bypassed getting the whole story and going directly to blaming their elected officials? Or was part of it not the persuasive marketing of those against Tri-W that eventually culminated into those 20 votes that crashed the whole thing?

Also, BIG point, wasn't Tri-W already purchased when LOTTF came into being, January 3, 2003?

By March 1, 2001 the Tri-W EIR had been accepted, so that whole process would have to be done over with a new project. The assessment bond went out May 4, 2001. So, as that had passed, that money would wind up being charged on the tax bills, but the property it partially bought (there was also state grant $ involved) and the designs it paid for would need to be scuttled? That $20 million down the drain! So LOTTF was OK with having to buy yet another piece of property, pay for a new design and go through all the permits again?

But before LOTTF there was Al (CAWS, CASE) and all the other lawsuits! Wasn't LOTTF kind of late to the party?

"As for blaming others, citizens cannot make informed decisions if they are given wrong information."

Ah, yes, the bogus lawsuits that all lost over the years (wrong information abounded) but the especially painful, "$100/out-of-town" comes to mind… Tit for tat, I'd say.

"MWH gravity sewer plant in the middle of town with a $100+++-and growing"

So as you have explained before Ann, it was the MONEY, not the plant location that was the problem at this point, right (around 2001)? The cheap pond was OK, but the expensive plant was not OK?

Which brings me back to the $100. In 2001 maybe, before the MULTIPLE lawsuits drove up the price, $100 was NOT OK, yet in 2005, $100 was in fact, a campaign promise (albeit a fake one based on a guess), so at that point $100 was OK?Explanation?

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Continued:

It has never been explained to me how once Step was rejected, it came back to life later. Also, I don't understand the "eco-support" (and those groups listed earlier were not all correct as to name and as to support for Step) for something that would destroy so much habitat that exists in people's yards as opposed to removing asphalt. And how it ignores the impacts of air pollution resulting when people actually have to pump their tanks regularly, unlike now.

"The CSD did not/never did have the resources to do a project of this kind properly."

Makes you wonder how the CSD was allowed to be formed in the first place. HOWEVER, it is perfectly legal to form a sewer district according to LAFCo rules and there are others out there. It's just THIS particular town can't agree on S#!T, as says the bumper sticker.

Bottom line, before the 20 votes happened, a little CSD managed to go through ALL of the hoops of permitting and financing a $134 million project with FAR MORE lawsuits than the County will fend off on the current project. Perhaps it was possible to get where we are now because prior to the CSD, the three lawsuits that County did fend off and the FIFTEEN lawsuits the little CSD fended off made this current project into the teflon project that it now is?

Without "shovel ready" - and ours was certainly as shovel-ready as other shovel-ready projects that were vying for the money - how would we finance this? (Remember, the collection system is the tough part, and it is mostly designed, and the treatment facilities which will go relatively quickly will start a year later.) There was not enough SRF money to do the whole project this time around! (It is amazing there is ANY money considering the state of our government). Private financing? ha-ha-ha-ha! Seriously, where would that money come from? No, the County made the right call in going after the money.

M said...

Boy. What a life changing event stopping Tri-W turned out to be for you Sewertoons. Constant blogging, constant researching of archives to place blame on the community, going to meetings regarding the sewer to make sure you get what you want. What would you have done with all your time if it hadn't been stopped? Oh that's right, you did run for CSD Director. Thank goodness for us that didn't work out. I don't believe I would have wanted you at the helm of our affairs.
Sincerely, M

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

M, some things work out for the best all around. if put downs make YOU feel better, go for it. But I would rather have a discussion with you of what went on or what is going on now.

Question: Do you apply the "constant blogging" thing to the other sewer bloggers or am I just special?

We are getting a sewer that is a compromise between the two polarities. What's troubling is that this is not good enough for the people still mounting lawsuits. I am not worried that our sewer won't come to pass to elevate us our of our third world status, but I don't want the attitude of poor, pitiful me to take up any more space than it has to. In fact, less space would benefit the community.

Plenty of people made mistakes along this road, at what point do we put down the fingers and allow forgiveness for other's blunders, fess up to our own mistakes and move on? Last Tuesday's BOS meeting showed me that we are definitely not there yet.

I don't blog so much to place blame, but to get the actual facts separated from the spin, which is why I try to put dates and documents behind what I say. If it has ruined your spin perception, well, facts are sometimes an inconvenient thing.

It is truly a sad thing this uninformed voters situation.

SLOTowner said...

It's late and the kids are asleep, but I wanted to share something interesting!

I spoke with a friend of mine, who is a psychologist. I had her over for coffee, and showed her this site just for a laugh. She thinks Sewertoons has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that Calhoun is an enabler.

Can't stop watching the train wreck in slow motion. Gotta go!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Yesterday SLOT said to me, "I don't post here anymore because of your kind."

Why SLOT! You just contradicted yourself because you had a need to share with us your little story!

I wonder what your shrink friend would say about that?

Churadogs said...

Toonsky sez:"I don't blog so much to place blame, but to get the actual facts separated from the spin,"

That's what Ron's busy doing as well, connecting dots. The factual story of this project can be pretty well laid out, the difficulty goes to ferreting out the hearts and minds of some of the players. Without supoena power or mind-reading capabilities, much of that has to be presumed, based on a preponderance of fact.

And sez:""As for blaming others, citizens cannot make informed decisions if they are given wrong information."

Ah, yes, the bogus lawsuits that all lost over the years (wrong information abounded) but the especially painful, "$100/out-of-town" comes to mind… Tit for tat, I'd say."

The wrong information I refered to wasn't lawsuits but the "faster-better-cheaper," Tri-W is the ONLY way, kind.


And sez:"So as you have explained before Ann, it was the MONEY, not the plant location that was the problem at this point, right (around 2001)? The cheap pond was OK, but the expensive plant was not OK?"

It was both $$ and technology. The Ponds of Avalon were seen as lo-tech, "green," park-like; the Tri-W plan was Huge concrete building (hidden by Huge Wave Wall, trucks, mechanical process, etc.

SLOTowner sez:"I spoke with a friend of mine, who is a psychologist. I had her over for coffee, and showed her this site just for a laugh. She thinks Sewertoons has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that Calhoun is an enabler.

Can't stop watching the train wreck in slow motion. Gotta go!"

I'm curious, when you said you showed your psychologist friend "this site," did you mean the Calhoun's Can(n)ons blog or merely the comment section wherein Toonces and others are arguing about the sewer? Maybe before diagnosing a complete stranger (me) and professionally concluding I'm an enabler, your psychologist friend might want to take a look at the blog itself, maybe read several years worth of entries, and the comments posted on those entries. Had she bothered to do that, I suspect she might have concluded that blogs (and their comment sections) are a form of public bulletin board, a place for people to show up and yak about what's on their minds. (The written version of talk-radio) Here in Los Osos (Sewerville) there is a small coterie of Sewerphiles. When I post anything about the sewer issue (and sometimes even if I don't) they show up. Since the comment section is intended (within reason) to be a public forum, they get a chance to chew on each other's ankles for a while. The comment section of a blog is akin to being invited to a party: you're free to yak about whatever interests you and if you get too stupid, you'll be 86ed.
Nothing "enabling" about it; it's simply part and parcel of the form. Some blogs do not allow any comments. They become monologues. This blog allows comments, which makes it a form of dialogue. And your friend, the psychologist, has now determined that hosting a blog that allows comments is now enabling? And she has now also diagnosed another complete stranger (Toonces) as suffering from OCD based on, what? I thought diagnosing complete strangers was considered to be professional "bad form."

But,to be fair to your friend, the psychologist, I have to presume she/he doesn't live in Los Osos, where SewerTalk is the equivalent of die-hard baseball fans who spend endless hours niggling over the stats and arguing over a close call in a tie-breaker game in 1957. It's a sort of hobby or sport out here.

Meantime,I wonder how your friend, the psychologist, would diagnose your inability to, as you note,"Can't stop watching the train wreck in slow motion?"

SLOTowner said...

Ann, your blog has gone downhill. We talk about your site at SLO Nightwriters from time to time. People used to like your site, but now you spend time pampering people who have mental issues more than working on content. Sad!

TheOpenEye said...

SLOTowner: You are 100% correct, of course. The truth is the truth, and the truth is your shield. This is the nursery in "Alien." It takes 1,000 empty words to cover up the overwhelming truth in your few simple lines. Poignant... and illuminating... not just because you're right, but because you care!!!!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Hi Ann, I don't believe SLOTowner is who she claims, but someone who has invented a new persona and moniker to continue to nit pick people she doesn't like, having worn out her other, old aliases. This person has been here all along. She is someone who doesn't like me quoting reports and you, because you appear to have accepted the inevitability of this County sewer and are no longer writing columns against how rotten this project supposedly is and are not joining lawsuits.

There is a mistake and a clue in the rant above Ann.

Mistake: You do not "pamper people with mental issues" but ALLOW, as you ALWAYS HAVE, diverse comments (except for dangerous or sexually explicit ones). The comments of late are very similar to the comments you have gotten all along - for years in fact. These comments are not "content" you control, in fact if you tried to, you would spend more time weeding stuff out, leaving less time for writing your own "content." Your own "content" is as it always has been, high quality, thoughtful and literate.

Clue: It is always amusing to see a person rail against something they could well leave alone, and would if they were who they claim to be. No, the emotional investment in solely dissing these sewer conversations is evidence of the huge sewer investment behind them and we have seen this writing style before.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

The ping pong between SLOT and TOE is hilarious!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Or maybe poignantly revealing. That part I can respect.

FOGSWAMP said...

Toons sez "It has never been explained to me how once Step was rejected, yet came back to life later".

In view of the fact that 87% or so voted for a Step System when we formed our CSD, I guess it should be understandable why it came back. Why it went away is another story.

Also, you stated that the environmental groups I listed as in support of Step were not all correct "as to name" and "as to support". As usual you offer no support for your statement, just spin.

I am sure you are aware of where the information came from and what it meant to the party rejected from appointment to the CC, thus the SPIN.

The "Statement of Key Environmental Issues LO Wastewater Treatment Project: Collection System" is an excellent read available online, in support of Step.

The groups I named were invited by chairperson Patterson of our LOWWP group to provide input on this important matter.

Their conclusions are a matter of record and fully support STEP vs Gravity with numerous supporting documents. Which supporting document were you referring to?

In your mind, at this point in time are all of the environmental groups you just dissed considered ultraobstructionists?

SLOTowner said...

I don't know who Sewertoons is, and now I don't want to know.

TheOpenEye said...

...because you appear to have accepted the inevitability of this County sewer and are no longer writing columns against how rotten this project supposedly is and are not joining lawsuits.

If you don't meet these terms you can't blog here about the sewer -- without being stalked, trolled and tagged by Gibson's boot-licking fascist moll.

If this was "talk radio" she'd be cut off and hung up on...

If this was a "party" she be thrown out...

If this was a "bulletin board" she'd be banned for posting mis- and disinformation and over-blogging...

If this is allowed to continue to pass for "hobby or sport" in Los Osos -- which it shouldn't -- then lying and character assassination are just part of the house rules, and that explains a lot about what's happened here.

If something is wrong with Los Osos you'll find it gift-wrapped right here -- where "something's wrong" is given a home, a pillow, and a hot cup of stupid to pour on readers hoping for better... Sad indeed.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Hi FOG,

The Chumash group recanted and did not support Step in the end. The Surfrider group was San Luis Bay, I seem to recall you had another name but you probably meant them? I think your list vanished when blogspot ate 24 posts. if you want to repost I can be more specific.

I have paid absolutely no attention to - I assume you are referring to Gibson - the Coastal Commission thing - so have nothing to say about it.

I have read KEIS but disagree with their support of Step. Many of their other water conservation ideas however were incorporated into the permit and yes, these environmental groups were invited.

I was referring to the peer review. Maybe you can explain YOUR take on the paragraph that stated Step and Gravity to be functionally equivalent. The Ultra-Steps hated it. And trashed their "god" Tchobonaglus.

How do you explain the results of the survey regarding Step?

Maybe you can explain if you know, just what plan there is for the community - how getting a sewer would go forward - permits, financing, etc., if the lawsuits would crash this present plan? (They won't, but just wondering.)

Maybe you can explain how 87% of the public was OK with a pond and the attendant smells but not OK with a plant that contained all odors? I mean it's fine to argue cost with some reasoned thinking behind that, but the odor argument?

Maybe you can explain how $100 was OK in 2005, in fact a virtue, when $100 a few years earlier was demonized?

The goalposts keep shifting.

Churadogs said...

TOE sez (refering to Sewertoons) "This, uh, person you've had the misfortune to encounter is officially "THE CREEPIEST PERSON" in Los Osos. You might as well argue with your foot."
and then sez,again about Sewertoons," "If you don't meet these terms you can't blog here about the sewer -- without being stalked, trolled and tagged by Gibson's boot-licking fascist moll."
and sez:"If this is allowed to continue to pass for "hobby or sport" in Los Osos -- which it shouldn't -- then lying and character assassination are just part of the house rules, and that explains a lot about what's happened here,"
and then sez, again of Sewertoons:"I'm afraid no shrink could ever help Lynette Berti Tornazi's fuzzy old white shrunken head."

Uh, TOE, if you don't like or believe in character assassination by commenters in the comment section, then why do you engage in . . . character assassination yourself? I don't get it. Are you unable to control yourself? Or are you a hypocrite? What?

Well, TOE's a very familiar voice. Heard it here many times. And SLOTowner's no stranger to this blog either.

What's interesting in their comments is their use of the term "blog." If, let's say, hypothetical only, TOE (and/or Sons& Mom & Dad) has his own blog and he allows people to comment on his blog, the commenters are not bloggers. They're commenters and they have no impact on or even connection with the content of the blog itself. The comment section of a blog isn't a blog, it's a comment section.

SLOTOWNER sez:"Ann, your blog has gone downhill. We talk about your site at SLO Nightwriters from time to time. People used to like your site, but now you spend time pampering people who have mental issues more than working on content. Sad!"

Hey, Nightwriters talk about my blog from time to time? Wow. How cool is that. I'm flattered. Let me guess who brings the topic up. Do the Nightwriters know the difference between a blog/blog content, and the comment section of a blog? That might be something fun to discuss at your next meeting.

TheOpenEye said...

Uh, Ann, your comments are simply ridiculous. You don't get it and never will.

Forget about me or whoever you think I am. I stand by the truthful comments of SLOTowner and M, and hope they are not slimed by the fact that we basically agree -- that the degradation of this site to an open-source platform for habitual liars, mental cases, and hate-mongering is a shame and a sham on the community.

You run a blog that runs you because you've lost it -- if you ever had it (doubt it) -- and don't have a clue what you doing: The comments are an extension of the blog, not separate -- no matter what you dream or pretend to know.

Why don't you just shut it down?

M said...

Whoa, wait a minute. Please don't include me in your post. While I completely disagree with almost everything Sewertoons has to say, it is nothing personel with me. Thank you.
Sincerely, M

Alon Perlman said...

Hi Fog, the argument is fine at face value.
The KIES (Statement) is a remarkable document, though I have not reviewed it recently. I am well aware of its nexus and early history. But it primarily had one author, a LOSG member, and was “adopted” not “Peer Reviewed”, or “Co-Generated” by the several environmental groups. Some of the Ideas had been floating around for years, The Troika of Sustainability notwithstanding. Pretty much the technical Los Osos specific stuff was all mentioned by many, previously, and Al was prominent in the origination of several of those Ideas. Not wrong overall but frequently exaggerated. Not sure what the core KEIS (without re-spending time) says about Broderson, but those groups aligned heavily against Broderson, even arguing for complete exclusion. I myself spoke against Broderson in the early days, when All the project’s when All the project’s waters were headed there (Arguably there was to be a second phase and redistribution). In the current project the third of the waters headed to Broderson, are the only waters that have a droplet’s chance in Hades, of making it into the lower aquifer. And arguing that the ISJ will prove inadequate to handle the enormity of basin management, is different than arguing that the CSD should drop out of the ISJ. And I have heard promotion of several sub issues which contradict other statements made by the very same people. So as far as I am concerned, going beyond "STEP/Vac/ any other system with shallow pipes as a feature, VS gravity deep pipes" (Bigger diameter pipes being less flexible is physics, not just material science, and long moot): It’s mostly a bunch of sustaininity.


Twenty Eight comments magically un-raptured and returned to virtual earth.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Hi Alon, I see your point above about, " And I have heard promotion of several sub issues which contradict other statements made by the very same people."

The one that struck me the strangest was going back to "the phased approach." Boy, that is going full circle right back to Pandora - the person who they don't like but whose ideas live on through them.

TheOpenEye said...

Apologies to M. I'm leaving you out.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Good golly! They are back! Un-raptured as it were! Thanks Alon for checking!

Churadogs said...

TOE sez:"You run a blog that runs you because you've lost it -- if you ever had it (doubt it)" . . . .

Why don't you just shut it down?"

Can't do that, Toe, because you'd be heartbroken. After all, you keep logging on repeatedly to comment and complain and trash both other commentors and/or the blog itself (anonymously, of course, since you lack the courage of your own convictions)and/or just spend pots of time trolling and lurking.Ya gotta LOVE this blog to spend this amount of time on it.

Which means, Toe, YOU'RE MY BIGGEST FANBOY!

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Excellent post Ann! I'm sorry this story fell off to the side. I sure hope TOE (and SLOT) find it!

Alon Perlman said...

Strictly speaking Ann, " Most dedicated Fanboy " That would be the well known Southern SloT which in this manifestation is trying hard not to be recognized as a second generation TOE jammer (The Other Editor). Three visitors frequent since inception have generated most of the Trolling style traffic. By my count only Four or five current writing visitors are Truly Anon, being Mike, M, Fogswamp, and to include a rarer visitor, Mom.
I would personally prefer that I had not known the identities of the Aanon Oafs, or, for other reasons, the other Anon Contributors listed, but; being that the oafs have each invested in a Low Sewer blog, ya gotta ask "Why not spend the time preening, and picking nits on your own Blogs, instead of being Seagull visitors to other blogs? (The Screeching, the pooping on real people’s heads. The Screaching Cacophony of it all. Yep, three Sewer blogs, per family- one of which is technically a website (No comment posting).
Whereas Your part time subject matter rules the roost. Followed by Ron's dedication to the Pre '05 saga, and at a distance Steve "Call me a Morro Bayonite now" Page’s page. Two other full time Sewer Blogs exist, one being a "Website". _REDACTED_.

It's a textbook Jealous Personality thing, you are correct in seeing it as a form of a compliment. (Technically the second highest form, Rampant plagiarism being the first) More words written about you than they post in their own blogs. It’s a psychosocial aberration that has at it’s core, problems that aren’t about you, Los -Osos or “The Sewer”.

Alon Perlman said...

Homeland security internal memo 1187E489-[Redact this part]: And last but not least; Alon's-Ultra-Super-Secret-Stealth-Mini-Submarine-Base-Lair-Maze-Tunneled-Under-Morro-Rock-Los_Osos-Sewer-Blog-
Complete-with-NEON-Signed-Entrance-At-the-Southwest-Parking-lot--↓ "The-Only-Blog-on-Blogspot-With-Brown-Lettering-on-Yellow-Background"-How-hard-is that-to-find?

Alon Perlman said...

And Toonatsky, this time (though not necessarily at inception of the moniker)- a “He” not a She. But, as I have said before “Guessing at the identity of an Aanon, is a no net sum gain game”, or even “Guessing which of the Oafs and under-bridge Orcs, Boors, or Trolls, is which… etc…”

Not just “My Opinion", This is based on Web-Research!-“Boors and … (Ed. ) Orcs get on well, as they share an identical worldview and remarkably similar personal hygiene habits. “

Churadogs said...

Toonces sez:"Excellent post Ann! I'm sorry this story fell off to the side. I sure hope TOE (and SLOT) find it!"

Are you kidding? TOE's my biggest Fanboy. He'll find this comment thread.

Alon sez:"being that the oafs have each invested in a Low Sewer blog, ya gotta ask "Why not spend the time preening, and picking nits on your own Blogs, instead of being Seagull visitors to other blogs?"

That's always been interesting. Also interesting, Anons who complain loudly about how AWFUL this blog is, yet keep coming back again and again and again. That's pathologic. I mean, if you don't like something, go find something you DO like. I mean, duh?

FOGSWAMP said...

Alon .........."Sustaininity" , another word I never know before.

For a brief moment I wondered what you were doing there, even thought it may have been a fog-aplause of some sort.

Yes, Sustainability of our water supply is what our goal should be, however IMHO we seem to have lost sight
of the goal posts.

Alon Perlman said...

Ah there you are, Fog. I used the "Feed" for the first time this week. And noticed this comment.
This is a stagnant back water bog of the blog right now.
Speaking of new words- "Fog-applause"- The sound of one hand Clapping? The sound of one oar splashing? A gray shape emerging from a gray background, somewhere near the invisible horizon line.
I agree with the concept of sustainability, as you expressed it.
Unfortunately I have heard "Sustainability", Capital "S" as an -ism". I’ve even been to lectures about the xeroscape landscaping where the lecturer said “I prefer not to say “Sustainability” because it’s such an overused word”.- Sustainability as an “-ism” is tied in to “Package” of green concepts, some of which may not be practical, not as appropriate to actual Los Osos Current conditions, and act to distract.
Examples; Broderson “Experiment” or otherwise, is the only direct recharge to the aquifer near the Salt water front. Graywater will need much more work if it is to truly replace potable water wasted on landscape irrigation. And a few other specific areas, where I disagree with the topic emphasis, banner waving and group-think. Frankly I do have more to say at the BOS than I bother with, because the message gets diluted. I get more excited hearing “Recharge”.


Therefore; “Sustaininity”. Some day I’ll re-review the core KEIS but not today.
I think the County may have given up on saving the basin, but it’s because of specific problems and lack of jurisdictions, not because they don’t like “sustainability”.