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Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Well, That Limb Mother Calhoun Went Out On Sure Wasn't A Very Long One, Was It?

Stuck at home while Kirk (Estero Bay Plumbers) was installing a new kitchen sink, at 1:30 pm., as announced, I tuned in the BOS meeting on the radio, curious to hear County Administrator Jim Grant's report on the Paavo Ogren/Maria Kelly Mess. 

Why did I tune in at 1:30?  Well, said Bob Cuddy's  Tribune Sept 30 story, , "It is my intention to report out after closed session, " County Administrator Jim Grant wrote in an email to The Tribune.  Closed session takes place after the morning session of the Bord of Supervisors and the report starts the afternoon meeting at 1:30. p.m."

So, naturally, any Los Osos folks interested in this issue would show up in the morning, waaaaay, waaaay before the official 1:30 report-out time, because they would know that the BOS would have arranged to have Mr. Grant report out in the morning, waaaay, waaay before the announced time, thus making sure nobody from Los Osos would be in the audience.  Then, in the afternoon, after closed session, oh, along about 1:30 p.m. the folks in the audience who specifically came to hear that issue would ask, "Hey, where's the report," only to be told, "Oh, we gave that report this morning, waaaay, waaaay before any of you guys showed up, so, sorry, you're too late, there will be no report now, so shut up and go away, thank you."

To which several Los Osos folks objected. Linde Owen even politely raised a point of order, in fact, only to be gaveled down by Chairman Hill. Mr. Grant did chime in to say he'd be happy to talk to audience members in the hallway, (away from the microphones and TV), which is how the County clearly wanted to handle this whole mess -- bury it out of sight with a brief 2 page report, declare there was no conflict at all, and above all, allow no questions in public.  Which is how the BOS likes to do business when one of their own steps in it.

Declared Chairman Hill after gaveling down the few irate commentors from the audience, "What's a Board of Supervisors meeting without a little bitterness?"

Really?  Bitterness?  Well, Mr. Hill., let me suggest a reason for the ire.  Let's start with declaring that you're preparing an above board, transparent report, that the report will be presented at a time and placed announced, the public will be allowed to review the report and offer public comment, exactly like you handle all other issues, and then you switch the time so there would be no transparency, no public comment, only citizens chatting with your CEO in the hallway. Ya think that might account for some . . . bitterness, eh?

Well, Mother Calhoun is not surprised by any of this in the least, especially not the old switcheroo without notice.  Par for the course.  And so we all troop off into the happy sunset, all smiley-faced, job well done.

 Except for Paavo.  This stupid mess made his employers look bad, look foolish, caused them to engage in the ridiculous ruse of shuffling presentation times so as to reduce the possibility that a public hearing would make them look even more foolish.  Afraid the public would drag up all kinds of troubling issues they do not want paraded in public. Employers don't like knowing that one of their bright, shining stars' messy private life has exposed them to a public mess, exposed them to embarassing questions in the public mind such as, "Why'd the heck did you hire that guy?"  Employers will remember that and consider, behind closed doors, during private employee evaluation reviews, that perhaps their fair-haired boy doesn't have the kind of mature judgement required for promotion up the line.  That he's demonstrated that he's a liability to them.  That perhaps it's time for him to consider employment somewhere else since his trajectory upwards in this County is over.

Well, now it's all back to business as usual, here in SLO County.  It's how we roll.  And comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone living in Los Osos.

11 comments:

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

The "mess" as you put it was trumped up by the crew intent on stopping this sewer. Do you see one other county resident making a peep about this? - yet Paavo represents the ENTIRE county, not just Los Osos. There is no "there" there, as much as some tried to create one.

The FPPC found nothing on the complaint that Julie sent to the FPPC on Maria.

A "mess" is what certain people WANTED to create around the validity of the sewer which, much to their dismay, the majority chose to pay for. They are looking pretty foolish right now to thinking people who are not infected with anti-gravity fever.

Churadogs said...

The "mess" was uncovered and reported by Cal Coast News, not some "no sewer crew," as you suggest. And once it became public, then the County's stuck with dealing the mess. Which makes the County unhappy and makes them pull the sort of juvenile bait'n'switchy crap they pulled Tuesday. More embarassment for them.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

CalCoast had some help from Los Osos citizens:

From the first June story, there are members of the district wanting Maria's votes in closed session tallied and reconsidered because of a perceived conflict of interest. Gee, I don't think Maria's friends and supporters would be saying that.

"As suspicions grew that she no longer lived in Los Osos" - who would be alleging that exactly and WHY? Someone fed Velie this information - rather, mis-information as Maria DID live in Los Osos.

And then this, "For years, Maria Kelly would speak strongly in favor of Ogren’s agenda while bringing home-cooked meals to closed session meetings for her fellow board members’ enjoyment." Now HOW could closed session events be made public, but by someone leaking info from closed session? We know the board had two members who were NOT on board with the County's sewer plan.

From the June 17 story, “In the context of the waste water project for the community, Ms. Kelly has been a proxy for Paavo Ogren,” said Jeff Edwards, a 30-year resident of Los Osos." Edwards is NOT in favor of the County's project.

I can no longer access the Razor, but recall reading that Aaron had claimed to have supplied CalCoast with the phone records.

Was Grant's announcement on the agenda? No, it wasn't. So if people wanted to comment, they would need to do so during public comment. That was their opportunity to speak about this issue. So as to when it was read, it seems to be a non-issue, as those interested in this issue and that had spoken about it in the past were in the room at that time. So the supposed "bait'n'switch" appears to be a derogatory label by those upset if timetables are not followed. In any case, the replay is on Channel 21 or online.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

Here are a couple of quotes by the Shredder in today's New Times,

"..consider what I am about to say the most important piece of advice I have ever given: SHUT UP."

"I’ll happily chip in for yarn if you’ll cork it."

Read the full posting at:

http://www.newtimesslo.com/shredder/6765/my-two-cents/

SLOTowner said...

I never knew anyone like Sewertoons who was so gleeful about people suffering. What a bitch.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

If you want to see "gleeful on other's sufferings," check out the demeanors of Los Osos commenters that publicly, over TV and radio, slander Maria and Paavo at the BOS and LOCSD meetings with a bunch of misquotes and innuendo.

And It looks like I am not the only one sick of this.

Have we met? You don't need to call me names to make your point.

SLOTowner said...

Never met you, but I know what you did to Mr. Cooper. Very sad, very sick bitch.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

I did nothing to Mr. Cooper - he was fed misinformation.

SLOTowner said...

My uncle had leukemia, and he passed away 10 years ago. If I knew anyone, *anyone* who mocked his illness and wished him death, I would not want that person alive.

Sewertoons AKA Lynette Tornatzky said...

I'm sorry for your loss.

SLOTowner said...

No, you're not. You're incapable of understanding human suffering.