Yes, Virginia, The Old Cliché Is Correct: Every Vote DOES Count
Final tally on the CSD’s recent Board election: Joe Sparks (2985), Incumbents Chuck Cesena (2851) and Steve Senet (2726) and Maria Kelley (2682.) When the race was initially “called,” Maria Kelley was ahead. At final tally, Steve won by 44 votes.
Hooray to everyone who ran and my congratulations and deepest sympathy to the winners. Oh, and will Taxpayers Watch please now just go away? Thank you.
There’s an enormous amount of hard work that lies ahead and I hope the community won’t be distracted by sewer jihadis on either side knee-capping the community at every turn. Every eye better be focused on the county’s PROCESS to make sure that, as they complete their promised examination of various alternative scenarios, that everyone keeps their fingers off the scales. No more ginned-up SOCs, no missed steps, no fudged numbers, no bait & switchy. Nope, the Process has to be clean and transparent, the numbers accurate, the community fully involved or we’ll be heading for another train wreck and nobody wants that.
Then, the Regional Water Quality Control Board is now working on an “alternative” to the CDOs that may (I say MAY) offer the possibility of a complete Win/Win (I say WIN/WIN) here for everybody, could, (I say COULD) make the new RWQCB’s Grand Inquisitor look like a Hero and should (I say SHOULD) make the Board itself look like they had, with the departure of CEO Roger Briggs, suddenly acquired The Wisdom of Solomon, and best of all, would (I say WOULD) result in immediate improvement of the groundwater, something the CDO process, plodding along with the Kangaroo Court Hearings nigh onto seventeen years or so will never (I say NEVER) accomplish.
HOWEVER, (I say however), the success or failure of this new plan hinges on a turn of phrase, a word here or there, you know, the Devil which is always found in the details. Add one change and it’s Victory (I say VICTORY) for everyone involved, including the groundwater) or refuse to add that one change and it’s Failure (I say FAILURE) all ‘round.
The choice rests entirely with the RWQCB staff, the Grand Inquisitor, the Board itself. Lady or Tiger? Success or failure?
This community better stay tuned and stay focused. There’s so much riding on the single stroke of a pen.
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Calhoun's Can(n)ons was originally published in 1990 in the (now defunct) Morro Bay, CA, Sun Bulletin, and since 1992 has continued in the various resurrections of the Los Osos, CA. Bay News, Bay Breeze, Bay News, Bay News-Tolosa Press. A few years ago, the Can(n)on was added to the Central Coast NewsMission blogsite. Ann Calhoun lives in Los Osos. You can email her at Churadogs at gmail dot com
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50 comments:
Ann proffers:
"There’s an enormous amount of hard work that lies ahead and I hope the community won’t be distracted by sewer jihadis on either side knee-capping the community at every turn."
This is a very applaudable notion and would seem to imply your support of community togetherness! However I can't reconcile this noble concept with:
"Oh, and will Taxpayers Watch please now just go away? Thank you."
Something about the pot and the kettle....comes to mind!
It is very hard to find unbiased opinions these days!
To Anon 8:23 AM,
I think what Ann is saying is that Taxpayers Watch is the ultimate Tanya Harding. Can't win anything legitimately? Knee cap, meet pipe.
To Shark Inlet Inc., you think (I say THINK) I'm bad a math? Home boy, check this:
"Seriously, the chance that Senet can catch up to Kelly has now shrunk. With just 679 absentee ballots to be counted and possibly some provisional ballots as well, there would seem to be less than a 10% chance that Senet will be able to pull ahead. (In all seriousness, that is the number that is most favorable to Senet, most the the ways I work the odds it seems like Senet has less than a 0.1% chance.)"
-- Shark Inlet, 6:19 PM, November 09, 2006
And you're crunching numbers? Well, crunch away.
I wonder if any of the bureaucrats-that-be, or contenders on either side, have noticed that Morro Bay has just been warned of high levels of nitrates in their groundwater.
Fear of high levels of nitrates in Los Osos groundwater is the number one reason we're told we need a sewer.
But Morro Bay has a sewer. And high nitrates
And Los Osos has no sewer. And lower nitrates.
Could it be that there's no cause-and-effect relationship between sewers and nitrates?
Hmmmm....
One might also note regarding Morro Bay, that they buy state water and don't have enough water to rely on their own wells. What is their groundwater basin like, how does their aquifer recharge, is there ag runoff -??? Way too many unknowns to make a snap judgement conclusion that we don't need no stinkin' sewer here in LO. Sorry euphemia!
"Oh, and will Taxpayers Watch please now just go away? Thank you....."
....."And please take with you Julie Tacker, Keith Swanson, Al Barrow, Linde Owen, the Coopers, and all the other obstructionists. Thank you again."
Hey,
At least I can do the probability calculations according to a variety of assumptions. Rather than asking about the assumptions underlying the math why not just criticize me?
I still stand behind my calculations ... not the assumption that the last-to-count absentee ballots are about the same as the earlier counted absentee ballots. Clearly those who cast their absentee ballots on election day or via mail just before the election broke for Senet over Kelly 55% to 45% ... quite a different pattern than the other absentee ballots. In fact, the trend is different enough to say that the last batch of absentee ballots are statistically different from the earlier batch.
Now that I've answered your question, how about you get around to answering the question I've had for you for many months now ... how is it that we'll save money by moving the plant out of town?
Without addressing this question, any statement you make about costs would seem to be pretty ... um ... meaningless. I mean, if you can't address the elephant in the room, why are you criticizing the china pattern of Rowe Bowker?
Shark, Are these figures you keep talking about based on the figures for construction of Tri-W? I seem to remember this Richard you keep talking about collaberating with on the cost analysis of the sewer was one of the ones that accepted the 46 million dollar over estimate bids. Was he using the same cost analysis then? If so, this sucker is going to end up costing wayyyyyyy more than you're figuring.
sincerely M
About the figures Richard and I have been using ...
We were using the actual bids. Some have been saying that if the County were to go out and ask for re-bids they would get bids that are far better than what the CSD got (adjusted for inflation, of course).
As to the question of whether the bids should have been accepted or rejected way back when ... Richard and Publicworks have written on this issue already.
Three quarters of a mil to the pettyfoggers!
You got to hand it to the Lawyers,
Buisness in Los Osos is booming for them!
Lets hope that some of those funds are not disbursed.
What say you CSD board ( whoever the heck you turn out to be)
Do we realy need this much lawyering?
Six YEARS of prior boards spent $800,000 on lawyers. This board spent over $800,000 on only ONE of their law firms in less than one year. Something isn't right here.
Julie just announced at Thursday night's meeting that the County Planning Department caused the board to use their lawyers once again on refuting the Board's assessment of Tri-W in regard to the General Plan. What do you suppose they will use to pay for that?
I highly doubt that it requires an attorney to file an appeal to a general plan amendment. I'm thinking that staff could easily file (with a review of attorney if necessary) and follow up as necessary. Why do we "need" attorneys to do basic paper work? Why have staff if we keep using attorneys? Staff are technically county employees with contracts and unions as oversight. I look forward to some clarification over the next several months as to why we relied so heavily on attorneys and not on staff to provide the answers. I am completely willing to admit that I "may" not totally understand the process and am only speaking from a point of observation. My desire is to ensure that the community receives answers that are true and satisfy concerns.
Take care and I look forward to the continued discussion.
Maria M. Kelly
Does anyone share my disgust with that huge "Move the Sewer" sign hanging on the fence for all to see as they enter Los Osos? It's not the sentiment that bothers me, it's just that it is an eyesore, as all signs around Los Osos are. It might as well read "You are Entering Sewerville." It's bad enough we are the embarassment of the county, but do we have to announce it to every inhabitant and visitor that enters here? It has the CCLO.com website on it. Does the "concern" of CCLO just end with the sewer, or are they concerned about all things in Los Osos, including the aestetics of the community? Is there a sign ordinance in Los Osos? How about those who cling to the eucalyptus trees in protest to their removal. Do they consider huge ugly signs hung on fences to be equally bad for the community? Can't we all just get a rest from the sewer, or are we all tied irrevocably to it like it's our only identity? Have the sewer-as-religion contingent hijacked this community much like the religious right hijacked the Republican party? Man, this place is seriously wearing me out.
I agree with the sign problem. It really does take away from the natural beauty of our little area. Along those lines, the huge "DissolvetheCSD" signs should be removed as well. Why should kids have to look at that when they go to school in the morning? It's bad feng shu! (sp)
Like I said, all signs are an eyesore. Aestetic quality of life has no political affiliation. But I truly believe all those on both far sides of the spectrum really have no desire to instill any sense of civic pride in this community, no matter all their protestations to the contrary. It's all sewer, all the time. The community be damned. Quality of life be damned. They'll remind you of the sewer the second you enter Los Osos, and the second you leave. Hypocrites at their finest. All of them.
Absolutely, both anonymous's above are right on the money. I'm so sick of elections and signs.
For a feel-good story, the other day as I was waiting to make a right turn onto LOVR near the Laguna Middle School, two boy's neared the intersection, one quite a bit larger than the other, and the smaller one started to walk in front of me, and the larger one grabbed him by the backpack and indicated wait a minute. I had no intention of going, but I thought it was pretty cool that the larger boy was looking out for the other. And they were obviously not brothers. Somebody's teaching that kid right.
Sincerely, M
I'm of the belief that if the sewer issue ever gets resolved that none of you will know what to do with your lives.
What would all the members of the "resistance movement" do in the Middle East if peace were brokered between Israel and Lebanon?.
You folks are kinda the same.
Anon above,
I'm right there with you, I think The move the sewer sign and the TW sign, the one on the corner of MBB and LOVR, should be replaced with a more attractive sign possibly put up just in front of the HUGE cematary sign on LOVR
WELCOME TO LOS OSOS! THE HOME OF THE COUNTRY'S BIGGEST BANKRUPTCY!
Guided tours of the CSD offices are $5 at the door.
Mike...how about an archway? Built by leftover sewer pipe.
That assumes that there will be leftover pipe, better call it unused pipe instead.
But otherwise sounds good!
I'll echo the above comments about the signs. All of them, Move the Sewer, Dissolve the CSD, ALL OF THEM, need to come down now. Campaign season is over and there are County ordinances that say all campaign signs must come down within 10 days of the election. The CSD won't be dissolved and the sewer location will be decided by the County, so there is no need to have these constant reminders of the divisive issues facing this community.
How about it Ann? Why not call for the removal of the signs in a future column?
To Anon above, it's not her job to call upon everybody to take down their signs. They should be responsible enough to remove them themselves.
Kind of funny, I read in the Tribune where there were a handfull of votes left to be counted. What, they can't go ahead and count them and make it official? I also saw a letter to the editor praising the Tribune for their accurate reporting of the election. There may be some question about that.
Sincerely M
I never said it was Ann's responsibility - I merely suggested she call for it, just like she's called for community members to pay attention to the County process, to excercise their right to vote, to be active in their community, etc. She's admired by people on both sides of the fence, so who better to ask for a small step towards unity?
I apologize. I guess I was caught up in the fever of get rid of the signs. I still think that those responsible for taking them down should need no prodding.
Sincerely, M
I'm sure, as in the case of the huge "move the sewer" sign off LOVR, the person hanging the sign will say it's on private property and they can do whatever they want. They'll say it has nothing to do with the election, it's just their opinion and tough luck if you don't like it. Then in the same breath they'll tell you they care deeply about the community, that's why they want the sewer moved. (or the CSD dissolved,or whatever). These people make no sense.
They should need no prodding but they do. As someone said above, the extremists on both sides have no life without the sewer issue. I guess that includes their signs. At the next CSD meeting one of us should mention it during public comment. If I can go, I will do it. And Ann, since you go pretty regularly, maybe if you agree with us you would consider mentioning it? I'm certain more people would listen to you than to me!
Sincerely,
I guess I have no life either
The first piece of property I bought in San Luis Obispo County was in Los Osos. I am so damned glad I got rid of it early-on.
The mentality of 50.01$ of the population is bringing down the other 49.99%. This is like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Except, people in California are supposed to be so much more erudite, right? WRONG.
Los Osos, you have allowed a bunch of yahoos, led by spoiled brats, assisted by wandering psychos, and augmented by the resident lunatic fringe to convince a bunch of old people that you will bring in this waste water facility, you have a plan out of town, without fines, without loss of the SRF loan, and costing only $100.00 per month.
You people have no idea of what you are doing. Truth be known, you have no plan, you lost the loan, you have generated the CDO's, generated fines and lawsuits ad infinitum, pissed off the County and State regulatory agencies, and generally fouled your own nest.
I am sure you have all heard of a class action suit. Please be advised, that if I were living in Los Osos, I would be seriously considering a class action suit against the Recall Board. It would be a nice touch to add in their stalwart hangers-on, but damn, I don't think the law allows for those miscreants.
This "Board" has taunted the regulatory agencies, flaunted their refusal to comply with Federal, State and County regulations, and have generally made eveyone in the county, state and nation ,know just what a bunch of nincompoops they are.
AND, they have allowed some non-Board person to take District files, and place them in their HOUSE, thus compromising any validity or completeness of those files. AND, the person who took those files is a person who has been convicted of falsifying records!!!
GOOD GOD, Los Osos, what the hell are you thinking??
If you allow this to continue, you all have rocks in your head.
You should throw out these people,or at the very least slap a Class-Action Suit on each and every damned one of them. They should be the ones to pay for their stupidity, not YOU!!!
I am happy for those of you that can forget the sewer saga and go on with life. Unfortunately I am one of the chosen ones for whom the battle with the RWQCB continues. We spend much of our time, weekends and evenings preparing a case to defend this town. Anyone want to trade places? I would love to return to a normal life.
I am very, very sorry for what has happened to you because of the actions of the current CSD. I know when my turn comes, I won't be too happy either, especially since I supported the building the sewer a mere 400 days or so ago which would have, well, avoided this mess. Oh yeah I'll be pissed. (Evidently more pissed than those of the residents who voted to RE-ELECT a couple of board members who you can thank for your CDO).
Actually since receiving the proposed CDO, I have become a strong supporter of the current CSD. The evidence has convinced me. But my efforts are focused outward instead of fighting my community.
Well then, if you support them and their actions which brought you to this point, you should certainly take your medicine with a minimum of complaint I would suspect.
Anonymous said... 7:32 PM, November 18, 2006
"Actually since receiving the proposed CDO, I have become a strong supporter of the current CSD. The evidence has convinced me. But my efforts are focused outward instead of fighting my community."
Please explain what you mean. What evidence are you speaking about? Are you happy to have a CDO? How do you think you got it? Are you happy that you will get to pay off the bankruptcy debt? You will also get to pay for a sewer on top of that. It won't be $100 and it won't be $154, It may not be out of town either. Your logic is not apparent. Where are your efforts focused outward?
Anony sez:"The first piece of property I bought in San Luis Obispo County was in Los Osos. I am so damned glad I got rid of it early-on."
Yet you spend considerable time on this site posting a nice long rant about all things Los Ososian? If you sold your property, what's your problem?
That is exactly the problem! The quality of life here has been degraded because we are making "our" problems everybody elses problems too. The problems we have here have oozed into our homes, our work lives our friendships and all over the county. When Sonja Patel first contacted me and asked who my supporters were, I said I wasn't sure yet but that most of my support was coming from Paso Robles and San Luis. I have a friend who works for an agency in San Luis and she was concerned about me because of "our reputation" on a broader scale and how we are perceived and whether or not I was going to be "o.k" meaning safe. There are many, many people who I have talked to that find themselves in social situations outside Los Osos and we end up on some sort of defensive mode because people are either angry or laughing at us as a community. There is no question that there are some members of our community who have little to no concern as to how we are perceived. Then, there are those who recognize our roles as members of a larger, county wide, state wide, nation wide and global, community and would like to contribute positively and become a part of the solution not contribute to the problem.
The situation we find ourselves in today is because we have involved too many people in "our" problem. Just think about it, this isn't just about taking care of water anymore which is what the focus initially was. We now have a serious financial problem - which becomes a federal problem; we have managerial problems - state attorney general problem;poor credit ratings - bond investor problems; non-compliant with water code - another federal problem; grand jury investigation - superior court problem and I think I'll stop there because the list goes on. And who will ultimately suffer and who has already suffered, WE HAVE and we will continue to bear the burden and I am frustrated that there are people I know who have left and who want to leave the place they call home because it has become too much of a problem. There is frustration in anon's posting and it needs to be acknowledged and heard. Some of us need to stop talking so loud and listen and show a little compassion to the sense of loss of community that many people have felt and are feeling. We need our outside community and agencies to get us through the next many years and need our community to recognize that and accept. Now, I'm going to go take a walk, enjoy the day and try to embrace the problem and continue to dream about,"someday....."
Sincerely,
Maria M. Kelly
p.s I gave you so much to work with now Ann enjoy the shredding, I aim to please!
To 6:47 pm Anon, You do know that this battle has gone on for 25-30 years don't you? What you are saying, basicly, is that a bunch of nutcases have strung out the State for 25 years or so. It doesn't sound to me like the State has a very strong arguement.
What is so hard to understand about not wanting a mega-million dollar sewer, in the middle of town, paid for by the 5,000 property owners in the Prohibition zone? I'm all for getting something done. Do you realize that in this entire saga, until the useless CDO's were issued, not one step was taken to mitigate any of the so-called water pollution? Remember were talking a quarter of a century here, and not one step to clean up the water. Meanwhile we live with roads in disrepair, drainage problems, no developement, no parks, should I go on? But you know what, I wouldn't, couldn't live anywhere else.
Sincerely M
For Everyone's Information...Gail Mc Pherson has COPIES of public documents in her home, (as do manyother concerned citizens) not actual "District Files" which are securly locked, alarmed and under the careful watch of the trusted (by both old and new LOCSD board's) Karen Vega.
Please tell me that Gail or someone paid the $0.10/page that the rest of us would have to pay to get such copies.
Maybe it's because she's on a committee. Does Joe Sparks have copies of all these documents? He's on the same committee. Do any of the documents she has copies of relate to things outside the scope of the wastewater committee's charge?
Please also tell me that that any document that she has any of the rest of us could get just by asking. If I recall, Dan and Bruce were both reluctant to give over copies of some docs.
I used to think that Shark Inlet might be Joe Sparks. But now I know it just can't be. He's too paranoid to be Joe.
Hey, I wasn't the one who said it was okay for Gail to have boxes of documents that cost normal folk $0.10/page. Each moderately full box of files (at $0.10/page) would cost a minimum of $250 and most of us cannot afford that much.
Being entirely paranoid (haha) I would hazard a guess that Gail's got maybe eight boxes full of such stuff (which would cost the rest of us about $2000). The question about why she would need so darn many more documents than anyone else is pretty natural.
If she needs those docs because of some responsibilities associated with being on the wastewater committee, I just have to wonder why others on that committee don't seem to need anywhere near as many.
If she just wants to have those docs for other reasons besides being on wastewater, I have to wonder whether she paid for them just like you or I would have to pay.
Quite reasonable questions because after all because it isn't hard to believe that she didn't have to pay for them and that not all of them directly relate to wastewater committee business. And if this is the case, she's being shown the sort of favoritism that tends to be associated with corruption in government.
Oh yeah, you've not been here too long ... if you had been you would know that I am not Joe.
How dare anyone who has not received a CDO criticize a CDO recipient for receiving one, no matter what their politics.
The fact is that we received CDOs because the water board made a choice at a certain time to issue CDOs to certain people after doing absolutely NOTHING to protect their precious Prohibition Zone for 23 years.
The choice was the water board's choice, and water board members are on record as stating their desire to effect a change in the political will of this town just prior to issuance of CDOs.
The water board had the choice to issue CDOs or take other less severely punitive actions. The water board had the choice for years to enforce against governing bodies and agencies and decided not to repeatedly.
We all know the chronology. The water board planned the CDOs prior to the 2005 election and then immediately following the election, when individuals with whom they were on a first-name basis lost an election, when individuals with whom they were on a first-name basis asked for the severest penalties, when the Executive Officer became personally frustrated as a public servant and determined to target ordinary citizens who have no ability to further the water board's wishes, issued them.
It was the water board chairman and its prosecution team members who pointed out to CDO recipients that they had the vote as a way to meet the board's expectations, not taking into account that each PZ voter was only one vote and that everyone outside the PZ got to vote, as well. I know many people who live past the Tri W site who did not want to look at a sewer plant on their way into and out of town who said they were voting for Measure B.
CDO receipients were also told that we had the power to "rally the citizens." Imagine, CDO recipients who barely have the time to go to work, take care of families and do CDO business, rallying the citizens...to build a sewer to the water board's preference.
Do not dare to blame a CDO recipient for receiving a CDO because of their politics. The political will of this town is exactly what is on the mat in this CDO action. CDOs are being used as political leverage. If you get that and are not outraged at the usurping of your and everyone else's right to hold a position, you don't get the big picture.
How dare anyone criticize someone who has been on the ropes for nine months, being jerked around and squeezed by bureaucrats with no respect for citizens who pay their salaries.
How dare anyone who has not experienced the past nine months under the threat of a CDO patronize any one of us by pretending to have sympathy for the CDO recipient while making a case for the CDO.
How dare anyone criticize citizens who have been offered a settlement agreement which is worse than a CDO. In exchange, the water board's concession is that they won't call it a CDO. The penalites are the same or worse, with the signer also waiving the right to a hearing, and the drop-dead date of 1/1/10 remains. That is just three years away. We are given the concession that the board chairman MAY change the date, IF he sees sufficient progress toward a plant.
Many people believe that because they haven't seen or heard anything lately that nothing much is happening. They are wrong. The work continues constantly. The pressure never lets up. The expenses mount. The symptoms increase. How do you think these interim agreements are happening. the board has posted what has not been settled.
To assign blame at any angle in this saga except to point out the agent of this action, who has split for six months as the hearings were scheduled for November and are now re-scheduled for December, who will not be available again until April, is to misapply your energy.
Please have the decency, if you cannot provide a little moral support to the people who are doing what you will never have to do to an extent that you will never have to do it,to just stay in your Barcalounger eating chips and watching the game. As you relax there, hope that the efforts we extend on your behalf, as well as on our own, bear fruit, and that you NEVER have the experience what we are having.
Oh, and if you get the opportunity, thank a CDO recipient for taking the hit for you.
So, CDO recipient ...
Do you tend to attribute more blame to the RWQCB who said they would act if the LOCSD stopped construction so that they could start anew the process of siting and permitting and designing a sewer and treatment plant ... or do you blame the LOCSD for stopping construction at TriW?
Essentially I see these two agencies as being in a pissing contest and the rest of us are getting hit by the blowback. You and other CDO recipients far worse than the rest of us.
I cannot blame the RWQCB for taking some action and I cannot blame them for taking an action that the LOCSD attorney suggested to them during the ACL hearings.
I do feel for you but I also feel for the others who are also being damaged by the increase in sewer bills due to the actions of the current LOCSD board. I hope that you don't take my anger with the LOCSD as support for the RWQCB.
Sharkey bubbled:
"I cannot blame the RWQCB for taking some action and I cannot blame them for taking an action that the LOCSD attorney suggested to them during the ACL hearings."
I can blame them, and I have no problem doing it.
The "Mad pumping sceme" was so lame and still is that, it was and is a joke.
Continuing on with the same 45 familys
and dragging it out for months has been nothing short of beuracratic torture.
The Doomed 45 have my sympathy and support.
(now will one of you please spill the beans! Whats going on?)
Anyone who sticks up for the RWQCB concerning the CDOs is LAME. What a waste of time, energy, and capital. I realize that something needs to change in Los Osos (to quote Matt Thompson) but the bizarre pumping scheme is not the change that's needed. We need a choice of projects and a 218 vote by the property owners. Period. I voted for the recall but in hindsight see that we've made some bad and serious mistakes. That doesn't, however, justify what the RWQCB has done. Get it? Now, my question is this: hasn't the RWQCB, in their infinite wisdom, backed off from the mad pumping scheme? Are the rest of us in line or not?
Dear Anon~
Check out this link and see if it answers your questions in anyway shape or form. It is specific to Los Osos with the newest posting from Friday the 17th all the way back to the ACL order.
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb3/
Take care,
Maria M. Kelly
Bev. De Witt-Moylan here:
This is in response to anon 11/20 6:53 PM who asked what's going on:
Thank you for asking for information about the Proposed CDO status. If you want to find out what CDO recipients have been doing for the past couple of months – or for the past 9+ months, for that matter – you can find what you need on line at www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast. There you will find links, one of them being to the Los Osos Enforcement Actions. Clicking on that link will bring you to a page bearing all the communications from the water board and all the responses by defendants. The most recent responses to the November 15 deadline have been posted. Since we are asked to submit electronically whenever possible, it is pretty easy for them to pop in the responses, scanning anything else that is hand-written. Anyone who doesn't have a computer is free to go to the water board during working hours to ask to peruse the documents. You might even try asking for a meeting with the prosecution team, as future Proposed CDO recipients.
Our group continues to meet at least weekly, and smaller groups meet more often, to work on an agreement that we hope will be acceptable to us, and beneficial to all residents of the PZ, and that the water board can live with, so that this hearing/postponement cycle can stop. A large number of us have agreed to legal representation; four defendants are on record as having already signed the proposed agreement that appears on the water board web site at the top of the enforcement actions page. The references to their CDO numbers appear at the bottom of the pages. Bill and I refuse to sign that agreement with its drop-dead date of 2010 and scant assurance of a revision, and also involves our waiving our right to a hearing in the context of the impossible date.
Anything else you wish to know about current events of the CDO sort, please feel free to call Bill Moylan. We are in the book. Bill can also advise you about donating to the legal defense fund. I know that other CDO recipients would be able to provide you information, as well, and if you know a CDO recipient, please ask.
If the rest of the Prohibition Zone wishes to avoid this road that we’ve been on, they can donate any amount they are able to the PZLDF. Legal representation has been enormously helpful, but it is expensive. The majority of our fund’s resources came from two donors. The rest has come from CDO recipients and a few Interested Parties. Given the amount of the major donations and the total size of the fund, other donations have been few and far between.
Our original intent was to save our legal defense fund for the litigation to come years from now when our cases finally got heard by the water board and appealed to the SWRCB, and then on to the courts, where we planned to utilize legal counsel. But this interim agreement has come up, and we need counsel to assist with the negotiations and other legal recourse.
You can walk into Coast National Bank to donate or send your donation to PZLDF P.O. Box 6095 Los Osos, CA 93412. Please remember that by making a donation you are helping yourself.
I have been referred to on this blog as being “jaded,” which is so funny to me, because as I understand that word, it means cynical and bored. I can’t wait to have the time for that. When I think of “jaded” I think of a friend of ours, a PZ resident, who asked my husband, Bill, how he was doing and received an answer of how tired Bill felt. This friend asked him why he felt so bad. When Bill mentioned that we’ve been in this CDO process for over nine months, the friend’s response was, “Has it been that long…?” As this friend commiserated, Bill told him that he could really help by donating to the PZLDF. Our friend who owns two houses in the Prohibition Zone responded, “I’ll think about it.” To me, that’s jaded. But that’s just me.
There is a true disconnect between Proposed CDO recipients and the rest of the PZ. I think it's partly biology - the tendency to isolate and separate from the weak or threatened members of the herd - and partly ignorance. It must be so comforting to be able to say, "I feel so sorry for them." But really, the best way for PZ dwellers to assist themselves is to stay connected to the first 45 by acknowledging that this fight is everyone's fight. And the best way to do that is to donate to PZLDF P.O. Box 6095 Los Osos, CA 93412.
Thanks,
Bev.
Bev. Great post! Thanks.
ps. I am not an anon, I am who it says.
Ask Ann or Jon, in fact, we have met.
The best to you and Bill!
Mike Green
From Bev. De Witt-Moylan
Dear Mr. Green,
I apologize for relegating you to the "anonymous" category. I somehow identified your post time by mistake, having meant to refer to the Anonymous of 7:05 PM on the 20th. I'll have to chalk it up to the early hour when I began writing the post. Knowing what it's like to be treated as a number (CDO 1041, to be exact) I should have been more careful.
I may as well take the opportunity to add to my earlier post that, yes, the pumping has been modified, and many, if not most Proposed CDO recipients have pumped by now. Others have also decided to take the bull by the horns and have pumped, as well. In effect, this action constitutes compliance with the CDO requirements.
Any Defendant you might talk to will probably tell you that we have no big argument with the pumping. But one little, sticky detail remains. It is the DROP DEAD DATE of 2010 that we object to. There is still no remedy proposed short of "vacating the premises" in order to comply with the Cease and Desist Order, not to mention the unintended consequences of having a CDO placed on your property.
While it certainly seems to non-Designated Parties as if the water board has disappeared from view, all PZ'ers are definitely in line, if not yet in the pipeline. Unless an agreement can be hammered out that is acceptable to both sides, you will most definitely find yourself in the defendants' dock, as we have already.
That there is no sense of urgency among PZ dwellers is a phenomenon created in part by the attenuation of the action against us and also by the lack of information available to the average PZ dweller about the Cease and Desist Order enforcement.
I implore everyone to go to the water board web site. Call Bill. Call others you know who are involved with the CDOs. Get informed. Donate to PZLDF. In helping yourself you will help everyone.
This is so well spoken that it should be copied and pasted back here weekly, every few days; I copy it herewith:
Anonymous said...
The first piece of property I bought in San Luis Obispo County was in Los Osos. I am so damned glad I got rid of it early-on.
The mentality of 50.01$ of the population is bringing down the other 49.99%. This is like the Hatfields and the McCoys. Except, people in California are supposed to be so much more erudite, right? WRONG.
Los Osos, you have allowed a bunch of yahoos, led by spoiled brats, assisted by wandering psychos, and augmented by the resident lunatic fringe to convince a bunch of old people that you will bring in this waste water facility, you have a plan out of town, without fines, without loss of the SRF loan, and costing only $100.00 per month.
You people have no idea of what you are doing. Truth be known, you have no plan, you lost the loan, you have generated the CDO's, generated fines and lawsuits ad infinitum, pissed off the County and State regulatory agencies, and generally fouled your own nest.
I am sure you have all heard of a class action suit. Please be advised, that if I were living in Los Osos, I would be seriously considering a class action suit against the Recall Board. It would be a nice touch to add in their stalwart hangers-on, but damn, I don't think the law allows for those miscreants.
This "Board" has taunted the regulatory agencies, flaunted their refusal to comply with Federal, State and County regulations, and have generally made eveyone in the county, state and nation ,know just what a bunch of nincompoops they are.
AND, they have allowed some non-Board person to take District files, and place them in their HOUSE, thus compromising any validity or completeness of those files. AND, the person who took those files is a person who has been convicted of falsifying records!!!
GOOD GOD, Los Osos, what the hell are you thinking??
If you allow this to continue, you all have rocks in your head.
You should throw out these people,or at the very least slap a Class-Action Suit on each and every damned one of them. They should be the ones to pay for their stupidity, not YOU!!!
6:47 PM, November 18, 2006
Anonymous said...
JON! I COMMAND YOU TO BUILD A WWTF OUT OF CARDBOARD BOXES! YOU WILL ALSO ADMIT THAT ANN CALHOUN AND MIKE GREEN AND RON CRAWFORD ARE THE SMARTEST PEOPLE YOU KNOW (BESIDES ME) YOU WILL EAT ALL OF YOUR STASH OF SMARAT PILLS AND REPORT BACK> SO SAYS JOHN FRUM!
YES I SAID SMAR (RAT) PILLS< IHATE TO BREAK THIS TO YOU BUT CULTINESS IS ROUGH!
I noticed the re-posting of anon 2:49 AM 11/22 also. What's up with that? Are you spewing venom because you will never be able to move back here?
Sincerely, M
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