Calhouns Can(n)ons

Oh, I Forgot To Add . . . .

When I posted the previous entry about the sort-of-settlement between the LOCSD and Whittaker Construction on the start-up/stand-down costs owed when the sewer project at Tri-W was stopped, I forgot to mention that the $1.3 million was the maximum the arbitrator would allow to be claimed, the the real amount has yet to be figured out.

But whatever it is, people need to remember that none of it would have been owed if the previous recalled CSD board majority (Stan Gustafson, Richard LeGros and Gordon Hensley) hadn't unnecessarily started construction before the recall vote could be held.

At the time, in my September 14, 05 Bay News Can(n)on,"Bleep You AND The Horse You Rode In On," I wrote:

"CSD Director Tacker emailed CSD President Gustafson to ask for an emergency public meeting and Board vote regarding cutting the trees down before the recall election, before the citizens could even weigh in with their votes. NO! All kinds of citzens marched and held vigils and called the CSD office asking for a postponement of the cutting [of the huge trees on the Tri-W site] until after the election, a scant three weeks away. NO! Countless community members urged the CSD Board majority to hold off on doing anything irrevocable until their votes were cast on the 27th. NO! No, nope, nuh-huh, not interested, talk to the hand, not listening, don't care, go away, shut up, Bleep you and the horse you rode in on.

"Instead of good public policy and a piece of smart politics, what I saw in the great tree fall was a hissy-fit of pique by three directors enraged that enough members of their community (over 20% certified by the elections office )[recall initiative petition signatures & etc.] disagreed with their governance to get a recall as well as a Sewer Initiative on the ballot. Instead of taking a deep breath and pausing until the whole community could be heard from, they appeared hell-bent on a deliberate process of pounding as much State Loan Money into the ground as quickly as possible, doing as much irrevocable damage as possible, inflicting as much lasting physical and financial damage as posible so that they could turn around and blandly argue that voters shouldn't bother voting since it would be a shame to waste all that money and anyway, the trees are already dead, so bleep you, bleep your horse. The tin-eared message couldn't get any clearer than that.

"Sadly, no matter the election's outcome, the actions of the Board majority in the simple mattter of the trees has turned it into a Pyrrhic victory, evil and bitter, unforgivable and entirely unnecessary. That is the tragedy of what this Board majority has done and is still doing."

Lest folks who read the Septmber 26th partial, quasi "settlement" agreement and want to know who to thank for now owing maybe $1.3 million smackaroonies, there's your answer. Stan moved out of state, but Richard and "Coastkeeper" Gordon are still in town. And I'm sure Gordon, maybe even Richard, will be in the audience (or at their lawyer's table??) in the courtroom showing support for their and Taxpayers Watch's personal lawsuit against the current CSD members.

And thus, my children, does this twisted Medean history continue to play out in the present. (Oh, yes, that lawsuit is also costing the taxpayers as well. Deja vu.)