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LOCSD Meeting (12/4/08) Commentary

By Aaron, on December 5th, 2008

The district of my hometown is now approximately $50 million in debt. Our district, which represents and services 15,000 residents, has been spending more pork than a one-day session of Congress. Thanks Lisa and Julie.

When the community voted for you, they voted because they felt that (1) you would fight for an affordable wastewater treatment project out of town and (2) you would keep the wastewater treatment project in the district as that was well within the spirit of Measure K, which initially formed the LOCSD in 1998. Instead, you go the opposite direction. You stopped the initial project and you kept asking, “What do we do next?” without a solid plan for years until last night.

You guys broke several promises made to the community of Los Osos when they reached out in support.

As a parting gift, you wrote a letter that the County will eventually throw into the shredder. “Please, O mighty County Gods, give us an affordable sewer!”

When we were assessed, the County interpreted the assessment as the community waiving the significance of their opinion. Remember when District Supervisor Bruce Gibson called it an “overwhelming mandate”?

I’m frustrated.

How come I get it and you don’t? How come the community gets it and you don’t?

The Razor
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  • Alon Perlman

    Aaron,
    The time to complain about the conduct of this board was in the last meeting prior to this Election. Elected to “move the Sewer” Julie and Lisa did the best they could, and while I believe, that the Draft EIR 4 choices have MOVED the SEWER TOO FAR (Apparently Director Senate would like to see the Sewer moved further yet-Hence his recent comment “Keep the sewer moving”)
    I suggest you redirect your energies toward the board members remaining, especially Director Chuck “I don’t know why we keep loosing committee members” and “we will accept anybody to our committees” Cesena. They are the ones who will have to adapt and adjust their ideologies to the presence of the two new Directors.

  • Alon Perlman

    Aaron, The time to complain about the conduct of this board was in the last meeting prior to this Election. Elected to “move the Sewer” Julie and Lisa did the best they could, and while I believe, that the Draft EIR 4 choices have MOVED the SEWER TOO FAR (Apparently Director Senate would like to see the Sewer moved further yet-Hence his recent comment “Keep the sewer moving”)I suggest you redirect your energies toward the board members remaining, especially Director Chuck “I don’t know why we keep loosing committee members” and “we will accept anybody to our committees” Cesena. They are the ones who will have to adapt and adjust their ideologies to the presence of the two new Directors.

  • Aaron

    Alon,

    There hasn’t been any designated time for complaining.

    Lisa Schicker and Julie Tacker have contributed to the massive spending spree that the CSD has done and now they look to the taxpayers to bail them out of their lack of fiscal responsibility. This is very similar to what is happening right now on Capitol Hill with the top three domestic automakers.

    Focusing on the present is definitely important and it’s top priority, but when I see that nobody else (not one other private citizen) showed up to thank Lisa and Julie but the usual cast of CSD attendees, That shows how much support is faded for the past couple of years.

  • Aaron

    Alon,There hasn’t been any designated time for complaining. Lisa Schicker and Julie Tacker have contributed to the massive spending spree that the CSD has done and now they look to the taxpayers to bail them out of their lack of fiscal responsibility. This is very similar to what is happening right now on Capitol Hill with the top three domestic automakers.Focusing on the present is definitely important and it’s top priority, but when I see that nobody else (not one other private citizen) showed up to thank Lisa and Julie but the usual cast of CSD attendees, That shows how much support is faded for the past couple of years.

  • Shark Inlet (a.k.a. Stiv Neener)

    Aaron …

    The problem I have with this comment of yours is that it is … um … three to four years too late.

    Back when Lisa and Julie originally ran, it was clear that they didn’t really have a solid plan to get the sewer moved without a huge and therefore unacceptable cost to our community.

    Even though they talked about affordability as if it were important, the net sum of their actions (even ignoring the debt) was to raise our costs.

    I honestly believe they intended to lower our costs and to move the sewer and that they believed Ron and those who promised lower bills … but the “dreamers” at the time were very prescient … that delay means additional costs.

    I appreciate your comment because it shows true insight, even if a bit late much like David Brooks comments on Obama’s cabinet choices show that Brooks is immpressed with Obama even if he is a conservative.

  • Shark Inlet (a.k.a. Stiv Neene

    Aaron …The problem I have with this comment of yours is that it is … um … three to four years too late. Back when Lisa and Julie originally ran, it was clear that they didn’t really have a solid plan to get the sewer moved without a huge and therefore unacceptable cost to our community.Even though they talked about affordability as if it were important, the net sum of their actions (even ignoring the debt) was to raise our costs.I honestly believe they intended to lower our costs and to move the sewer and that they believed Ron and those who promised lower bills … but the “dreamers” at the time were very prescient … that delay means additional costs.I appreciate your comment because it shows true insight, even if a bit late much like David Brooks comments on Obama’s cabinet choices show that Brooks is immpressed with Obama even if he is a conservative.

  • Aaron

    Shark,

    Back when Lisa and Julie were seeking reelection, I asked them if they had some sort of idea about what they were going to do with the wastewater project and the response I got from Lisa was, “Gail knows,” so even if they had a plan, it wasn’t technically their own.

    I like when public officials lay out what they’re going to do on the table as much as I like when politicians say, “I don’t know,” when they don’t have a plan. As I see it, if you say, “I don’t know,” then you better come up with something substantive with haste if you’re running for office.

    After the recall, I was looking for a plan. Instead, the community was bombarded with these LOCSD workshop sessions with Gail McPherson who showcased alternative solutions. By the end of the night, you have Dr. John Alexander asking angrily, “Well what do you prefer as a system?” and Gail’s answer would change radically from meeting to meeting. One time it was MBR. The other time it was decentralized cluster plants and the question that lingered was, “What is the LOCSD’s plan?” Forget about Gail, forget about the Los Osos Technical Task Force. What about our district?

    Never got an actual answer.

    As far as the delays are concerned, that was unfortunate but expected. However, I still feel that some delays were necessary in order to find a more sustainable project, but the problem is that it took so long to make any key decisions, the delay costs started to stack, thus the argument, “You delay, we pay.”

  • Aaron

    Shark,Back when Lisa and Julie were seeking reelection, I asked them if they had some sort of idea about what they were going to do with the wastewater project and the response I got from Lisa was, “Gail knows,” so even if they had a plan, it wasn’t technically their own.I like when public officials lay out what they’re going to do on the table as much as I like when politicians say, “I don’t know,” when they don’t have a plan. As I see it, if you say, “I don’t know,” then you better come up with something substantive with haste if you’re running for office.After the recall, I was looking for a plan. Instead, the community was bombarded with these LOCSD workshop sessions with Gail McPherson who showcased alternative solutions. By the end of the night, you have Dr. John Alexander asking angrily, “Well what do you prefer as a system?” and Gail’s answer would change radically from meeting to meeting. One time it was MBR. The other time it was decentralized cluster plants and the question that lingered was, “What is the LOCSD’s plan?” Forget about Gail, forget about the Los Osos Technical Task Force. What about our district?Never got an actual answer.As far as the delays are concerned, that was unfortunate but expected. However, I still feel that some delays were necessary in order to find a more sustainable project, but the problem is that it took so long to make any key decisions, the delay costs started to stack, thus the argument, “You delay, we pay.”

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