Here are the transcripts of the speeches made on March 3rd.
From Aaron (full version):
This tax-and-spend board could really use a lesson in the art of transparency from President Obama. The County is hiding the real costs.Recovery.gov has been an unprecedented effort in giving the American people a look at how their taxpayer money is being distributed according to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Approximately $144 billion dollars is going to state and local fiscal relief. Why don’t Los Osos taxpayers get a line by line accounting of how the last million dollars of Los Osos money was allocated to a lobby firm. People got up at Public Comment and asked, but no answer was given by this Board. That’s not transparency. The problem with some stimulus dollars is that a good chunk of this money is going to bureaucracies who have not been transparent – or willing to invite taxpayers into the decision-making process.
Multiple direct mailings and public meetings do not demonstrate transparency. The nature-themed, glossy stock brochures only explain the steps that need to be taken, backed with unverified statistical data that are meant to reinforce authority and unquestioned power.
These beautifully assembled mailings, including the February 19th Project Status Reports, consist of decisions made by the county, but not why they made those decisions. There is no documented second opinion except for TAC pro/con analysis. TAC has shown substantial preference to gravity collection. This was made apparent in TAC chairman Bill Garfinkel’s recent, less-than-transparent Tribune viewpoint.
Public meetings never attempt to resolve – or at least respond to – myriad, public disputes. Instead comments from the board are limited to, “Sir, your time is up” and “Next speaker please,” but rarely a question is raised or response that’s issued. That infrequency ultimately undermines the County’s guiding principle of hearing what the community has to say. When you fail to address concerns from the public, it shows that you do not understand the project enough to give an answer. The board’s only expertise seems to be saying “Yes!” to the staff reports.
The town hall meetings were more or less a verbal read-through of the mailings. Any additional questions made by the public were screened so the only questions addressed sounded more favorable to the process.
With a lack of transparency, one has to wonder if this board is shilling for special interests like Montgomery Watson-Harza. This dark tunnel of a process is eroding the public’s trust in government. Some find this process satisfactory and transparent because it fits their agenda, regardless of the cost, but in reality, we need to reform the system that allows these special interests to buy County opinion and we should never allow the County to be bought.
From Ed (full version):
Good afternoon, Supervisors, I’m Ed Ochs from Los Osos here with your Monthly Update on the Los Osos Wastewater Project from the viewpoint of thousands of people in Los Osos who will be pushed out of their homes by the County’s pork-lined project.The results of the Community Survey are in and you have failed the affordability test. When asked WHY you absolutely refuse to build a sewer Los Osos can afford, the only answer we ever get back is “BECAUSE” — because Assemblyman Blakeslee passed a law that SAYS SO … because Regional Water Board Chairman Young IMAGINES SO … because Public Works Director Ogren and his staff REPORT SO … because Supervisor Gibson and his Merry Board NOD SO … and because Tri-W TAC Chairman Willy Garfinkel SWEARS it’s the ONLY way to go — and SO it’s SO. And that’s why.
Debating the predetermined wrong technology that has already been decided on in advance is a waste of time, and those who think they can change the board’s mind are missing the fact that the train has already left the station on the choice of technology, and the name of that train is the “Gravity Express.”
Even before the County considered taking on the project and before the legislation was even passed into law, the County’s Gail Wilcox wrote a June 2006 memo to this Board on options for county involvement. In that memo, Wilcox presented strategies that included comments such as “will need sole-source contracting to proceed quickly” and “conventional gravity collection; essentially as designed” using “conventional technologies.” And, “consider whether existing collection system contractors can resume work, thereby minimizing existing payment disputes.”
Gravity for Los Osos has long been a foregone conclusion. The County has never really considered inexpensive systems like vacuum, which would certainly be an acceptable compromise between gravity and STEP and costs one-third less. That’s affordability. All that was ignored because for some strange, unspoken reason it HAS to be Carollo and Montgomery/Watson/Halliburton – for the top-dollar project, over-inflated gravity. So the $6 or 7$ million dollars already spent by this Board and charged to PZ homeowners has been a complete waste of public funds. Apparently, entertainment isn’t cheap. Long-running dog-and-pony shows to dazzle homeowners into submission cost more than launching a major Broadway musical.
Speaking of show business and trusting the process.
P.T. Barnum of Barnum & Bailey Circus fame hung a huge sign in the circus that read: THIS WAY TO THE EGRESS!!! An arrow pointed to a door.
Expecting to see some fantastic new creature, many an unsuspecting patron who didn’t know “EGRESS” was just another word for “EXIT,” went through the door and found themselves out on the street!!!
The “PROCESS” is just another word for “EXIT” and many an unsuspecting Los Osos homeowner will find themselves out on the street when they can’t afford the County sewer.
Moral of the story: It is later than it’s ever been for Los Osos. Soon there be nowhere for Los Osos residents to go but out.
Commentary:
Given how controversial and time-consuming the Los Osos Wastewater Project update is, there should have been a notice on the agenda that allowed the public to have a presentation for the maximum of two minutes per speaker. I was a little tongue-tied given that I had previously timed my speech at two minutes and 30 seconds. I had already compressed as much detail as I possibly could within the speech, but the late-minute notice took its toll on my delivery.
The meeting was packed mostly with people who were more in step with Garfinkel’s perspective. I drew that conclusion as soon as Ed spoke. There was a collective sign in the room followed with an exasperated, “Oh boy…”
Everyone said what I expected them to say. I noticed that Bruce Gibson and Jim Patterson did address what I mentioned earlier when I talked about how they rarely replied or addressed any public disputes. I still feel that the BOS is not technically informed about the process as far as casting any reasonable doubt on the process based on comments made by the public.
