EDIT (4:52 PM PST): Today, Bob Cuddy wrote an article on news that’s not exactly breaking. It’s not the article that amuses me (But the “Los Osso” typo? Well done, Cuddy!) so much as the comments made by the anonymous. If any of them want to elaborate on their — in my opinion — wacky statements, they are more than welcome to on the blog or if they want to speak to be privately, they are more than welcome to send me an e-mail.
Last Monday, I checked the SLO County Web site at the section that stored all the Los Osos project updates and documents. For the entire day, I checked and there was no report from County Counsel regarding the formal complaint filed by former CSD board member Lisa Schicker. The complaint was sent to the County more than a month ago.
County Counsel Warren Jensen has already verbally denied the allegations in a series of e-mails to Schicker. Only a week into reviewing the complaint, weeks before Jensen said the report was going to be due, Supervisor Bruce Gibson had already decried it.
Supporters of the County has hailed the leaders of the process as moral arbiters without taking into consideration the lack of consistency between the County’s words and actions.
There are a few strains of arguments provided by the County — none of them seem to be thoughtful or give benefit of the doubt.
1. Backdating contracts happen all the time. Who cares?
When a former interim GM for the Los Osos Community Services District, an unauthorized, temporary employee, orders Buel to backdate a 1999 contract with a contractor that’s now on the short-list for both collection and treatment 10 years later, that is where reasonable suspicion is raised. When the District Attorney‘s Office of San Luis Obispo stated that the backdating was a felony, that’s when the whole “Who cares?” tone is completely thrown out the window, especially when the contracts were illegally signed by Bruce Buel. First there was the motive and then the commitment to act on that motive, which makes the case against Mr. Ogren more plausible.
The act of backdating contracts, in this case, is in violation of California Penal Code § 424 and Government Code § 6200 (falsifying public records) as cited in the May 8, 2006 letter to Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve Brown.
2. Investigating the complaint is unnecessary because it unfairly utilizes dwindling County resources. Therefore, it’s counterproductive to the process.
Last month, County Counsel Warren Jensen stated that he would fulfill his obligation as counsel to investigate the complaint and release the findings in a timely manner. The investigation was part of a legitimate process and the complaint is highly relevant to the process. Montgomery Watson Harza, which is now once again in the spotlight, has been deeply involved throughout the history of the Los Osos wastewater project.
Not only does this not hurt the process, it strengthens the process and encourages the County to look at all the bidders that are new to the Los Osos playing field. Granted, the County addressed MWH’s qualifications in light of the accusations brought forth in the formal complaint, but the problem is that MWH has dominated the conversation. What ever happened to the competition? Why should they compete with a contractor who has — for at least five years — had such deep involvement with the town and its politics?
It is crucial to utilize County resources in order to ensure fairness of competition.
3. Lisa Schicker has a clear agenda to delay and undermine the process. She is merely trying to compensate for her shortcomings when she was on the LOCSD.
As part of her fiduciary duty and legal obligation to district taxpayers she served as an elected official (by an overwhelming majority), Lisa Schicker first reported the incident(s) to law enforcement almost a year before the recall. Following the recall and before the bankruptcy, a resolution was passed for the board to send information regarding the backdated contracts to the Attorney General and the District Attorney in 2006.
Due to MWH appearing prominently on the short-list combined with the contractor’s pending litigation with the district — which, only if settled, would qualify them for the RFP — there was a clear incentive to file a formal complaint. Prior to the formal complaint, the County did not investigate the matter. Maybe not in the court of law, but for speculative purposes, one could argue that the County had knowledge of such information, since analyzing the past wastewater projects was part of the process. For the County not to pick up on this abnormality attests to their level of competence… or complicity.
There is foul play afoot here — and perhaps a grand jury investigation would uncover more information than the County’s own less than objective, internal review of themselves.
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