By Aaron Ochs, on October 5th, 2011%
 General Grant leads the Uncivil War. UPDATE (9:50 AM): Jim Grant has issued a response to his timing of the report’s release. He tells Razor Online, “As I publicly stated Tuesday before making my statement, I had originally intended to report out after closed session in the afternoon but after thinking about it I thought it more appropriate to report out during the Public Comment period in the morning. There were a number Los Osos residents that were in attendance that are interested in the wastewater project and I knew they would be interested in my review and evaluation of the alleged conflict of interest. I also stated that, if needed, I would repeat my comments in the afternoon.”
When San Luis Obispo County Administrator Jim Grant dismissed the conflict of interest allegations involving Public Works Director Paavo Ogren and former LOCSD director Maria Kelly, there was outrage from members of the public who waited until the afternoon to speak on the issue. In an e-mail written to The Tribune sent on September 30, Grant told the newspaper, “It is my intention to report out after closed session.” Instead, Grant presented his findings in the morning after Los Osos residents had already provided public comment. Some have said Grant did this as an attempt to thwart protests in the afternoon.
Continue reading Ogren Investigation a PR Disaster →
By Aaron Ochs, on October 4th, 2011%
 Time to tie the knot? San Luis Obispo County Administrator Jim Grant has thoroughly dismissed the allegations of conflict of interest between Public Works Director Paavo Ogren and former Los Osos Community Services District director Maria Kelly as having “no factual basis” during the morning portion of Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. Grant listed each facet of the investigation that he focused on, and stated unequivocally that Ogren was cleared of conflict of interest on all allegations raised by the local media.
Continue reading Ogren Investigation Falls Short →
By Aaron Ochs, on September 19th, 2011%
 Is anybody home? On October 13, 2010, I wrote an article titled “Get The Facts: Ring Paavo’s Doorbell,” which was understandably controversial. The controversy reached a fever pitch when I took on local radio host Dave Congalton, who wrote an article about it. Since then, I spent time objectively analyzing the overall job performance of the County, and their responsiveness to concerns surrounding the Los Osos wastewater project.
Continue reading ‘Ring Paavo’s Doorbell’ — One Year Later →
By Aaron Ochs, on July 20th, 2011%
Though she had no power or authority over the Los Osos wastewater project during her tenure on the board, former Los Osos Community Services Director Maria Kelly may have promoted the Los Osos wastewater project on her boyfriend’s — County Public Works’ Paavo Ogren — behalf through election campaigning, word-of-mouth at various community events, and progressive board action that allowed a controversial contractor to participate in the wastewater project. Given the seemingly lopsided results of the Proposition 218 assessment and the community survey, the County of San Luis Obispo benefited from her free marketing.
Continue reading The County’s Manchurian Sewer Candidate →
By Ed Ochs, on July 4th, 2011%
 Only seven miles to Los Osos Not since Hurricane Katrina have a few politicians toyed so dangerously with the lives of thousands.
Recently, State Sen. Sam Blakeslee fought hard for a suspension of the relicensing of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant until “a myriad of questions regarding the seismic setting at the facility are answered.” Blakeslee rode the headlines from Japan to headlines in the U.S.
Yet Blakeslee has remained silent on asking for a suspension of engineering contracts on the nearby Los Osos Wastewater Project, less than eight miles away from the nuclear facility, until a parallel liquefaction study for Los Osos can be completed prior to engineering the sewer project. Any major earthquake in the area is likely to affect both Diablo Canyon and Los Osos.
Continue reading Blakeslee’s Seismic Contradiction →
By Aaron Ochs, on December 25th, 2010%
UPDATE 12/31: The Tribune has featured a shorter version of this editorial, which can be found here.
Christmas has come for many residents in the seaside community of Los Osos, and for many residents – who face economic hardship especially during these tumultuous times – this Christmas may be their last in Los Osos.
Continue reading Last Christmas in Los Osos →
By Aaron, on November 22nd, 2010%
 Photo Found in Rates & Charges brochure Buyer beware: If the County of San Luis Obispo tries to sell you their “Rates & Charges Ordinance” by incorporating a photo of critics that have vehemently oppose the wastewater project in their glossy brochure, they do not likely have the best intentions in mind. While it’s true that many in the photo support the County’s efforts to bring a sewer to Los Osos, there are quite a few people in it who are protesting the ordinance, and the County is fully aware of that. How could they not be? Residents like Gewynn Taylor, Al Barrow and Linde Owen have appeared at numerous meetings, appearing before the podium to oppose the project — but, of course, the County doesn’t want you to know that. They want you to know that everyone is on board.
Continue reading How to Sell a Sewer With Costly Tales →
By Aaron, on November 12th, 2010%
 Mecham and Slovik On Wednesday, November 10, I wrote to SLO County Board of Supervisors Chairman Frank Mecham regarding comments he made at the BOS meeting on Tuesday. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who are involved in the Los Osos wastewater project that Mecham has a certain level of disdain for those who approach the podium regularly. Sure, there’s a lot of repetition from people who reasonably believe that they will lose their homes and find themselves financially underwater because of the extraneous costs and burden that this current project presents. But Mecham has heard all of that “bickering” before — and so I tried something different.
Continue reading Mecham the Deserter →
By Aaron, on October 19th, 2010%
 Dave and Bruce Dave Congalton is a popular radio host on predominantly conservative radio station KVEC 92.0, located in San Luis Obispo. KVEC also features syndicated broadcasts from known right-wing firebrands Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh: both of them have contributed their own slice of crazy to an already tumultuous political climate.
Not to be out-staged by his syndicated comrades, Congalton has adopted an alter-ego as a “journalist” on a Central Coast news site, CalCoastNews, as their Contributing Editor. And what better way to bring more attention to himself than to attack a “obscure, rarely-read blog,” while tossing journalism standards out the window all at once.
Continue reading Congalgate: Dirty Dave Strikes Paydirt →
By Aaron, on October 13th, 2010%
UPDATE 10/15/10 9:49 AM PST: The County of San Luis Obispo has provided a written demand pursuant to California Government Code section 6254.21(c)(3) to have the addresses and phone numbers removed, and Razor Online has fully complied.
UPDATE 5:10 PM PST: After threatening to “calling me out” on the article, the 4:00 PM show with KVEC’s David Congalton made no mention of it, but Piper Reilly spoke and did a wonderful job talking about what’s happening in Los Osos. Kudos to you, Mrs. Reilly!
UPDATE 1:00 PM PST: It is important to note that the contact information provided is, indeed, public and listed in the phone book. It is custom for elected and public officials to make their information unlisted, but since these individuals have not, the information will remain up.
UPDATE 12:42 PM PST: Congalton and I have started a dialogue. Click here to read the latest.
UPDATE 12:22 PM PST: KVEC radio host David Congalton wrote an e-mail to Razor Online: “I think this is a very dangerous and irresponsible article. It is unethical as far as I’m concerned for “journalists” to publish the home addresses of elected public officials and urge people to confront them (and their families). Gibson may not have to worry about it because he lives in the middle of nowhere, but Ogren is right in SLO. This is the kind of stuff that gives the anti-BOS crowd such a bad rep. Count me out, please.” Here is my e-mail response to Congalton (PDF).
The County of San Luis Obispo claims to have achieved a lot in its pursuit of a wastewater system for Los Osos, but they’ve notably cut many corners to arrive at this point, and some of the corners they’ve cut have the jagged edge of unfinished public business to them.
Continue reading Get The Facts: Ring Paavo’s Doorbell →
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