Money Laundering, payoffs, Just Another Day at the MID
By Emerson Drake
Did you ever watch someone with a gambling disease? They keep raising the bet hoping for the payoff that seldom if ever comes. The hole gets deeper and deeperand sooner or later they have to pay the piper, and that’s what is happening at the MID.
For years they’ve been getting away with murder by doing whatever came to their minds ( The TANC project, Geo thermal energy to name two losers) flaunting public opinion but when the proposed water sale to San Francisco came around the opposition became formidable. First the public had been aroused last summer before and during the MID elections. Then the Board changed getting two new members, Larry Byrd and Nick Blom. And suddenly during January of 2012 GM Allen Short, and Directors Tom Van Groningen, and Glen Wild realized they needed additional support, reinforcements if you will.
The reinforcements came in the disguise of Martino Graphics. Allen Short found an expired purchase order that could be twisted, at least if you squint real hard, to assist in their determination to sell MID’s water through an unfavorable contract. So the “Three Caballeros” with the assistance of a MID staff member started funneling money, laundering if you prefer, through Martino Graphics to a local lobbyist, Mike Lynch, and at least one other shill named Janice Keating. Janice a former Modesto Councilwoman, spoke publicly to the MID Board pretending to be a private citizen concerned about the water transfers, but in reality we know she spoke as a paid shill, someone who pretends to be an innocent bystander but is paid by the house to manipulate the crowd and public opinion. Mark Looker was also a recipient of their largess.
In an enlightening flash MID finally, after more than six months and multiple requests, including Public Information Requests, after Van Groningen publicly stating they had no contracts with anyone other than Martino, and had no idea who Martino had contracts with, they have finally admitted Martino had subcontracts with Mike Lynch, Janice Keating, and Mark Looker.
Since January of 2012 MID has spent over $99,000 with Martino Graphics under the expired purchase order #54981 and is now requesting another $49,500 all in a failed effort to change your mind about the water sale to the San Francisco Public Utilities District. The original intent of this purchase order was to have a fund to work/lobby legislators over water and electric issues. You remember, like the one to allow large hydro generators to be classified as “Green”. Yet they didn’t bother to use it for OUR benefit ( a green designation would have held down the cost of electricity) they used it to promote a failed, water wasting idea they couldn’t let go of. We’ve seen this in the past with the likes of the TANC project where Short spent between $3.5 and $5 million dollars before the plug was pulled, all thanks to Allen Short’s obsession with being in charge, Van Groningen’s willingness to be led around by the nose and Glen Wild’s subservient way of saying “which way should I vote?” to Van Groningen. They remind me of three elephants walking in file, the latter two holding on to the lead elephant’s tail by their trunk.
Ask them to actually quantify and break down what Martino did to earn the money instead the sweeping obfuscations of reality they provide and they can’t. An examination of the purchase orders, which wasn’t provided but EOM has made available in the past, reveals the same generic charges month after month while providing no real substantiation of work.
The following pdf link provides a glimpse into the twisted cover-up mentality staff uses to provide Allen Short, Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild a spider hole to crawl into under the glare of public examination.
121812BoardAgendawithAttachments
Pages 116 -130 are the ones discussed in this article.
If you choose to dive further into the MID cesspool we can talk about the contract the MID Board gave to George Petrulakis allegedly to facilitate in the meetings between Modesto and the MID Board. Mr. Petrulakis was paid:
$28,852.50
But since they only held only one meeting and George gets paid $415 per hour what else did he do for the Board to justify his 69.39 hours of work? Can you say lobbying and influence pedaling or did he provide inducements to others to go in front of the MID Board and endorse the water sale?
Then there is MID attorney Tim O’Laughlin who as a going away present is requesting a payment of $146,250.89. These are a total of his invoices from November and December and it isn’t his last bill there is at least one more coming. MID the gift that keeps on giving.
You have to walk away shaking your heads wondering where the closest bathroom is to wash your hands. But we need to resist that impulse. We need to dig down deep to get to the bottom of the MID barrel to rid ourselves of ALL of the rotten apples.
The next MID meeting is at 9:00 AM Tuesday Dec. 18th. As with all parties it’s BYO Pitchforks and torches lynch ropes are optional.
You don’t want to be late, it’s the best show in town.
Eye On Modesto 