Eye On Modesto

Thoughts and observations about Modesto and Stanislaus County

Archive for the tag “Glen Wild”

21 Apr 2013
1 Comment

And Now for the Rest of the Story

By Emerson Drake

In the past, especially in a one newspaper town, the Opinions Page Editor had the bully pulpit and was king.  You might

A montage I (Valente Q.C.) made with pictures ...

A montage I (Valente Q.C.) made with pictures that I took for the Infobox in the Modesto, California Article. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

dispute their particular version of events at home, work, or when friends get together but you couldn’t mount a vocal opposition to those special interest groups the Editors supported, those who would run roughshod over average people to get their sometimes exploitative and usually lucrative way.  And in Modesto, that’s the way it’s been.

Enter the new media.  Not facebook or myspace but blogtalk radio and News/Opinion Blogs like this one.  We also have a local public radio station 104.9 FM K-GIG that allows local people to air their concerns. Concerns the Bee ignores when it isn’t convenient to them and their advertisers, advisers, and lobbyists.  In recent years we have seen the Bee adopt a policy that allows people to comment on articles challenging the views and articles of their reporters and Op Ed staff. From talking with many of the reporters and ALL of the Op Ed people the general consensus is most dislike having their version of events challenged.

For an educational experience,  go to a city,  county,  school board, or one of their committee meetings and see if you recognize it when you read about it the next day in the Bee.   You can take this challenge from home by watching the meetings on cable or on streaming video but you really need to be there to experience the totality of the  complexities occurring at these meetings.   As an example, after a recent SalidaMAC meeting Ms. Sly wrote about the evening.  After reading her piece I found it difficult to believe she had been present.  But she was.  That’s the scary part. Her story was barely recognizable. Or maybe I should say her perceptions were more like a glass half empty than half full.  Well, quite honestly, I wasn’t sure she even knew a glass of anything existed. But that’s been the problem all along.

The behind the scenes power structure in Modesto has been basically the same for years.  Yes, some of the faces have changed but the policies have remained the same. And the Bee has continually supported them with their “go along to get along” mantra.  The only real exception to that is when the public, faced with the unpleasant realities of the Village I debacle, over-threw  the developer/real estate bosses who had dominated Modesto’s  political landscape for years.  There was a four or five year window, a kind of renascence if you will, when voters and not political machines were in control.  But then partially thanks to the Bee’s bitter vendetta with Mayor Sabatino, and the dark ages sometimes called Ridenour years,  a developer controlled council re-emerged.

We witnessed a rise in power of the lobbyists at the Modesto Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance.  They once again, thanks to the Bee’s  influence and MID donations of ratepayer’s money, started their campaign of greed.

For twenty years the Bee has promoted the local real estate and home builders contention that planting driveways remains supreme, and look where it got us.  The housing bubble burst and we have a plethora of empty homes seeking owners.  We’ve been turned into a city of renters by the slavish devotion of the Bee to the Chamber’s and the Building Industry Association’s mantra of homes.  Now the cry ringing in our ears is jobs, jobs, jobs.  Yes we do need jobs but isn’t this deja vu?  We heard this from the Alliance and the Chamber six years ago about Westpark and how it would be our salvation.  Well how’s that working out for you?

Also during this time the Modesto Irrigation District was mismanaged into a near fiscal bankruptcy.  But being a monopoly  it’s much easier to survive.  You just raise the rates on electricity.  The millions and millions of dollars lost on the failed geothermal project, the Mountainhouse debacle, the four cities boondoggle, the TANC project power-line project failure, and the doomed garbage burning/biomass  plant helped to create the high electric rates and lost opportunity at the Lodi generating facility which could be saving us money in much greater quantities every single day.

What did all of these have in common?  They were all supported by the Bee.  Every, single, one.

So when the often quoted (in Bee Op Eds) lobbyist/political consultant Mike Lynch was exposed for having taken $52,500 from MID without ever sending them an invoice, blow back was expected.

When it was exposed that Ms. Sly had been in possession of MID documents for several months detailing the funneling of money from MID through a third party not only to Mike Lynch but Mark Looker, Janice Keating and Carol Whiteside, but maintained her silence, blow back was expected.

When it was exposed that only Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild on the MID Board along with the guidance and support of General Manager Allen Short were aware of Ms. Whiteside receiving payments from Martino Graphics, blow back was expected.

I will continue to offer Ms. Sly-Herrero the opportunity to discuss these issues in a public forum as I have in the past. I wonder if she would prefer live TV or Radio?

Blow back is expected.

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09 Apr 2013

MID Watches, Ball Four Called on Water Rate Increase

English: A picture of two dual-circuit power l...

By Emerson Drake

We’ve attended some very strange MID meetings but the wrangling of today’s meeting ranks right at the top.  The discussion topic was the water rate increase of 10% max. and the farmers’ water allotment of 36 inches for this year.  Extensive discussion had taken place in prior meetings and most MID watchers believed this vote was a no-brainer slam dunk.

But as usual just when you think you have a hand on the  issue, reality smack you in the face. First Glen Wild mistakenly put forth the idea the Citizens Water Committee, which has been looking into potential system upgrades believed necessary to our canal system, was going to make rate recommendations too.  Board President Nick Blom pointed out the Committee wasn’t there to make current rate increase suggestions. Director Paul Warda, a walnut grower,  made a motion to support both staff recommendations as is. But surprisingly, this was met with silence.  The recalcitrant coalition of Directors Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild, who have been consistent  in their opposition to anything the majority of the directors try to accomplish, were doing a silent version of whistling and looking around while the President was waiting for a second. Another  example of their ongoing attitude came later when Paul Warda made a motion to pass the small consent calender.  He was again met with silence prompting him to ask if he had “pissed someone off.”

The dynamic duo of Van Groningen and Wild, who had been in control of the MID Board for all of all of 2012, lost control in January, when Nick Blom became President and Larry Byrd became Vice President with the support of Paul Warda. But recently they’ve become like a teenagers sulking when they don’t get their way and making mischief.

Because of behind the scene maneuvering, Director Byrd remained silent instead of seconding Warda’s motion 0n the water rate increase and allotments.  So NOTHING happened.  Unbelievable but true.  After the meeting none of the Directors wanted to address the issue.

Could Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild  be attempting to create an issue for anyone running for these two lame duck’s seats?  A straw argument since they refused to even vote for the 10% increase.

Another question that came up was why MID spends ratepayer money to fund publications which run fluff pieces on politicians in Modesto. Can it be the $1,000 contributions given to Van Groningen and Wild are being repaid to the Chamber of Commerce by buying ads in magazines that support candidates of the Chamber’s choice?  In Modesto politics one hand often washes the other.  We have consistently  made  inquires to find out how MID decides to spend our money but so far we are being met with silence.

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17 Mar 2013
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MID.. Re-writing History While Neglecting the Future -The Tom Van Groningen Story

By Emerson Drake

Let us travel back in time for a moment and visit Feb. 23rd, 2010.  MID had just voted to purchase half of its originally

Cover of "Millions"

Cover of Millions

intended share (from 66 to 33 MW) of the Lodi Energy Center.  MID had been spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave for years on projects costing ratepayers millions of dollars.  From the geo-thermal project, to Mountain House, to TANC, to the four cities project,  all were massive losers, millions upon millions of dollars going out with almost nothing coming back in.  In less than twelve years (1998 to 2010) we went from being $200 million in debt to $1.2 BILLION.  In January of 2010, they had voted in a 7% rate increase which doomed a larger piece of the action for MID.  I was at both of those votes and was happy with neither.

Many of us had been trying to stop the fiscal bleeding for years by going to meetings and speaking out, but Tom Van Groningen,  Paul Warda,  Cecil Hensley, and John Kidd were determined to follow Allen Short down the fiscal prim rose path.  During four of those years Mike Serpa was the only voice of reason on the Board. By 2010 being able to take full advantage the Lodi opportunity was little more than a pipe dream.

Jerry Gold, MID’s financial advisor, had previously reported MID’s credit had been down graded and no one was willing to allow us to borrow more money in our present (2009)  financial condition. By 2010 we were being required to raise rates by 7% just to stay afloat.

Even our newest green energy contracts are too expensive.  We overpaid by more than 30 percent of the going rate.  This isn’t hindsight speaking. PG&E announced their newest solar contract price PRIOR to MID signing the contract.  When I pointed this out to Tom Van Groningen during the meeting BEFORE the solar vote was taken and the contract was signed with Sun Power, he said he didn’t care what PG&E signed for.  What?  Don’t care?  I made public information requests during the negotiations but MID refused to acknowledge prices being discussed.  When you see how much was left on the table (30%) there should have been an investigation.

Just so everyone understands the Lodi Energy Center (LEC) is the most efficient gas turbine power plant in the state. Its average heat rate surpasses even Turlock’s new much smaller plant. We actually could and will make money by owning it but now only half as much.

To watch Director Van Groningen be self congratulatory and preen himself for signing the contract two years earlier for  the Lodi plant was astonishing.

It wasn’t surprising to see the Bee supporting the revised version of MID’s history.  Admittedly it was closer to reality than it would have been with John Holland.  Something else of note came out of the MID meeting.  I received a response to a Public Records Request prior to the meeting.

It was about the astonishing amounts of money Allen Short, Tom Van Groningen, and Glen Wild had been funneling through Martino Graphics to lobbyist Modesto Mike Lynch.  Mike, who provides Judy Sly many of  her “editorial positions” and who was even quoted in a recent column by Ms. Sly, was a participant in the $89,500 in 2010, $227,628.69 in 2011, and $108,000 in 2012 paid  to Martino Graphic design and distributed to three different lobbyists.  Just as in 2012 Mike Lynch profited the most from the parasitic relationship with MID and Martino  than Mike Looker, and Janice Keating.  Just a few short months ago Ms. Sly was telling us  we had plenty of “extra” water to sell to San Francisco?  Now, the tune being sung by the Bee is different.

It never fails to amaze me the amounts of ratepayer money being thrown around to convince us bad is good and good is bad.

It’s going to be interesting to see if any of the MID Board members have another prior  “relationship” with political campaign consultant Mike Lynch.

I wrote the following back in Feb. of 2010

MID Goes on a Spending Spree and Maxes Out its Credit

The MID Board today authorized Allen Short to buy into the soon to be built Lodi plant for a 30 MW (Mega Watt) share.

Interestingly enough this wasn’t one of the options presented to the board or to the public.  Tom Van Groningen made the motion and despite calls from several public speakers for more information the board voted 3-2 with Hensley and Kidd being the two dissenters.

It was noted that MID has refused to make cost cutting measures such as stopping the flood of Mountain House red ink.  A concern was noted that possibly the board is going to try to slash the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers contract offer while maintaining the extremely lucrative pay for executives.

The Lodi plant will utilize the most efficient turbines in Northern California and would seem to be a great opportunity if only we could afford it. The MID Board has spent us into $1.2 Billion dollars in debt.  I don’t think Tom Van Groningen will be forced to sell his private plane to pay for the increase in electric rates this purchase will mandate.

MID financial advisor Jerry Gold pointed out MID will exhaust it credit capability with this expenditure.  So like families who max out their credit cards and continue to only make minimum payments our road to solvency will be long, rocky and definitely on the back of the average electric user.

Of course we remember that the board is looking at surcharges in lieu of more rate increases this year with a caveat since staff members today said they will be looking at rate increase by next year at the latest..  I’m not sure that semantics (word games) make much difference to our check books or to our bottom line it sure seems to be the direction MID is determined to go in. Surcharges and rate increases will hurt families, farmers and businesses in District.

One concern that was made public during discussions while on a break at the meeting was a question regarding MID’s potential violations of the Brown Act.  Has Allen Short been meeting in series with the board members, and just what emails have been exchanged since that particular form of communications was mentioned by several of the board members?

 

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20 Feb 2013

“What’s on America’s Mind Wednesday at 7:00 PM

Radio RED 104.9 FM

Radio RED 104.9 FM (Photo credit: Mahdi Ayat.)

Topics include Salida annexation and the sneaky SoB’s, does government just happen to people or is it government by ambush, the animal cruelty ordinance, MID, Valley Vision Stanislaus,and more so tune in at 7:00PM Wednesday and find out the things you really  need to know.

104.9 FM Modesto our Flag Ship station

http://www.EyeOnModesto.com 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2013/02/21/whats-on-americas-mind-with-emerson-drake

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19 Dec 2012

“What’s on America’s Mind” Wednesday 12/19 7:00 PM

Radio RED 104.9 FM

Topics include: Money laundering by Allen Short, Tom Van Groningen, Glen Wild, and  Deceptive business practices by the MID’s Joy Warren, How the Workforce Alliance spends your money, Is Modesto’s Ruling Class Immune to scrutiny, the Salida Ad Hock Committee meeting you haven’t heard about, On line balloting, the Newton Ct. shooting, Cat Killers Reed and Sumner and the progress on the Protective Animal ordinance, all this and more Wednesday night at 7:00 PM

We can be found here live or in our archives: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2012/12/20/whats-on-americas-mind-with-emerson-drake 

104.9 FM our Flag Ship Station

Our call in number is 347-215-9414

For news you can use,

You won’t read in the Bee,

It’s Eye on Modesto,

Spelled E Y E

 

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18 Dec 2012
1 Comment

MID Board’s New Leadership Will be a Breath of Fresh Air

[CALIFORNIA-A-0021] Don Pedro Dam

[CALIFORNIA-A-0021] Don Pedro Dam (Photo credit: waterarchives)

By Emerson Drake

The Board meeting turned out to be as spicy as forecasted.  When the closed session was over and we were allowed in, we were met with a scowling Glen Wild.  Director Wild had his heart set on being the Board President but that didn’t come to pass.  While he had two years of experience on Nick Blom, Director Wild would have been Van Groningen’s lackey just as he has been for the last three years.   Besides we don’t need the old guard with their old obfuscating, covering-up ways continuing to run the Board.  Paul Warda nominated Nick Blom for President and Larry Byrd for Vice-President.  Both of those nominations were approved.

The Martino Graphics $49,500 bill was paid as expected but acknowledgement came from newer Board members of improprieties having been perpetrated by Management.  Joy Warren didn’t discuss the particulars, she only mentioned they were included in the handout (pages 116-130 in the pdf  from yesterday’s article.)    I pointed out that out of the seven specific areas the money was supposed to be spent, only one came close to the proscribed use and that was : Implementing a program to improve the image and credibility of the District with it’s ratepayers.  And, quite honestly, the $148,000 Allen Short spent with Martino Graphics did just the opposite.

Janice Keating, having been paid to speak on behalf of the water sale while pretending to be a private citizen (all the while being paid for her testimony)didn’t sit well with the majority of the Board or the public.  The money was actually spent on perverse lobbying efforts on the sale’s behalf.  Questions have arisen wondering if at least one of the “Community Columns” written in the Bee was bought and paid for.  Another question asked later “how many of those in the “paid employee category of Martino Graphics”  lobbied Bee Opinion Page Editor Judy Sly.”

Funnily enough, one thing that stuck in the craw of several of the Board members was the funneling of money through Martino Graphics to Carol Whiteside.  By laundering the money through Martino Graphics, Directors Byrd, Blom, and Warda weren’t aware Ms. Whiteside was “on the clock” when she invited them for breakfast.  The secret was shared by Directors Van Groningen, Wild, and General Manager Short. These three are responsible for at least $165,000 being spent on a clandestine  lobbying effort which failed.  I have little doubt this is among the many reasons Allen Short is being run out-of-town on a rail, albeit on a velveteen covered rail.  On this all we can all say is thank God he’s gone.  Now if only his two amigos would join him, but that’s just too much to ask.

An interesting revelation is how much “churning” attorney O’Laughlin has done.  He’s been requiring all Public Information Requests to go through him, and this just isn’t necessary.  At $300.00 per hour (from a prior Public Information Request) he’s been making out like a bandit with all of the time he’s claiming he spends on them, and without the overhead of a mask and gun.

I think the bottom line is the two problem children (O’Laughlin and Short) are on their way out the door and those  now in charge are determined these excesses won’t be repeated, not by their new hires or by current staff.

I was glad to see the Union receive its long-awaited raises, but someone has to explain to me how the head of Human Resources deserves a 34% raise especially when she’s getting another person added to her department.  Maybe because her department helped to take the survey?  Another interesting point is the result of a Public Information Request asking the amounts of the raises by position.  Attorney O’Laughlin said they had nothing on paper stating this information so there was nothing to turn over. Oh well, I’ve been intentionally misled by him before as have others making similar requests.  The vote was 3-2 with Van Groningen and Wild voting no.  But this was little more than political posturing since they had been unwilling to separate the union and the confidential employee  in votes.

It wasn’t easy for Larry Byrd to adjust his stance on abstaining from the union vote which he had  because of his son, and although the FPPC and a privately obtained San Francisco lawyer assured him it was perfectly legal for him to weigh in, he had resisted voting the last two times the issue came to the Board.  If he didn’t make the adjustment and vote,  the contract  would  have been held up indefinitely.

One continuing disappointment is the Board being unwilling to discuss how George Petrulakis racked up over $28,800 dollars in bills when he was facilitating only one meeting.  But I suppose that and other unexplained expenses will be swept out with the rubbish on December 31st.  We’ll give them a clean slate for the new year, but to paraphrase an old adage: Forgive those who have done the public wrong, but remember their names for future articles.

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17 Dec 2012

Money Laundering, payoffs, Just Another Day at the MID

English: A picture of two dual-circuit power l...

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.

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01 Dec 2012

Do We Want MID to Keep Giving Money to Lobbyists?

Modesto Marathon 8080

By Emerson Drake

Can it really be a coincidence MID gives money to organizations like the Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce and then representatives of these same organizations appear at MID meetings to promote the very arguments those who push the funding have? Consider what has happened recently when officials in the Alliance and the Modesto Chamber of Commerce stood many times both at the MID podium and at various organizations speaking in behest of the water sale, MID donates money and the representatives make their appearance.

MID is proposing to give the Alliance $20,000 again this year like they have in years past. MID also buys “pages” in the Chamber of Commerce’s publications at our expense and the Chamber Directors conveniently appear for MID meetings, Rotary, and the County Board meetings.  It’s another example of the “good old boy” way to do business.  They use OUR money to achieve their aims.

The Alliance’s IRS designation is that of a 501 (C)  (6).   Let’s just make it easy and call the m a 501C6.  This enables them to spend their time and money  on lobbying.  The Chamber is the same. A type of non-profit,  a little like SCAP (you remember them) was a non-profit. They can pay themselves any amount they choose and still pretend to the world their hands are clean.

The Alliance even refers to business donors as investors except for MID and maybe others because the paperwork I received from the Alliance doesn’t show a list of donors and/or amounts.  Remember MID is supposed to be a non-profit and Allen Short was making over $200,000 yearly.  Not bad for a non-profit.

According to Bill Bassitt the Alliance has three budgets.  The money from the State and County seem to be closely accounted for but the business donations aren’t dealt with so clearly (or at all) as far as I can tell. Maybe he hasn’t sent me that budget yet. He did say they revise it monthly.

The idea of MID making the donations is to create more electric sales. I have to chuckle at a company who on one hand is supposed to be cutting back on both our rates and consumption and on the other hand is spending ratepayers money on selling more electricity.  Especially interesting is the fact MID wrote over $2.5 M in bad debts to BUSINESSES who didn’t pay their bills last year.  So ratepayers covered the losses created by businesses and now we’re being asked to pony up another $20,000 to attract more.

When I waded through the MID budget workshops I didn’t see the line item for giving Modesto Lobbyist Cecil Russel the Chamber’s donation, or the subsequent advertising purchases (page buys) that make the Chamber so happy with MID Directors  Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild.

The County and the City both donate to the Alliance so I feel like I’m already getting taxed twice for these lobbyists.  I don’t want to pay another user fee to MID so Tom and Glen can make nice with their buddies at the local watering hole while they’re playing pass the scotch.

The Oakdale Irrigation District on the other hand has cut them back to just $2,000 again this year. Personally I think the $2,000 is too much and that if Directors want to make a donation it should be out of their own wallet, not ours.

Yes, I do remember Bill Bassitt making the claim at the last MID meeting that OID was in this year for $10,000.  But that was an intentional misstatement.  Why should we be surprised, after all, he’s just another lobbyist.

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12 Oct 2012

MID Board Split on Public Comment Time and Everything Else

By Emerson Drake

With the temporary stoppage of the proposed water sale things have definitely quieted down at recent MID meetings. We’re back to fewer people attending and just a smattering of people actively commenting on current issues. At the latest meeting only four people stood up to comment during ” public input for the good of the district.”  Since the Board reduced the alloted amount of time from five minutes to three several months ago on the pretext of shortening waiting  lines and with only four people speaking (that is becoming the average post water sale) it seemed like an appropriate time for the rules to return back to normal.

Director Larry Byrd presented the board with a request to move the alloted time back to five minutes. But that was not to be. Since Director Warda was absent the board was down to just four members. Director Wild spoke against the idea saying he would like to discuss it more but then stayed quiet. After all, like his mentor Van Groningen, Wild prefers to violate Brown Act laws and discuss things with other board members away from public scrutiny. Please understand they like to talk not in “closed session” but in the backroom without witnesses. If they were to repeat anything from closed session they would be in violation of Board policy and could be censured.  But if a Director relates something that took place “behind the wall”,  ie: illegally, there isn’t anything Van Groningen and Wild can do.  Director Blom was willing to second the motion.  But seeing Directors Van Groningen and Warda were against a revision of the relatively new rule, no second was made.  That’s the way the MID works.  Rather than expose a rift and discuss their differences they choose to remain silent in front of the public. 

I later spoke to Director Wild regarding his comments. Concerning five-minute allotments he said “I’ve been keeping track of people who speak and during their first three minutes they are succinct and present themselves well. But during their last two minutes they berate the Board and I don’t like it.”  Personally, I always thought elected boards were supposed to reflect the will of the people, but when elected officials ignore the public’s input it only stands to reason some frustration might surface.

A current example might be a request for the 2013 budget PN# U00018 for $500,000 to replace the Board room’s audio and video equipment. All of this money for a fancy system and they still refuse create an archive for recordings of meetings or even save for more than 100 days the recorded discs of proceedings, let alone  broadcast their meetings on streaming video.   To this day they continue to destroy ALL electronic recordings of their meetings and refuse to consider approving the minutes of their meetings until AFTER the recordings have been destroyed.

In the next two years they want to spend $1.75 Million on a smart grid security system PN#U00513. These people are spending us into the poorhouse.  The IT department wants to spend over $4.1 Million in just the next two years. CAP-40 CAP is their designation for this.

I could go on about this but my point is their “wish list” was created when they thought they were going to be able to spend Millions of Dollars from the water sale  money they were telling the public was going to irrigation infrastructure.

Another ongoing concern is the money being funneled through Martino Graphics. Year to date Directors Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild have apparently signed what are called expense approvals in the amount of $21,000.  There is no purchase order assigned for these expenditures.  The account number they use is 312500 00.0 401 and the payment explanation is Board Development and Internal Communications.  These are NOT pre approved by the Board members.  Directors Van Groningen and Wild along with General Manager Allen Short have personally made these arrangements with Martino Graphics and Carol Whiteside.

Ms.Whiteside confirmed in an email to me on 10/10/12 she’s been the recipient of a total of $9,000 as partial fulfilment of her contract with Martino Graphics which she suspended in July.  Her work has never been brought to the Board and Tom Van Groningen says he has a copy of her work but no presentation has ever been made.  As a point of interest Ms. Whiteside was paid $1,500 directly to her for an earlier presentation to the Board and public.  Questions abound as to why Van Groningen and Wild have made these obviously deceptive arrangements and why was the ante upped and how do they account for the remaining $12,000?

In addition, we know $6,000 of these billings ($3,000 each ) have been pulled at successive meetings from the consent portion of the agenda. The question remains unanswered as to whether or not  the checks have been sent.

When I asked Director Van Groningen if the Board pre approved the expenses, his response was “they approved them when they voted in the consent Calender.”  In other words NO they didn’t. So what we are hearing is two members of the Board, outside the scope of the public, and their fellow Board members, can approve expenditures which would advance their positions on future votes.

It appears we won’t have any relief from this type of underhanded dealings until after the 2013 elections when Van Groningen and Wild have to stand in front of the public asking for their votes.

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19 Sep 2012

“What’s on America’s Mind” Wednesday Night at 7:00PM Pacific

Official seal of County of Stanislaus

Official seal of County of Stanislaus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did MID’ Directors Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild vote yes to save face to stop the water sales? Have you heard about MID’s Allen Short wanting to spend $30,000 on his outer office furniture? Is Judy Sly intentionally misleading the citizens of Salida about the annexation?  Are we seeing the beginning of the demise of the bail bond industry in Stanislaus County?  The heart warming story of four homeless men who rescued a 15-year-old girl from a sexual predator.  What is it about the veteran’s job bill made Republicans vote against it?

Join me tonight won’t you.

Wednesday night at 7:00 PM Pacific

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2012/09/20/whats-on-americas-mind-with-emerson-drake

Our call in number is 347-215-9414

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