Eye On Modesto

Thoughts and observations about Modesto and Stanislaus County

Archive for the tag “Tim O’Laughlin”

26 Nov 2012

Comparing Our Board to Theirs is an Insult Says OID Board Member

Welcome to Oakdale

Welcome to Oakdale (Photo credit: jurvetson)

By Emerson Drake

Comparing our Board to theirs is an insult were the first words out of  Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Director Jack Alber’s mouth when I met him.  I didn’t take offense, since to that point I hadn’t said anything, while it did show they were concerned about the public perception of them.  But I will compare the experience of going to a OID meeting for the first time with their counterparts at the MID.

The Board room is in the back of the building and is between the sizes of the StanCoG and MID Board rooms. Everyone was friendly (although they didn’t have any coffee available) and you weren’t met by an armed guard the way you are at MID. The OID Directors sit on the right side and staff sits across on the left. Their attorney, Tim  O’laughlin, is on the end sitting sidewise and closest to the public.  At OID meetings O’Laughlin makes nice with all of the Directors, unlike the dour, impatient attitude he displays at MID (maybe because he lost his million dollar a year gig at MID?)  There are about three rows of seats  with a bench the width of the room in the rear.

The meeting started out amiably enough with O’Laughlin receiving a “revised hourly rate” on the consent calender (a public information request was made for the contract.) The meeting started to get interesting when a discussion of Trinitas LLC buying into the district came up.  Trinitas is offering to pay $2,600 an acre to buy in and $60 per acre foot for water.  On top of this their potential contract says they will be forced to pump water from their wells on dry years.

Apparently Trinitas has set the going rate for the buy in and for water rates  for future farmers to join the District. An owner of Hofstra’s Dairy reminded the Board the proposed water sale amount is the same his farm is hoping to purchase and it is more beneficial if the water is kept locally. The Trinitas proposal was referred to LAFCO for approval.

The next question they wrestled with were their obligations on the Garr Pipeline.  Somewhere in the past they assumed ownership of the Garr and now it needs extensive repair. It needs about $400,000 in repairs and generates $1,200 a year in income (but they don’t want me to compare the two districts boards.)  This was sent to counsel (O’Laughlin) to see if it would set a legal precedent and just how far their potential liability goes. Needless to say in the past someone annexed a pig in a poke.

The Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance donation was next.  OID used to donate $4,000 yearly but in these hard times has cut back to $2,000 a year.  Now Bill Basset is looking for a four-year  committment and the majority of the Board was unwilling to make it. Bassitt has already made a presentation to the OID Board but they were concerned about OID’s future and decided to make it one year and $2,000. 

MID on the other hand is considering a $20,000 a year committment and Bassett hasn’t bothered to show up at their meetings to make a presentation. MID just loves to spend our money,  ratepayer money.

Then came the headline discussion regard ing the potential water transfers(sales) to San Francisco. It was made known very quickly the Board had no information other than what they had read in the Bee.  But that was somewhat disingenuous since Tim O’Laughlin had the proposal in his hands. They just wanted to keep the public in the dark for another two weeks.  But having seen the ludicrous longtime binding contract MID was asked to sign, forewarned is forearmed.

During the discussion Denise Hanlan, a Oakdale resident addressed the Board and asked questions about the water table levels in Oakdale.  In a move that would make Tom Van Groningen proud, Director Frank Clark gaveled her down.  He pounded the sound block and mover onto the rostrum  and finally progressed to his fist to silence her saying she was out-of-order. All she was doing was addressing an item on the agenda which is her right. Ms. Hanlan asked for a little civility but Director Clark wasn’t in the mood.  Former Mayor Pat Kuhn suggested he might have been a little harsh and reminded the Directors they were only stewards of the resource and not the owners.

OID makes its money through wholesale electric sales from the Tri-Dam Project.  They sell between $10 and $12 Million yearly depending on the price of electricity. Next year they expect to make $10 M and with a budget of approx. $12 M they will be using $2M from their reserves which will still leave them with more than $10M.

Here’s an interesting comparison.  MID’s annual budget is about $440M mostly in electric costs. They keep aprox.$100M in reserve ever since their bankers started to complain about the low reserves and lowered their bond rating (MID has since raised their reserve level and the Bond community adjusted their rating upward.) OID on the other hand has $41.9M in reserve right now.

So MID has one-quarter of its budget in reserve and OID has almost four times its annual budget in reserve.  Who is more fiscally responsible?  OID.  I don’t believe they’ll mind that comparison.

The bottom line is when it comes to the potential water sales  it’s all in the contract and we’re going to have to wait and see just what it says.  We’ll be visiting the OID again to follow-up on their decision.

There are several different stories in publications of the Modesto Bee and the Oakdale Leader and I’m going to give both addresses. But first I’m going to post a comment made in the Bee by Theorvii which provide the background details some might find interesting.

By Theorvii

JUST THE FACTS – OID gets an allotment of 300KAF from New Melones – shares the first 600KAF into New Melones with SSJID. Take for instance this year – OID used approximately 233KAF of their 300KAF allotment – 67KAF remaining. OID has made efficiency improvements from their previous sales such as regulating reservoirs and the Rubicon system from Australia.

GM Steve Knell came from the Imperial Irrigation District where their water comes from the over-committed Colorado River System. He once said that IID conserved more water in one year then OID had allotted to them. Add Trinitas @ 25KAF and that number becomes 258KAF for this year. Still 42KAF remaining. 

Unlike MID & TID who carry any excess over to the next year because they control the Don Pedro Dam, New Melones is a Federal dam controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation and the waterbank account goes to 0 (zero, zip, zilch, nada) on November 1 each year. All dams need to be at 70% capacity by November 30 to allow for flood control requirements by the Bureau of Reclamation. The FEDs can use the leftover 67KAF from this year any way they choose and OID has no recourse. 

OID still has others “outside the district” that want to be annexed as well – it’s just now the price and conditions are a known entity. The Board said on Tuesday that they will consider those annexation requests as well and possibly move forward at LAFCO after February when they expect to go with Trinitas. They may incrementally “eat up” their excess water through annexation. MID & TID CANNOT annex because they are tapped out to capacity by the Raker Act. Otherwise they would have annexed the “Westside” of Stanislaus County – west of the San Joaquin River. 

The one area of the county that is still in play is the Paulsell Valley – the east end of Claribel Rd., Warnerville Rd. and south of Dry Creek to Modesto Reservoir sandwiched between Crabtree Rd. and the Hazeldean/Tim Bell Rd. area. A lot of former rice ground and grazing lands converted to trees. Kind of a “No Man’s Land” between MID & OID. 

The only other area asking is north of Woodward Reservoir and that could only be serviced potentially by Stockton East or SSJID via Little Johns Creek or Shirley Creek. Don’t expect it to happen – but those are the most likely scenarios. Rock Creek Water District does not have the capacity in Salt Springs Valley Reservoir or the conveyance south of Highway 4. One wild card for the northern part of the county is the Calaveras County Water District who has been sniffing around Salt Springs Valley using it as a conveyance for potential ag water into western Calaveras, northern Stanislaus or northeastern San Joaquin county. Still very much a concept on paper without the dollars behind it to make it a reality.

OID also has a plan – since 2008 – and they have followed it. That being said, Director Bairos also commented Tuesday that they will need to dip into their reserves for approximately $2 million in the 2013 calendar year to balance their budget. The key is that they actually do have a “reserve account” and have allocated money and water for a drought or rainy day – whichever connotation you want to use. 

Not saying I support the proposals (Brisbane or the hypotheticals being thrown out on CCSF.) I am VERY well-versed on both the MID and OID proposals. Brisbane approached TID & MID before contacting OID and was rejected.  I caution the public to not get the cart before the horse and wait until the facts come out. If it is the same enslaving contract as MID was considering, I have the utmost confidence that the OID Board will vote at least 3-2 to kill it with Alpers and Clark possibly supporting a sale.  Clark is more likely to oppose then Alpers at this time.  But Alpers is also not going to jeopardize the district for a couple of million dollars.  STILL TOO MANY UNKNOWNS TO REALLY SPECULATE ON SF!

Also forgot – OID’s previous spills to MID used to be about 15KAF – their latest inventory was approximately 8KAF in 2012.

 
A better article to read than the Bee’s is at http://www.oakdaleleader.com/section/44/article/9249/ 
 

 

 

 

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25 Nov 2012
2 Comments

“What’s on America’s Mind” Wed 11/21 7:00PM

Français : Radio Contact 104.9 FM

Français : Radio Contact 104.9 FM (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Topics include a feel of an Oakdale Irrigation District meeting and its participants, An update regarding Salida’s potential annexation by Modesto, Memorial Medical Centers attempt to keep the Nurses Union out and how it reduces The quality of healthcare , an election update and more so listen in live or to our archives at the same link.

Wednesday 11/21/12 at 7:00PM

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2012/11/22/whats-on-americas-mind-with-emerson-drake

104.9 FM K-GIG Modesto our Flag Ship station

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15 Nov 2012

MID’s Layers of Deception – the Public Information Requests

Modesto Marathon 7983

By Emerson Drake

After Tuesday’s meeting I think some clarity needs to be added to the way MID spends our money.  The most used way is through the Purchase Order system. They put contracts out to bid and choose the lowest responsible bidder, at least in theory.  A lot of attention has been focused on purchase order #54981 which was effective from 7/19/2010 thru 12/31/2012, with a “not to exceed” cost of $450,000.  Yet this purchase order authorizations continued to come through signed by Allen Short and initialed by “J.W.” for payment. A minimum of $90,000 has been paid on this expired  Purchase Order numbe,r all containing the same generic billing reasons. No contracts for subcontractors have been made available and MID’s Joy Warren has yet to explain how this contract was part of the competitive bidding process.  These typically included:

Client Meeting/Planning Fees…..$5,000

Consulting…………………………$7,500

Communication services…………$3,500

Outreach/Transparency………….$5,000

According to MID, Martino Graphics uses four subcontractors to fulfill their contract. This Contract  Purchase Order is issued to provide professional services to Refocus and Enhance Public Education and Information Services per Board Resolution # 2010-35.  The following link is to the Board Resolution #2010-35  Slegal12110816440

The following is a response to several question in regard to Martino Graphics PO#54981.  It includes the pages of invoices, copies of authorizations, and checks (well at least the ones they sent us). It’s a lot of work/pages  so don’t hit print unless you mean it.

Slegal12101913110

 MID has consistently ignored  requests to release the total amount of money spent (including details) using PO#54981.

One of the reasons I question if all of the requested information is being supplied is that they have been charging consumers a falling water charge for over 20 years according to Van Groningen.  So I thought I would cut them a break and only ask for 10 to 15 years worth.  All they were willing to send were 5 years.  Here is the copy of the PIR. son_Drake_dated_October_26__2012_re_Falling_Water_Charge

Last week much of the conversation was about the “Serpa” rule.  Here is the link Slegal12110515150

It was gratifying to see Mike Serpa vindicated by the present MID Board and obviously showed the prejudice he was subject to by Van Groningen, O’Laughlin and Short.  I will take this moment to point out how the Bee’s Opinion Editor Judy Sly never spoke out against the treatment former City Councilman/MID Director Serpa endured. If fact, Ms. Sly helped the three amigo’s cause by heaping abuse on Mike in her Editorial Column as often as she could work it in.

Lets look at Carol Whiteside and her California Strategies  Company for a minute,  She received over $15,000 in payments $6,000 of it almost two months AFTER she terminated the contract.  This money was funneled through Martino Graphics WITHOUT a contract.  At least no contract with Martino Graphics (MG). Ms. Whiteside supposedly has a contract with MG but we aren’t privy to it. There also is no contract with MG since Short, Van Groningen, and Wild took it upon themselves to spend this money BEHIND the rest of the Boards back.

I believe Short, Van Groningen and Wild should be held personally liable for this money and should pay it back to the MID  ratepayers.

In my opinion it’s time not for an audit. but an investigation of how MID’s been spending our money.  It appears services for lobbyists have been procured by upper management  with the help of two Board Directors and I’m not sure they did it legally.

I also don’t believe MID should  financially support Allen Short’s new position with The San Joaquin Tributaries Authority.

You can hear more about MID and the City Council by checking out any of the “What’s on America’s Mind” broadcasts. Just click on the link and it will take you directly to the show archives for a listen.

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31 Oct 2012
1 Comment

Next Agenda Holds Promise of Transparency at MID

Lady Justice revisited

Lady Justice revisited (Photo credit: Scott*)

By Emerson Drake

The items on next weeks agenda range from allowing Board members greater access to both staff and records to possibly placing Board meeting recordings on-line for the public, who can’t make the meetings to view.  To those who are familiar with the MID, these are amazing possibilities.

When Mike Serpa was elected, we had a member who asked the difficult questions and received very few answers.  He was stonewalled by the MID’s own  attorney Tim O’Laughlin and Allen Short made life as difficult as possible. General Manager Allen Short made decisions regarding what material the Board members were allowed to access and prevented any questions from being asked to staff without his permission.  You might ask why they implemented these draconian measures and did they affect the rest of the Board members. The reality is the most of the Board had been acting like bobble head dolls in the rear window of a car (nodding yes) and took Short’s word regarding most MID policies.

But Director Mike Serpa has never been one to just roll over and  agree without substantiation. So when he started to ask questions he was demonized by Short and Van Groningen.  Soon there after Bee Editor Judy Sly jumped on the band wagon and wrote several times about this issue. When Mike Serpa ran for reelection Ms.Sly trotted out this old bugaboo again and helped to defeat him.

So after the “Serpa rule” was passed, if elected Board members had questions regarding policies, all  GM Short had to do was say it was going to require too much staff time and to override him it took a majority of the Board members to request it. I don’t remember a single time Short was over ridden by the Board when this  “too time-consuming” ruling was made in Mike Serpa’s direction.  I have requested a copy of Board Resolution 2000654 but if the MID track record holds true I doubt I will see it (if I see it you see it)  before the Board meeting next Tuesday.

Next is the dotted line between Board Secretary and Allen Short and the Board members.  Short has two secretaries of his own sitting  outside his office but somehow he’s managed to commander the Board’s secretary.  Personally I think it’s kind of funny/sad that no Board members have a MID email account.  All “Board emails go to a central account where the Secretary prints them out and gives them to Short who decides how to handle them.  Even when addressed to specific Board members the emails aren’t given directly to them. They receive them after the fact so to speak.

So why does the Board’s Secretary report to Short? Can you say control?

No wonder Board members, at least three of them, want to discuss this.  In years past,  two of the now retired Board members bragged they didn’t own a computer some of this could have been a help but instead of going through Short with their emails even his buddy Van Groningen employs his private email instead of utilizing one at MID.

MID records dvds of all of their meetings but has a policy requiring destroyed them after 100 days. The policy defines these recording as: for the use of the Board Secretary to provide accuracy in the creation of the meeting’s minutes. They are adamant the recordings are not public records.  I know because I tried, through Public Information Request to gain access to the recording when the 100 days expired and they were going to destroy/ dispose of the dvd. The response I received from MID’s attorney was: ( if we gave them to you they would be public records and then we couldn’t give them to you) talk about convoluted logic.

Would anyone be surprised to discover the MID Board approves the minutes AFTER the recording is destroyed?

We (myself and several members of the public) have been asking for the Board to save their recording physically and on-line for at least 6 years to no avail. We’ve also been requesting them to keep agendas and supporting documents available on-line but haven’t been able to find sufficient support on the Board until now.  The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors keeps agendas and supporting documents available from 1993 and Board videos are available from 2006.  Don’t you think  the MID Board should start IMMEDIATELY?

During my last meeting with Director Van Groningen, he mentioned he would request an audit if fellow Board members deemed it necessary.  When he brought it up to the Board he phrased it to suggest only a few thousand dollars might be found at great expense.  I reject both premises. The misuse of both the  NON Purchase order process and the Purchase Order System is a great concern.

Purchase Order #54981 was used to spend $127,000 AFTER it expired and in an egregious abuse of the NON-Purchase Order process to attempt to funnel $24,000  ($6,000 in pending checks written but not sent) to Martino Graphics. Somehow Allen Short and Tom Van Groningen along with Glen Wild got together and decided to spend ratepayer money on their own agenda without discussing it with the rest of the Board. There are still $9,000 spent but not accounted for.

Using a second party (Martino Graphics) to disguise money being given to a lobbyist working behind the scenes utilizing local politicos to convince local officials  on the water sale issue is wrong, and if it is shown, anyone who participated should be held accountable.  We can’t even access contracts to lobbyists because they use Martino Graphics to hide their involvement.

I would like to be able to fill you in on the letters from Escalon and Oakdale but MID as usual is dragging their heels on  even simple Public Record Requests.  They prefer to supply Judy Sly at the Bee with confidential memos and  letters since she’ll publish MID propaganda rather than someone in the public domain who will hold their feet to the fire.

It is time for the MID Board to accept the need for accountability. Directors Byrd, Blom, and Warda are pushing  forward so lets support their efforts. 

Gentlemen I thank you as do ALL of the MID ratepayers.

 

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31 Oct 2012

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

Radio RED 104.9 FM

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

Yes, for the next two weeks due to scheduling conflicts I’ll be doing the show on Thursday night instead of Wednesday.

Thursday night’s topics will include the MID and background on the agenda items Garth can’t provide, a Salida update,  Modesto city council issues, Problems at MJC, an update on the cat killer, and a glimpse at national issues that concern all of us.

So tune in on Thursday night for the next two weeks and discuss the issues that concern you.

Our call in number is 347-215-9414

Our Flag Ship Station 104.9 FM Modesto

This link, as always, is for the live AND archived show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2012/11/02/whats-on-americas-mind

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30 Oct 2012
1 Comment

Who’s Being Disingenuous at Modesto Irrigation District Meetings?

Modesto Marathon 7983

Modesto Marathon 7983 (Photo credit: RussellReno)

By Emerson Drake

Today’s MID meeting was an eye opener. Despite having discussed Martino Graphics invoices twice in the last two weeks with me,  Director VanGroningen still couldn’t get the information from his staff that I requested  over a month ago.

Director Van Groningen and General Manager Allen Short have been using MID’s Non-Purchase Order process to circumvent the system.  These two men took it upon themselves to spend  $24,000 that has been documented to this point and possibly more.  The problem is, all the staff has accounted for is $15,000 of the $24,000.  They’ve been using Martino Graphics to funnel money to Carol Whiteside of California Strategies.  Ms. Whiteside has acknowledged to myself and Van Groningen in an email, that she’s received $9,000 so far with another $6,000 pending from September.  The problem, as I see it, is in a letter to the Board (Oct. 7,2012) in which she admits it became obvious in July she couldn’t proceed  with the agreed upon tasks so she resigned her contract effective August 1, 2012.  The invoices were sent in September from Martino Graphics.

Even if it’s decided she should be paid the $6,000 that has been held up, staff  to this point, has been unable or unwilling to explain why the remaining $9,000 was paid.  It didn’t go to Ms. Whiteside, so why did Allen Short authorize the payments?  According to Van Groningen, Ms. Whiteside has reviewed hundreds of documents but quite honestly I find that dubious. But then again anything to justify the expenditure.

What I find amazing is Van Groningen and Short are using this money (at least $15,000 of it)  to convince the remaining Board members to approve the Board/ General Manager/Staff relationship policy that Board members have refused to rubberstamp since they were sworn into office.  The dynamic duo of Short and Van Groningen tried to get outgoing members Cecil Hensley and John Kidd to approve it,  but Director-elect Larry Byrd made a request from the floor and asked the Board to postpone the vote until January.

Public Information Requests Reveal there is NO Contract between Ms. Whiteside and the MID

So what tasks did Ms. Whiteside agree to perform and how do you resign a contract you don’t have?  And what happened to the still unaccounted for $9,000 dollars?  There are many questions but few answers.

Now lets discuss Contract Purchase Order 54981. My copy of the Purchase order confirms it was valid from 19-JUL-10 thru 31-DEC-11  (If you’re wondering, that’s the way they write their dates.) Not to exceed $450,000 dollars plus costs and expenses.  But GM Short continued to use this Purchase Order thru this year to the tune of $127,000 dollars mostly in the amounts of $19,000 and $21,000 monthly.  They basically used the same generic billing month after month in the amounts of :

Client Meeting / Planning Fees…$5,000

Consulting ……………………………$7,500

Communication Services ………..$3,500

Outreach Transparency…………..$5,000

I requested the contracts for any subcontractors like Mike Lynch and Carol Whiteside, and once again I was told they weren’t available because they didn’t have contracts with MID but had them with Martino Graphics. 

I find the use of Martino Graphics as a shield to prevent the public from knowing where the money is going to be unconscionable. After all, if Mike Lynch is being used as a lobbyist the public has a right to know where their money is being spent.

If this is allowed to continue, how many more contracts, if any,  will we find to be “shields”?  Will we hear “oops my bad”, and then pretend everything is hunky dory? I believe one is one too many. Their problem is that PO#54981 was running out of money so they just switched to the Non-Purchase Order process. No one man, NOT even GM Short or Board President Van Groningen should be allowed to circumvent the system for their own benefit.  I’m not suggesting directly for personal enrichment, but for lubricating the wheels of their personal agendas within MID.

I’ll tell you just how ridiculous this gets. Today at the Budget Workshop we discussed Project Number 3XX965. It’s described as being PRJ- Miscellaneous Operating Expense Exp. for $10,000 for misc. administrative & general. So they can spend it on whatever they want and say “it’s in the budget” as they always do. Because that’s exactly what they said to explain away the use of an expired Purchase Order and the Non-Purchase Order process used with Martino Graphics.

You tell me if we need some additional spending constraints on the General Manager and the Board President.

Questions abound but answers, real answers,  are short in supply.  No pun intended.

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29 Oct 2012

MID’s Tim O’Laughlin Withholds Information on Public Information Request

By Emerson Drake

Apparently MID’s attorney feels he can get paid for doing half a job, okay maybe a third of his job.  In my opinion he’s bilking his employer by not completing his assignment properly.  He’s apparently churning for a second pay-day for doing the same work.

I made a Public Records Request at a recent Board meeting for the amounts of the falling water charges that are on our bills in the last 10 to 15 years.

Here is the request and the response.

October 26, 2012

To:

WesternPalms@aol.com (via Email Only)

Emerson Drake

Re: California Public Records Act Request

Dear Mr. Drake:

On October 16, 2012, Modesto Irrigation District received your Public Records Act

Request which was made verbally during the Board meeting, requesting the following

information:

“With regard to the falling water charge that’s on the bill, I would like to request

information regarding the amounts that we’ve been charged for the last 10 or 15 years and the

legality of it.”

In accordance with Government Code section 6253, MID will comply with your request

to the extent that the writings you have requested are not privileged or otherwise exempt from

production under the California Public Records Act, or other applicable law.

Response:

Below are the falling water charges for the last five years:

Falling Water  Charge

2008                                     2009                                2010                        2011

$5,681,470                   $7,063,695             $8,165,250          $10,158,720  

2012

$7,587,965

Should you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to

contact this office at (209) 526-7388.

Sincerely,

Tim O’Laughlin

Interim General Counsel

The following link is the pdf response  from Tim O’Laughlin.

son_Drake_dated_October_26__2012_re_Falling_Water_Charge

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24 Oct 2012

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

 

Radio RED 104.9 FM

Tonight’s discussion includes:

Fireworks at the MID, who leaked MID’s confidential memo and why? Van Groningen Chastised by Board, alleged  Brown Act Violations, the need for roll call voting, and they’re finally replacing Tim O’Laughlin MID’s Million dollar man, Recalling five heroic men here in Modesto, Modesto’s home owners who kill cats,  SalidaMAC meeting last night and the low hanging fruit, Mitt Romney’s only endorsement for another candidate was Richard Mourdock GOP candidate for U.S.Senate who says no abortions for rape victims because God intended for it to happen.

This and more Wednesday night from 7:00 until 8:30 PM

Our call in number is 1-347-215-9414

104.9 FM K-GIG Salida is our flagship radio station where we can be heard throughout the week.

To hear us live or later from our archives http://www.blogtalkradio.com/centralvalleyhornet/2012/10/25/whats-on-americas-mind-with-emerson-drake

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23 Oct 2012

Fireworks at the MID

By Emerson Drake

Maybe, just maybe, Tom Van Groningen’s reign of terror at the MID is coming to an end.  We watched for four years as Director Van Groningen and his cohorts in crime, bullied, out numbered, and out maneuvered former MID Director Mike Serpa at every turn.  They  even created a variety of rules which kept Director Serpa from getting access to information he needed to form sound decisions.  These have since become known as the Serpa rules.

Today Director Van Groningen was caught in his own trap.  He and Allen Short had gotten together to place an item on the agenda to discuss Proposition 26.  Directors Byrd and Blom questioned this item being placed on the agenda and when Van Groningen was challenged for his unilateral actions he replied he had followed the rules. Tim O’laughlin insinuated Van Groningen was correct. But Director Nick Blom had a copy of the Board rules which he read. These rules delineated Van Groningen had violated Board policy.

Tom, I feel like you’re handcuffing us…You’re the reason this Board can’t come together

When Director Van Groningen accepted responsibility. Director Byrd said it wasn’t good enough.  He pointed out Van Groningen had repeatedly broken policy guidelines and his continuing to accept the responsibility wasn’t getting anything done differently, especially in light of the almost 20 years Van Groningen has served on the MID Board.  He should have known better. After  a few minutes of discussion during which Tom Van Groningen was asked directly if he was the one who leaked the Board’s lawyer’s confidential memo to Judy Sly,  Van Groningen said no and suggested Ms. Sly be asked since she was in the back of the room.  Ms. Sly was asked and she replied “no comment.”

The memo is about the falling water charge on MID electric bills.  The timing is interesting since the memo was leaked immediately after the water sale to San Francisco went down to defeat. Ms. Sly has been using this confidential board memo as a basis of several articles in the Bee.  Remember Ms. Sly and the Bee came out in favor of the sale even BEFORE they had read the contract. Now she’s apparently using the memo in an attempt to further her crusade in favor of the sale.

So the issue came down to a vote.  The result was a  3-0 in favor of removing the item from the agenda. In all three votes which were eventually taken today, Directors Byrd, Blom, and Warda voted yes and Van Groningen and Wild  remained silent.

The second vote was regarding the time alloted to the public to speak.  In years past it had been a five-minute period but during the water sale, in order to quiet dissension,  the Board had voted to limit public comments to three minutes. Today that was reversed,  3-0,  with the caveat that if the line of speakers was too lengthy the time could be temporarily reduced by the Board President.

Then came the discussion regarding the make-up of the Water Advisory Committee.  At the last MID meeting Directors Glen Wild and Ton Van Groningen had proposed having 14 people on the committee.  This week Director’s Blom and Byrd, with the support of Paul Warda, proposed a much smaller committee. One member from the City of Modesto nominated by the City Council, one member nominated by the Farm Bureau, and one each from each of the Board’s Directors whom would reside in the Directors district. After a short conversation regarding a member from the Chamber of Commerce it was settled.  Again the vote was 3-0 in favor of the smaller 7 person committee.

So all in all, it is possible there is a light at the end of the MID tunnel, and, for the first time in a long time, it might not be an on-coming train.

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24 Sep 2012

People – 1, MID – 0, in Best of 7

By Emerson Drake

After a hard-fought battle the people of Stanislaus County emerged victorious.  But we can’t let our guards down.  Modesto Irrigation District could decide to re-open the issue at any time and General Manager Allen Short is probably already exploring a way around the Board. 

                                               The Seventh Inning Stretch

The letter from the SFPUC  didn’t arrive in time for the public meeting.  It magically appeared during the closed session. Between the suspect timing of the letter’s arrival, and the realization that their terms had been rejected, three of the Directors had finally had enough. Larry Byrd, Nick Blom, and Paul Warda, to paraphrase, said enough was enough.  Directors Van Groningen and Wild went apoplectic!  They argued vehemently to bring one of the opposing Directors around to no avail.  And in a move of political butt-covering decided to make the vote unanimous.

Of course Dir. Van Groningen went from newspaper to newspaper making specious  claims of being unhappy with the contract, but what we need to remember is that he was ready to sign this terrible contract back in January. So his words, as far as I’m concerned, fall on deaf ears. 

Now it appears we get to see how the staff was divvying up the money before the water contract was signed, or maybe this is the kind of spending that got them so deep in the red.  As you’ll see, it really does pay to stay for the budget workshop.

                                               The Scouting Report

The budget workshop showed, at least in some people’s eyes,where they had intended to spend some of the water sale money.  Allen Short is requesting in the 2012 budget $30,000 dollars to spend for his outer office.  Eyes were raised when the figure was announced.  Allen said the money was going for two desks and a counter.  Pretty fancy desks and one heck of a counter.

So why should $210,000 for carpeting the second floor in the 2014 budget bother anyone?  At $61.76 per square yard installed we should be happy. Buying 3,400 yards I’m sure they got a discount.   The justification they used was “The carpet is difficult to clean and make presentable.” 

What’s the big deal about an $8,000 ice machine?  Just because the old one  still works and they’re keeping it for the employees to use, what’s the problem?  Must be nice to work for the ivory tower at the Taj Mahal.  You’d think since they didn’t have to make any concessions regarding their health insurance or to contribute to their retirement (except for new employees) they’d be happy, except of course for the new people who were thrown under the bus and will be required to help pay for both.

Did I mention the proposed management raises?  A Public Information Request came back saying they don’t have anything on paper regarding them.  Allegedly they want the Board to vote on unknown raises for unknown people.  Don’t get me wrong, Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild are ready to vote for them and are insisting if the rank and file gets a raise so does management. 

Could it be some of the members of  this Board are tired of being led around by the nose?  Allen Short doesn’t believe it yet or at least isn’t willing to admit it. Allen is spending money like he isn’t accountable and is readying his golden parachute.  And where does Attorney Tim O’Laughlin fit into all of this?  He’s still on schedule to make $ 1 Million from MID this year.  The ever churning lawyer keeps playing both ends against the middle and collecting from both as usual.  Remember how O’Laughlin told the Board they had nothing to worry about from the garbage burner lawsuit?  They didn’t. Endsley collected $1.2 Million and  O’Laughlin collected $97,000.  No worries, it came from the ratepayer’s pocket, not the Board’s.

The Modesto Irrigation District has played fast and loose with the Brown Act.  Dir. Van Groningen does what ever he wants and O’Laughlin stays quiet.  Unless he’s arguing with one of the Board members.  And O’Laughlin himself presides over the violations of the Public Information Act requests. Why he’s still there is beyond belief.

Since the Board meeting is tomorrow I want to mention Martino Graphics.  At last weeks meeting I specifically asked Dir. Van Groningen what the $3,000  to Martino Graphics was being spent on in last weeks warrants. He asked the staff but they stayed quiet (could they have been instructed to do so since Denise Ray, the head of Purchasing, was in the audience?)  They did place the question on this weeks agenda thanks to Directors Byrd and Warda (Van Groningen and Wild remained quiet).  Amazingly enough Van Groningen and Wild signed for the payment on September 4,2012.  A case of sudden amnesia?  I sent an email to the Board this morning and asked them to include three more Martino invoices in the discussion, two at $3,000 and one for $9,000.  I had already talked with Van Groningen during the Capital Budget workshop last week about this but felt it was important to document the request.

Did I mention all of the preceding in an attempt to document everything?Heck no I left out about half.  Did you know they want to spend more money for the Mountain House infrastructure?  But that’s enough for now.  It all goes to show we can’t let our guards down now.  Yes, we should enjoy the victory for now.  But until Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild are off the MID Board and we get some people who are concerned and won’t be led around be the nose by Short and aren’t intimidated by O’Laughlin, and don’t have the ability to subvert conscious thinking at the Bee (if indeed it ever existed), we as a community won’t be free of outrageous electrical rates or able to ensure our children’s future with plentiful clean water.

So to finish up  with the baseball metaphor I started with, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings and she’s not even at the ballpark yet.

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