This week’s AboutCCSD.com featured article:
A story of the ongoing effort to get information about the Prop 218 protest and access to records by Amanda Rice. The CCSD exists to provide services to Cambria – not the other way around.
More valuable than a gallon of gas? Say YES! with a small donation today.I got my sample ballot in Saturday’s mail. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can still do so. October 20 is the last day to register to vote. California law now allows registered voters to request permanent Vote by Mail Voter status for any reason at all. Your application to vote absentee must reach the office of the Clerk/Recorder not less than 7 days before the day of the election. Your Vote by Mail ballot can be sent by mail, fax or dropped off in person at any polling place in the county or to the Clerk/Recorder’s office by the end of voting on November 4, 2008. For further information phone the Elections Department 781-5080.
In addition to President, US Congressperson, state senate and state assembly positions, nine propositions, and three bonds, Cambrians will be asked to choose members for the Coast Unified School District, the Cambria Community Healthcare District and the Cambria Community Services District.
I invite all the candidates to weigh in with their 2 cents here on AboutCambria.com, so Cambrians will have more to go on than just the names and a hunch. Clive Finchamp, Muril Clift, Frank DeMicco and Richard Davega have written about some of their positions about CCSD. To read their contributions, click their name in the right-hand column.
AboutCambria.com is committed to bringing the unfiltered views of the candidates, in their own words and/or through interviews, to our readers. Commentary from candidates should be about why they are the best person for the job. Candidates, I want to know why I SHOULD vote for you, not why I SHOULDN’T vote for your opponent.
To minimize negative/attack campaigning on this site, contributions submitted anonymously or focused on why another candidate is not the best person for the job are restricted to Comments left in response to a contribution by or interview of a candidate. As managing editor, I reserve the right to approve posts by and about candidates, but will not edit or delete comments made in response to a post.
I’m Clive Finchamp and I’d like your vote for the CCSD Board. Why do I want you’re consideration? Well, I think that I am qualified for a directorship on the CCSD because I am a progressive who is a cross between Jack Lemmon and Charlie Chaplin. I like to think that I don’t take life very seriously, but mostly whimsically and in a carefree manner. After all we all know how life turns out, don’t we.
I want you to know that I do favor doing preventive maintenance on our aging water system, but I continue to oppose the rate increases and any attempt to build a desalination plant of any kind in Cambria. As a part of a family living on a fixed income, with all of those attendant problems, I will make every effort to carefully examine and pare down proposals that involves spending the ratepayer’s money. On matters that involve spending the publics’ money I am quite conservative though my politics is on the left side of the political spectrum.
I am a college graduate with a degree in political science with an emphasis on teaching; a job that I did for a few years. I worked for many years as a hospital administrator and later and happily for many more years as a certified licensed property appraiser. The job I had as a property appraiser should be helpful as a director of the CCSD because of the many issues the CCSD faces regarding property.
Let me add that I worked at Cambria’s elementary and high schools for a number of years and I can say categorically that we have the best public schools in the United States.
Finally, I loved my mother’s apple pie and I never kicked my dog and at night I still massage my wife’s head to help her sleep though the evening. So please vote for me.
In a surprising announcement at Thursday’s CCSD meeting, the General Manager and District Counsel told the Board and community that the count had been incorrect. In an audit of the protests spurred by a public records request, the total number of protest letters was changes from 2498 to 2517.
In a press release, available on the CCSD website, the new “official” numbers were apparently shown to the League of Women Voters who “verified the revised certification”:
Per CCSD Customer Service Account
Valid Protests Received: 1,982
Majority Protests Required: 2,001 (3,999 ÷ 2) plus 1
Per CCSD Service Parcel
Valid Protests Received: 1,952
Majority Protests Required: 1,966 (3,929 ÷ 2) plus 1
After announcing with such certainty that the numbers were absolutely correct and the League of Women Voters certified the count was correct – turns out the count was incorrect.
All this raises more questions than it resolves. If the count of letters was incorrect, how can we know the number of protests required is correct? This is another example of a mistake that magnifies the incompetence of the staff and brings into question the value of having the League certify the count.
I hope the members of the Board don’t simply dismiss this error, as they have many other incidents, and chalk it up to a mistake anyone could make and therefore let it go. This behavior borders completely unacceptable for elected officials and public servants.
I cannot speak for the CFR, but most individuals I’ve talked to understand a rate increase is needed – the objection is to the process used and the utterly dismissive and disrespectful treatment of community members who are asking for accountability and explanation. No one should have to blindly accept a hit to their monthly budget without adequate justification and some measure of accountability.
What I wrote earlier this week is even more true with this new information: It is not about the few dollars every other month, its about an irresponsible, unresponsive public agency and elected officials that see the law as an obstacle, rather than best practices limits on their authority.
As we all know the CCSD requires property owners to abate the weeds, downed trees, brush etc which might constitute a fire hazard. This must be done by July 1st or the work is put out to a private contractor. The cost of such work is added to the property tax bill along with a (haha gotcha) $400.00 “administrative” charge.
Well, it seems that the CCSD has gathered up 44 properties in their Build-out Reduction program and lo and behold they have determined that it is too expensive to clear their own lots. They have cleared a few inadequatly and others not at all. How this can be done legally while requiring it of others is troubling. (Lawsuits in the event of a fire) This has resulted in an increase in an always dangerous fire environment. I have taken pictures of a representative group of those lots – included below. The list of lots and comments can be downloaded here.
I have shared this information with the Cambrian with the expectation they would be interested in looking into this further but with no results. Hence this missive.
Yours for a fire safe community,
Reg Perkins
Update: Lot on Ramsey Original Picture:
Updated as of today (Sept 29):
I have always thought that from a political standpoint Cambria is un-American. It’s more like a Marxist state where there are no private property rights, no US Constitution with a 5th Amendment. In Cambria, local voters can band together and vote themselves a monopoly on the water supply, block expansion of that water supply, and then use it as an excuse to take millions of dollars worth of private property and command it’s use to suit their own pleasure.
Board Director Peter Chaldecott is among the dozen or so regular writers here on AboutCambria.com – to the benefit of the entire community. As an elected leader since the late 1990′s, he has had a front row seat for nearly every action and decision of the CCSD for many years and his contributions here bring a different viewpoint and stimulate the conversation.
Since this site was first launched, it’s primary purpose was as a tool for exchanging information. I have always hoped it would make it easier for Cambrians to share information and ideas and engage each other in conversation.
I’d like to thank Mr. Chaldecott for joining in the conversation here – and now, at AboutCCSD.com, too. Already published: an article about the role and responsibilities of CSD Directors at the newest post of AboutCCSD.com. Coming soon: Privatization in water and wastewater.
Throughout the past year, Cambrians have been watching the CCSD more closely than usual. A number of concerns have been raised about the way the process was undertaken and the action to increase the rates was probably premature (or at least ill advised).
At the August 21, 2008 meeting of the Cambria Community Services District (CCSD), the Board approved a rate increase of 12%, following a process whereby Cambrians were given the right to vote on new assessments, fees and rates paid to a local agency, called by its ballot measure number: “Prop 218”.
The District claims the number of protest statements was less than the required 50% plus one needed to stop the increase. The count was very close. A group of Cambrians (Cambrians for Fiscal Responsibility a.k.a. CFR) who dispute the results have been working on proving the protest did indeed succeed.
If the number of valid protest letters is enough to defeat the increase, the district is not within its legal rights to increase the rates. Making sure the CCSD is appropriately funded is important, but I believe there is a more pressing concern. The Board agreed that the CCSD should only have the initial increase of 12% , not the additional increase of 14% proposed for July 2009. By imposing the rate increase, even one that includes direction to staff not pursue the $8.1 million loan and eliminates the 2nd increase entirely, they have put themselves between a rock and a hard place. While they modified the proposed increase to reflect objections raised by those who protested, their action essentially dismissed legitimate community concerns without addressing them or directing staff to address them. The Board has neglected their essential role as the link between the District and the community. Their action could be interpreted as protecting the CCSD, instead of the interests of their constituents.
Building and maintaining confidence in the CCSD is part of their responsibility as elected officials. They are our representatives and should respond to community concerns, whether or not they agree with them. One way that could have been accomplished would have been asking for proof of the accuracy of the prop 218 outcome. By doing nothing to dispel the numerous concerns or answer any of the questions, the Board has damaged the level of confidence and fostered mistrust in the staff and the Board. Even though in a constitutionally mandated process, about half of the town spoke up to stop an increase in the rates, there was no suggestion there should be a recount nor were disqualified protests given a second look. And that is only one part of a larger process, riddled with flaws, undertaken in a sloppy, careless way. They have shown disregard for the spirit of the law and little respect for the right of the community to have a say in our government.
Although this was the second time we’d gone through the process in less than a year, the CCSD didn’t offer to explain the nuances of how protest letters would be scrutinized before the counting began and refused to respond to questions from the group organizing the protest (CFR). This, combined with the five weeks it took to finalize the count of 2500 protest letters submitted, it wasn’t difficult to believe that the CCSD was making up the rules as they went along and the District did nothing to refute this impression. There are probably Cambrians who would usually give the District the benefit of the doubt if they had been more forthcoming. At the very least, there would have been fewer opponents to silence.
The CCSD Board and General Manager missed one opportunity after another to rebuild public confidence. In fact, what little was said was vague and easily misinterpreted – assumptions that were not corrected. The CCSD implied the volunteer observers from the League of Women Voters were making determinations about the validity of specific protests. (They were not.) They also implied the County Clerk-Recorder endorsed the decision to run the letters through the process used to verify ballot petitions and would support the protests disqualified for “miscompared” signatures. (She did not.) They implied this protest was determined ‘like an election’. (It was not.)
The amount of time spent counting the protest statements was surely much more than was needed. Requests to view the public records that support the District’s claim that the protest failed have been incomplete or slow in coming. I hope they will be writing and publishing the procedures for the process before it is called into use again. The rules should be clear from the start, and we should have a written policy describing our right to make sure our protest was counted. To date, I’ve spoken to at least four people who have been unable to get an answer to the question of whether or not their protest letter was counted. If ever there was a process ripe for standardizing and fixing, it is the Prop. 218 process as it applies to water and sewer rates. And Cambria’s recent experiences point up nearly all the weak links in the current state of law on the process and could be the model of what NOT to do. It is a case where a precedent could be established that would likely be a broader public benefit to other citizens.
When the Howard Jarvis Association had Proposition 218 placed on the ballot in 1996, it did not apply to water and sewer rates. But in 2006, a court determined the “Right to Vote on Taxes Act” did indeed apply to water and sewer rates, in addition to fire benefit assessments, developers fees and a host of other “property related” income sources for local governments. Perhaps we should be getting that association involved if the District continues to stymie attempts to get at the reasons over 600 letters of protest were tossed out and a defensible total number of customers/parcels with service.
Over the past year, the District has spent many, many hours of staff time working to get a rate increase approved, using any means available and ripping loopholes in the law. If Cambrians want a better CCSD, they must stand up and say so. Come to the CCSD meeting this Thursday at the Vets Hall at 12:30pm. Register to vote (deadline October 20), attend the candidates’ forums on October 7 and October 20, and go to the polls on November 4 to vote for the Cambrians you think will represent and protect your interests.
More valuable than a gallon of gas? Say YES! with a small donation today.August 30th I posted an article about the fields at Cambria’s Elementary School. Tonight there will be a meeting for those interested in the issue, according to an email from Steve Kniffen.
To those who don’t know yet,It seems as if manna has fallen from heaven in regards to our fields at the grammar school.There is much hearsay, but this is what I know to be the gossip…it seems that the company that built our field system was sold in the recent past. The new owner decided to go check on some of the back projects that his new company had recently completed( and were using on the company web site as examples of his company’s work). Lo and behold: he stumbled on to Cambria. It seems he was none to happy, especially if you compare the web site picture with what it actually looks like.The gentleman’s name is Mark Rehbein and it seems as if he has said that he is going to “make it right.” What?!?! Did I hear that correctly…He is going to make it right? Nobody says that anymore. But it seems that’s what he has said. I’ve even heard that he has said more…but I won’t comment on that…that would be gossiping. But guess what, we can ask him ourselves, ya’ know why? Because he wants to meet with us, any of us, all of us, anyone who cares. I’d like the whole world there if they could…The meeting is at 7:00 pm on Wednesday,today, at the Grammar School multi-propose room.He says he can fix us and make us whole again. I’m excited, cautious, but excited. He thinks he can make us like his product and I for one can not wait to give him the chance to sell me on his solution.Why this guy has shown up now is of great curiosity to me, not important, but interesting none the less. Maybe the good Lord has you wander around the desert for a while to create character and teach lessons, then the Promise Land. Or maybe this new superintendent has the magic touch.What ever the reason, I’m so happy for this meeting I can barely control myself. If you find this interesting, please show up, and “no” I am not making the traditional community announcements with road signs to remind everyone, this electronic notice will serve as my invitation, but feel free to send it to whom ever you think might be interested in coming.Steve Kniffen
We all know there is more to Cambria than the CCSD and their ongoing sagas. So AboutCambria.com is broadening our coverage and sister site AboutCCSD.com will ensure continuing focus on that aspect of our community.
Most of the CCSD-related faire will now be found at AboutCCSD.com. Every Monday, AboutCambria.com will feature a post from the previous week – this week you should pick the one YOU want…or read them all!
Last week (AboutCCSD.com’s first) featured five articles:
