CCSD to Sign Contract with Number 4 Lobbying Firm in the US

3 Responses to CCSD to Sign Contract with Number 4 Lobbying Firm in the US

1. anne says:

   June 21, 2009 at 2:28 pm

   Questions:
   -If the Army Corps is already the lead agency and they are funded by federal and Lois Capps has already helped Cambria get funding multiple times…aren’t they all already committed to making desal happen in Cambria?
   WHY DO WE STILL have to pay for a lobbyist?

   It seems that Sanders, Rudock and board member Don Villeneuve joined the district’s lobbyist to encourage key lawmakers to support Cambria’s project by voting for bills back in 2005.
   Does the community still owe lobbyists for getting the committment? Is this pay back for services already rendered or for NEW services rendered and for more palm greasing in the future??
   -Is there a committment to desal by now from the feds or not? It seems that there is and has been since 2005.
   Please read below article from 2005

   Tribune – February 24, 2005 – B1 Local
   Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
   February 24, 2005
   Section: Local
   Edition: Tribune
   Page: B1

   CAMBRIA OFFICIALS SEE DESAL DOLLAR SIGNS
   THEY’RE CONFIDENT MORE FEDERAL MONEY IS ON THE WAY FOR A PROPOSED DESALINATION PLANT AFTER MEETING WITH LAWMAKERS
   Kathe Tanner
   The Tribune

   Cambria officials say they’re confident the community will get more federal money to pay for its proposed desalination plant after meeting with lawmakers in Washington.
   Greg Sanders, president of the Cambria Community Services District board, and district General Manager Tammy Rudock said lawmakers’ reactions to their lobbying last week were encouraging.
   For several years, the services district has pinned its desalination hopes on getting $10.3 million of federal money to help pay for the plant.
   The district argues that desal would provide a drought-proof source of water to augment the frequently short supply from wells near area creeks.
   Opponents claim the technology would harm the environment, be too expensive and would spur growth the town’s other resources can’t support.

   During a one-day whirlwind of meetings, Sanders, Rudock and board member Don Villeneuve joined the district’s lobbyist to encourage key lawmakers to support Cambria’s project by voting for bills that include $10.3 million to help build the desal plant.
   Construction costs are now estimated at more than $13.7 million.

   Rudock and Villeneuve were in Washington for another water-related meeting, but Sanders made the trip specifically to lead the lobbying effort.
   “The sense we get from Congress is that the Cambria project is a good one, worthy of federal participation. Further appropriations are assured,” Sanders said.
   Congress already has approved nearly $1 million for Cambria’s desal plant.
   But some of the money was given by the government to projects in other areas because the project couldn’t start soon enough.

   That money is expected to be restored when Cambria is ready to proceed.
   The district’s Water Master Plan and lot-retirement studies are not yet complete, and the project’s environmental studies must be finished.

   To begin the desal project under federal funding, the district must sign a “cooperating agreement” with the Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected within a month or two.
   “The result of all this will mean many millions of dollars to the ratepayers in Cambria,” Sanders wrote in an e-mail after he returned from the nation’s capital.
   While neither Rudock nor Sanders have yet compiled their expenses for the trip, the district has an annual training and travel budget for staff and board members.
   That budget for the 2004-05 fiscal year includes $45,135 for such expenditures, Rudock said.
2. mickie says:

   June 21, 2009 at 4:06 pm

   Below in quotes is an extract from the current contract with the federal lobbyist. The current contract was for 4 months and strategically planned so the GM could legally enter into the contract without a vote of the CCSD board of directors. The GM has the power to enter into contracts on her own authority up to 25K.

   “VSA (Van Scoyoc Associates) will provide Federal advocacy for the CCSD from February 1, 2009 through May 31, 2009 for a flat, all expenses included fee of $6,225 per month. This will allow us to get the proper paperwork submitted to your Congressional delegation for the FY 2010 Appropriations cycle, actively support that request in a number of meetings with your delegation and other important Members of Congress and staff, arrange a lobbying trip to Washington for a CCSD representative (the importance of which cannot be understated), And Engage In Public Relations- Style Advocacy To Repair The Image Of The CCSD And Its Desalination Project In The Mind Of Important Federal Officials.”

   Wonder why a lobbyist has to REPAIR the CCSD’s image? Could it be because the CCSD has tried twice to get a desal facility and failed? The CCSD failed in 1997 because the ratepayers did not want a super expensive industrial facility and it failed again in 2007 when the Coastal Commission denied permits for test wells due to environmental concerns and the chosen site. How many millions of dollars wasted?

   Two failures! What will it take for the CCSD to see the light, switch gears and bring a supplemental water source to Cambria that stands a chance of being permitted? Off creek storage or the Whale Rock Exchange of Lake Naciemento water are viable alternatives.
   Ps -if there is an interest in the entire contact I can arrange to have it placed on this site.

   “
3. Deryl Robinson says:

   June 23, 2009 at 10:30 pm

   Maybe the reason a lobbyist is required to accomplish anything in Washington or Sacramento is that everyone else has a lobbyist, especially the opposition.

   And yes, the reason CCSD’s image needs repair is probably the failure to follow through and get things done, which is obviously due to local obstructionists.