Letters to the Editor

Say yes to mosquito control
I
 was truly disappointed when I received the post card sent by
the San Benito County Republicans to
”
Say No To New Taxes.
”
Although the card is filled with several misleading and
erroneous statements, in the interest of time and space,
 I will only address two.
  The statement that
”
This tax will replace a previously state-funded program
”
{ is very misleading.
 There is no long-term state-funded program. The program
referred to was an emergency grant from the State in 2006 to help
counties protect their residents against the threat of West Nile
virus. The purpose of this funding was two-fold: 1.Help counties
with existing mosquito abatement pro
grams update and improve their programs and 2. Help counties
without mosquito abatement districts become
”
proactive
”
by starting some type of abatement program.
 This
”
seed
”
money from the State
 was to only be available one time. But with West Nile
virus continuing to pose a serious threat to Californians, the
Governor approved a much smaller grant this year. This money is
meant to help counties establishing permanent, local abatement
districts or programs that would then be supporte
d by local money. With the state of the State, it is highly
unlikely any future funding will be available.
  West Nile virus is just one of many mosquito borne diseases
that threaten California and San Benito residents. No, we can’t
eliminate all mosquitoes, but by being proactive, we can minimize
their impact on our health and way of life.
  Why wait until we have to
”
Get a fly swatter
”
? That’s being
”
reactive.
”
  Like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten
out.
I say be
 
”
proactive.
”
 Vote
”
YES
”
for mosquito abatement.
Kriss Costa
Hollister
Say yes to mosquito control

I was truly disappointed when I received the post card sent by the San Benito County Republicans to “Say No To New Taxes.” Although the card is filled with several misleading and erroneous statements, in the interest of time and space, I will only address two.

The statement that “This tax will replace a previously state-funded program”{ is very misleading. There is no long-term state-funded program. The program referred to was an emergency grant from the State in 2006 to help counties protect their residents against the threat of West Nile virus. The purpose of this funding was two-fold: 1.Help counties with existing mosquito abatement programs update and improve their programs and 2. Help counties without mosquito abatement districts become “proactive” by starting some type of abatement program. This “seed” money from the State was to only be available one time. But with West Nile virus continuing to pose a serious threat to Californians, the Governor approved a much smaller grant this year. This money is meant to help counties establishing permanent, local abatement districts or programs that would then be supported by local money. With the state of the State, it is highly unlikely any future funding will be available.

West Nile virus is just one of many mosquito borne diseases that threaten California and San Benito residents. No, we can’t eliminate all mosquitoes, but by being proactive, we can minimize their impact on our health and way of life.

Why wait until we have to “Get a fly swatter”? That’s being “reactive.” Like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out.

I say be “proactive.” Vote “YES” for mosquito abatement.

Kriss Costa

Hollister

All’s not well in San Juan

Well, it only took about a month for our “fair and impartial” district attorney, Candice Hooper, to whittle down three felonies and two misdemeanors into a single misdemeanor charge against SJB Vice Mayor George Dias.

If you didn’t know, Dias was arrested on April 14 by the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office. They booked Mr. Dias on charges of battery on a peace officer resulting in injury, battery with serious bodily injury, obstructing an executive officer, (all felonies), resisting arrest and interfering with a firefighter (both misdemeanors).

God only knows the whys and hows DA Hooper rationalized the reduction in the charges recommended by the Sheriff’s Office into a single misdemeanor charge and she’s not talking. Although Dias, on May 22nd, entered a plea of “not guilty,” questions remain as to why the original  felony charges were watered-down to a single misdemeanor. Was it favoritism? Was it politically motivated? Was it cronyism? She’s not talking. Now the law does allow Hooper some degree of prosecutorial discretion, but I believe she’s crossed the line into prosecutorial abuse.

Perhaps her action should be forwarded to the state attorney general’s office for review. And mark my words: When Dias comes up for his pretrial conference on June 19, there’ll be a cozy little meeting with the judge, district attorney and defense counsel, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar that they will convince Dias to change his plea and enter into some diversion program just to make the case go away!

And then, if you can believe this, Lt. Roy Iler of the San Benito Sheriff’s Office announced on the 11 o’clock, channel 8 news on the 16th that “Of course we would like to have all the charges he (Dias) was booked on formally charged by the district attorney … we support her decision 100 percent.”

Hey folks, what’s wrong with this picture? We have a vice mayor who is currently on probation for a conviction of drunken driving in 2005 and now standing charged with resisting a peace officer causing serious injury and is still sitting on the city council “doing business as usual” according to Dias himself. How can an elected representative of the good people of San Juan publicly express the sentiment that San Benito County Deputy Sheriffs are not “real cops” and be allowed to remain on the Council. If Mr. Dias has an ounce of decency and integrity he would immediately and unconditionally resign his office and avoid the embarrassment of a public recall.

We have a DA who is sending out the wrong message. I guess, in San Benito County, it’s OK to verbally and/or physically abuse a police officer in the performance of their duties; if you think you’re someone special, all you’ll get is a slap on the wrist. I believe that the residents of San Juan are entitled to a public written explanation of the reasoning behind her decision in this case.

And lastly, we have a spokesperson from the sheriff’s office publicly supporting the DA 100%. Why aren’t you publicly supporting the men and women in your department who daily put their lives on the line in the service of our community? You “wished” all the charges had been filed but support the DA for filing none of them; what a contradiction!

On another note…been to a SJB City Council meeting lately? On May 15 the City Council met in regular session. In their study Session at 5 p.m. they reviewed their response to the Office of Inspector General’s Audit Report. The auditor’s report concerning the $3.8 million water project grant was very negative, claiming that the auditor was denied access to documents and personnel. Instead of responding positively, the review by Mr. Davis was nothing more than to bash the auditor. I’ve read both the audit report and the city’s response. I agree with the auditor.

By way of example, I attempted, through the Public Records Act, on May 4, to obtain a copy from the city, of the auditors report. The law requires that the request “reasonably” identifies the document requested. On Monday, May 7, I received a call from Trish, the deputy city clerk, informing me that the city manager rejected the request for processing. The reason you ask? Because I misspelled the city manager’s first name by one letter! I was forced to resubmit my request again.

And get this. You know that “cease-and-desist order” allegedly from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board that our city manager, Janice McClintock, has been hammering us that if we don’t fix our water system we could face heavy fines? Well, through the Public Records Act, I have documentation that suggests that it doesn’t exist and never has! If this water project grant does not go through, you can thank the city.

If the residents of San Juan don’t get involved and watch what’s going on, you’re going to be paying higher and higher water rates with no improvements to the system. Please get involved or you’ll end up getting what you probably deserve.

Jim Pereyra

San Juan Bautista

Spread the water wealth

Thank you for the update on the Gavilan College Hollister campus. It confirms that Gavilan will get its water from the Sunnyslope County Water District.

  The Venture Estates Mutual Water Company serves the 18 homes on Harbern Way. For 20 years, we have been planning to connect to Sunnyslope. We have paid our annexation and connection fees and have saved the money to construct a connection. But we have been unable to negotiate an agreement with Sunnyslope for a connection.

  Sunnyslope has been stalling us with talk about a pipe down Airline Highway and up Best Road. But they have no plans for this pipe, and no money to construct it. It could be another 20 years before this pipe is built, if ever. This is a classic example of pie in the sky, bye and bye.

  The proposed Gavilan campus will be directly adjacent to the west end of Harbern Way. It is imperative that a connection to Sunnyslope for Harbern Way be considered as an integral part of the Gavilan plan, with water that is available to us from the day that the Gavilan water system is turned on.

Robert Gilchrist Huenemann

Hollister

Time is running out on SJB

San Juan Bautista is well known for its historical ambiance. For many of us in San Benito County, San Juan Bautista is the jewel of the county. Visitors fall in love with the slowness and beauty of our quaint town. However, SJB is on the verge of financial collapse. Having served on the city council, it’s unbelievable the way some fundamental business practices are so poorly mismanaged. Today, we’re at the crossroads for existence.

If we fail to obtain the $3.8 million dollar EDA water/infrastructure grant, we may need to join Aromas and Tres Pinos as unincorporated townships in San Benito County.

According to the Department of Commerce, Office of the Inspector General, their recommendation is to give the $3.8 million grant to another group because San Juan Bautista has failed to meet the requirements mandated by the federal government’s auditor.

The auditor’s final report stated: “The city (SJB) did not provide access to the documentation and key personnel necessary to accomplish the objectives.” Consequently, the auditor was unable to determine whether the city has the requisite institutional, managerial, and financial capability to ensure proper planning, management and completion of the EDA grant project. “It is the Department of Commerce’s policy to make financial assistance awards only to those recipients who are competently managed, responsible and committed to achieving the objectives of the rewards they receive”

The first question which comes to my mind is, “Does SJB have the resources to manage this project?” Currently, SJB’s city office staff consists of four full-time individuals- including the city manager. Most services are contracted out, i.e.city planning, waste removal, maintenance on the sewer plant, sewer / water pipe repairs….

In 1999, Mark Davis was first hired as a consultant and last year was named “project manager” at a rate of $6,000 -plus a month. If you do the math, SJB taxpayers have paid him between $250,000 and $325,000 for his services with no end in sight. Mr. Davis was hired to use his influence with EDA to help procure a water treatment grant.

In 2005, the EDA awarded the City of San Juan Bautista and the San Benito County Water District a $3.8 million grant. The purpose of the EDA grant was for improvements to the water and sewer system and to increase capacity and service to both city and the adjoining service areas of the county. When the time came to negotiate the verbiage of this partnership, the relationship failed and SBCWD withdrew from the grant. However, the split was never acknowledged by the EDA. In my opinion, “special interest” was driving this partnership in to the toilet.

SJB city manager ($ 6,000-plus per month for her services) has stated on a number of occasions, “she did not know much about the grant” and that Mark Davis is the “project manager” and that all questions concerning the EDA grant should be directed to him. No wonder the SJB is on the verge of bankruptcy. I don’t know any small town of 600 homes which can maintain a $12,000 a month expense on a city manager and consultant and remain solvent for any length of time.

Anyway, if you read the auditor’s report (perhaps the Pinnacle will post it on their Web site), it describes the extreme difficulties the auditor had in obtaining needed documents from SJB.

Don’t take my word on it, just READ it. If someone is going to give you a lot of money, “every possible request for information should be met ASAP.” Perhaps SJB thought this small EDA grant would fall through the cracks and not be reviewed by Feds. It appears from the auditors’ report that SJB was making the request for information a “merry-go- round”. “Go see Mark Davis – Go see the city manager – Go see the accountant – Go see the city auditor …” Then – the ultimate response by the city manager- went something like this – “I’m sorry, most of our contracted services (individuals) are difficult to set up meeting times.”

The auditor’s report noted that SJB was given a five-day courtesy notice of their arrival and stayed two weeks trying to get needed information. This was plenty of time for SJB to put together the requested information.

SJB claims that old computer technology prevented giving data to the auditors. However, the software on the “older computers” was a California state adopted software package. This, however, the city’s accountant (a CPA) spoke differently of this issue and stated she could pull needed reports but at a later time said, she was having “difficulties” trying to pull the reports.

Do you remember that line of credit SJB got from San Benito Bank ($500,000) for start-up cost? That credit line has ended. Now, SJB has to find a way to pay that money back. Good luck.

When the inspector general’s office of the U.S. Department of Commerce strongly recommends giving the $3.8 million to another group, who’s going lend SJB any money? The first request by any lending institution (in my mind) would be –”Show us the report from the Feds.”

The auditor’s final report stated: “The city (SJB) did not provide access to the documentation and key personnel necessary to accomplish objectives.” Consequently, the auditor was unable to determine whether the city has the requisite institutional, managerial, and financial capability to ensure proper planning, management and completion of the EDA grant project. “It is the Department of Commerce’s policy to make financial assistance awards only to those recipients who are competently managed, responsible and committed to achieving the objectives of the rewards they receive.”

We need to meet with the SBCWD and set up a meeting with a negotiator. (As recommended by the San Benito County Grand Jury’s report) We need to move quickly before the EDA withdraws the $3.8 million grant.

The city manager keeps repeating “SJB is under a “cease and desist” order from the Regional Water Quality Board. This issue surrounds SJB effluent water, water leaving the sewer plant and draining into the San Benito River bed. This simple fix is to filter the critical elements out before it discharged into the riverbed.

The city manager is attempting to scare the community that the ONLY solution is building out this project. NOT so. There are other options that the regional water board will allow us to do.

Well folks, your SJB elected officials are on the verge of losing the $3.8 million grant from the federal government due to poor judgment. So, if you’re a property owner in SJB you better start voicing your support for a partnership with San Benito County Water District (as one of the recommendations of the Grand Jury in 2006) before your City Council waves this $3.8 million grant goodbye and so goes the value of your home.

Chuck Geiger

2002-2006 SJB city councilman

Editor’s Note: During his tenure on the San Juan Bautista City Council, Chuck Geiger consistently voted in favor of the water project.

Think about joining 4-H

Have you ever thought about joining 4-H? Well there are many clubs throughout San Benito County that you can join. They all meet at different times and places during the month so you can find the club that best suits you. The age of the members range from 5-19 years old. Each club has various projects lead by adult volunteers.

The youth members run the club meetings with positions such as president, vice president, secretary, and treasure. I am a member of the Fairview 4-H Club. We meet on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building. Some projects we offer are sheep, swine, sewing, camping and outdoors adventure, cooking, theater arts, etc. The goals of 4-H are teaching leadership, life skills and serving our communities. For more information on joining 4-H, you can call the 4-H office at 637-5346.

Alexis Sanchez

Fairview 4-H

All Star Candidate

Iraq funding? Forget it!

Working with President Bush means deserting our troops and the American people. Forget it! Send a new funding bill with more stringent deadlines than the reasonable ones that accompanied the vetoed bill. Let Bush know that a veto will lead to an even more stringent set of benchmarks to veto next time around. See if it takes until 2009 for Bush to be sensible. It is clear that Democrats support the troops while Republicans support Bush and his incompetence.

Frank Crosby

Morgan Hill

Consider the private water alternative

In response to The Pinnacle editorial “What Are They Drinking?” I respectfully submit that there is another option available to the city of San Juan Bautista and much of unincorporated San Benito County with respect to potable water and wastewater utility systems: privatize. This is not news. Like the venerable Joe Thompson, I have opined about the merits of privatization to the press in the past. The private water utility sector, like PG&E does for gas and electric service and Waste Management does for garbage service, is alive and well providing quality utility service to about 20 percent of municipalities throughout the United States. It provides operation services, billing services and enjoys industry standard recognition in most cases.

Perhaps one day, San Benito County will realize that a professional water/wastewater service provider can effectively partner with local jurisdictions to provide such service. There are many potential benefits; large water utility companies have access to earnest capital resources to invest in distribution systems, a proven business infrastructure to effectively manage resources, and are regulated by the state Public Utilities Commission that represents the interests of the consumer.

For example, where San Juan Bautista may have to raise water rates exponentially to cover the costs of capital improvements, a private water company might be able to raise rates to a lesser degree through economies of scale and spread costs throughout the county (assuming the county joined in partnership). In my view, San Juan Bautista is the proverbial stereotype of a water system that should sell or lease its operation to a private company. Such a partnership may potentially provide additional leverage in securing, maintaining or reestablishing funding opportunities with local, state or federal government agencies when consideration is given to professional operations.

Infrastructure, especially water/wastewater systems, is in many cases managed better by the private sector. It works in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Jose and Salinas. I submit it can work for San Benito County.

Mike Smith

Hollister 

(Mike Smith has worked for a private water utility company for 18 years and lives in Hollister.)