There was a joke in the former USSR that went something like this, Question: When was the first Russian election? Answer: When God placed Eve in front of Adam and said, “You must pick a wife.” A newer version has two Russians discussing the last election, “Well,” asked one, “did you vote for Vladimir Putin or Vladimir Putin?”
That’s the type of election being held in parts of San Benito County over the proposed water rate increases by the City of Hollister and Sunnyslope County Water District. Mind you, this issue is about whether or not your vote is a real vote – or merely a farce.
The water experts and elected officials have been perfectly clear, there is no real choice in the matter – none – the public cannot actually vote no because the State of California is holding a gun to our collective heads. If we exercise our ‘right’ to oppose the rate increases to pay for the improvements, the state will fine us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or impose painful moratoriums, or both.
I would feel a lot more comfortable about this if so many players did not have a direct or indirect financial or political stake in the program and if some of them had not been involved in Hollister’s historic wastewater debacle.
Speaking on the subject, I used the term election, which immediately brought a rebuke – I was told it was not an election. That is true; technically, it’s a protest vote under California’s Proposition 218, “Voter Approval Required Before Local Tax Increases (1996).” Election or vote, the actual term changes nothing regarding the fundamental issue; a vote required by the state constitution still implies a certain level of evenhandedness and choice – you will find neither in this case.
The notice I received from Sunnyslope announcing the opportunity for a protest vote contained a few prominent paragraphs of pro-project propaganda boldly headlined, “Water Plan Takes Fiscally Responsible Approach.” In other words, even the legally required announcement used public funds to push the recommendation. Funny, I never saw the district offer any pamphlet space to those who might oppose the project.
A twist in this particular case is that renters, who may actually pay water bills, might not even know that the rate increases are in the mix – only property owners are officially notified of the protest vote opportunity.
The whole thing sounds like comic Eddie Izzard trying to explain how European empire builders would offer you a choice when they decided to take your country; the choice would be cake or death. Which would you select, he asks, cake or death? Gee, that’s a really tough decision.
Another significant danger in having the water suppliers promoting a no-choice option is that it discourages the public from investigating the cost structures in detail. We’re talking big money here, which is the reason the increases are being phased in to avoid “rate shock” – their term, not mine.
Under these conditions, I will probably fold to the inevitable and not bother casting a useless and essentially meaningless protest vote, but at least I’m doing so with my eyes open. Your eyes should be open too.
Hollister’s city manager blamed it all on conservatives by pointing out that prior to Prop 218 there was no vote at all on increasing taxes; at least you now have a vote, he said. I take it his course in government did not differentiate between no vote and a vote with no choices – a distinction without a difference that the Russians would understand perfectly.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
