Mike Mohill
says the Proposed Water Rate Increases are “THE FINAL STRAW”
Tuesday morning, 11-29-2011, was the final straw when
Mayor Laura Friedman set another water rate increase and proposed another $60 million
bond increase for public discussion at 9:30am, a time of day to limit public
influence, rather than 6:00pm.
Water rates would be raised incrementally to 15% by
2015. Of course, no mention was made of
the fact that water rates had already been raised in 2007-9%, 2008-14%,
2009-12% and Nov 2010-3.8% even though
Arrogance was expressed by Councilman Dave Weaver,
"if things like this are too much, then you better move to a place where
you can afford it....if you can find one". Mayor Friedman said she would consider passing
another bond because she believes in sharing the cost with the next generation.
Councilman Frank Quintero had always
been in favor of a tier rate structure, which would penalize homeowners with a
large parcel of land. Councilman Ara Najarian was the true
politician when he said, "I am torn.
I'm balancing between the impacts of an additional cost on our residents
for the water service, but also aware we have to improve our infrastructure for
the water delivery".
Only Rafi
Manoukian was against any rate hike or water
bonds. Mr. Manoukian
also stated we should discuss the illegal transfer of $20 million from the GWP (
Does the GWP really need another rate hike or bond? Council members Friedman, Quintero, Najarian, and Weaver have squander our money on employees'
salaries, pensions and other pet projects.
Mike Mohill