[Scpg] Important Goleta Water District meeting Tuesday Oct 30, 7 pm - Please attend!

[LBUZZELL at aol.com]

The meeting is at 7 pm tomorrow  evening Tues, Oct 30 at 7 pm at the Goleta 
Union School  on Fairview  Ave.
 
From: Jack Ruskey  <johnruskey at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

 
Probably the most important meeting of  the Goleta Water District is 
scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, October  30th where radical changes are being 
proposed as to the provisions  of the Safe Water Supplies Ordinance which were 
adopted by the voters in 1991  and 1994.It is a must attend meeting for everyone 
concerned with the future of  our water supplies and the possibility that if the 
Directors approve the  recommendations of the District’s General Manager,they 
will give away the  District’s precarious future water supplies to the 
developers  .
 

 
The proposals being  advocated by Walsh, with the apparent blessing of Mr. 
Wullbrandt, who is  currently representing Landowners who wish to obtain 
rezoning in order to put  up high density housing, have now fortunately been made 
public. All of the  cards are now face up on the table as to where various 
parties stand on the  matters to be presented to the Board on the  30th.
 
The landowners and  developers, AKA, the “Water pirates” can not live with 
the provisions of SAFE  as adopted by the voters in 1991 and 1994. Without the 
ability to tap into the  existing and future supplies of the water of the GWD, 
the water pirates have  no ability to do all of their planned high density 
developments. The water  pirates will have to move out of town to find other 
areas to plunder.  Unfortunately we now suddenly discover that the pirates have a 
heretofore  secret powerful ally. This ally is the General Manager of the 
District, Kevin  Walsh, who has now been forced to go public on his true agenda 
as to the use  of the District’s precious supply of water to feed the appetites 
of the  developers by giving them access to our future supplies of  water.
 
A review of all  of his proposals that he is recommending that the Board 
adopt as to the  Modifications of the protective provisions of the SAFE WATER 
SUPPLIES  ORDINANCE, all lead to one conclusion; he wants to give the water 
pirates as  much of our water as he possibly can .When a person is trying to mask 
his true  intentions, you can never rely upon what that persons is telling 
everyone  about his intentions. In such circumstances you must carefully examine 
those  person actions to understand the true intentions. Mr. Walsh current 
actions  per his proposals to the Board speak very loudly and clearly as to his 
intents  to give large quantities of our water to the water pirates. Every 
proposal  attempts to eliminate or greatly restrict the protective provisions of the 
 SAFE Ordinance as to insuring limited use of the water supplies of the  
District. Of course Mr. Walsh can not ask the voters, as required under the  
expressed terms of SAFE, to vote on the proposed modifications, since he knows  
that they would be soundly rejected by the electorate.  
 
Mr. Walsh has  received reinforcements as to his efforts by the Board in 
January hiring Mr.  Wullbrandt as the District’s General Counsel in spite of the 
many conflicts he  has as an attorney. The hiring of Mr. Wullbrandt was 
contrary to law and the  Board has refused to do any thing about the situation when 
the facts have been  brought to its attention. Mr. Wullbranbt has publicly 
rendered his legal  opinion to the Board that almost everything set forth in SAFE 
is subject to  interpretation and the vote of 3 of the 5 Directors can by the 
guise of  interpretation change how the existing customers’ water supply can 
be used for  future development. Such legal advice certainly assists the water 
pirates and  contrary to the interests of existing  customers.
 

 
Fortunately for the  public, Bert Bertrando who was just elected to the Board 
has not signed on to  play on the team of the pirates. He has been taking a 
critical view as to the  past practices of the District and its past failures 
to properly enforce the  terms of SAFE plus pointing out the multitude of 
defects in the District’s  Urban Water Management Plan. He was successful in July 
in having the Board, by  a 3 to 2 vote, to do away with the carryover of the 
unused 1% water from year  to year. That vote was an extremely bad set back for 
the pirates, but they are  many, wealthy and determined. Mr. Walsh is trying 
to reinstate a carryover of  the 1% water in his current proposals. Again, you 
must watch his actions and  not his words. The water pirates have launched 
their counterattack and the  battle starts at 7 PM on the 30th. Bert’s only 
allies are the  truth, the terms of SAFE which were adopted by the voters, and the 
support of  the customers of the District. It should be an easy battle for 
Bert to win if  the public shows up in force on the 30th.If the customers decide 
to  watch TV Tuesday night, they will wake up on Halloween to discover that 
the  water pirates were victorious and the GWD is ready to give away as much of 
our  water reserves as there are takers. It will be a trick without any  treat.
 

 
If Mr. Walsh’s  proposed resolutions are adopted by the Board on Tuesday 
night, please keep  your children off the streets on Halloween night since there 
will be great  danger of personal injury from all of the flying champagne corks 
being popped  by the water pirates and their crews.
 

 
Jack  Ruskey
 







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