The money story changes, again (August 19, 2015)
Last night, TOAV posted on Facebook:
What has the Town of AV truly spent on a potential acquisition of AVR? https://ow.ly/R3gkL Get the facts. Read our report here.
TOAV Facebook page
If you follow the link, you’ll see that TOAV acknowledges it has spent $1.4 million on takeover and takeover-related costs to date. However, TOAV’s figures only go back to part-way into 2011, when in actuality this process began in 2006, so there are hundreds of thousands in costs not shown in their Transparency Report
accounting.
But wait a minute,
you say. Didn’t the Town just ‘tell the truth’ about its spending on Facebook, after saying that Ranchos was lying about how much the Town had spent?
Yes, that is correct. Here is the Facebook post from the Town dated May 28, 2015:
What AVR says the town has spent on water study: $900,000 What we have actually spent: $325,000. We tell the truth.
TOAV Facebook post
At this point, you’d be justified in saying, I’ve had it with Facebook. You can never get a straight answer. I’m going to the Town’s website.
If you do, you’ll find (as I did this morning):
Has the Town already spent up to $700,000 to study this acquisition?
No. The Town has spent less than $250,000 studying this option.
avh2ours.com/resources/faqs/#already-spent
By now, I hope you’re getting the point. Dealing with the Town on financial matters is akin to buying a car from the dealer: The price of the car seems to be clearly marked, yet when the final invoice comes out of the printer, somehow the actual price is thousands higher.
For more accurate figures, check out What They’ve Spent, and The Rat-Hole (which should probably be called Down the Drain,
because this money is gone forever, and hasn’t bought a drop of water).
Don’t fall for the Town’s misrepresentations. Town representatives have proven themselves willing and able to say or do anything to ram through the hostile takeover of Ranchos.
Contact the Town Council today and tell them to leave their hands off of Ranchos, and stay out of the water business.
— Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.