Keep repeating to yourself: No decision has yet been reached (October 12, 2015)
Representatives of the Town of Apple Valley keep repeating that they have reached no decision yet on whether to proceed with the proposed hostile takeover of Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company. They have to keep repeating it because every other one of their actions and utterances indicates otherwise.
Those attempting to curry favor hear the Town’s dog whistle loud and clear, though. Of course, the Town should seize Ranchos. Of course the Town’s heavy-handed action will turn Apple Valley into paradise. Of course those who don’t whole-heartedly sanction the seizure (for any of about 200,000,000 reasons, and counting) are benighted obstructionists who should be cast out, and not allowed back into polite society unless and until they forswear kissing the anus of the goat and convert into advocates for government waste and greed.
That’s what happened when Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association wrote an op-ed piece saying that the Association took no position on whether or not the Town should seize Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company. Let’s be clear. There is nothing inherently wrong with public ownership of water service,
he wrote. Woe betide him.
You see, Coupal’s mistake was to say something honest, reasonable, and fair-minded about the proposed takeover. That’s no longer the way things are done here in Apple Valley.
Fortunately, Pat Orr leapt to the defense of the Town against Coupal’s call for transparency. Orr relates how he cornered
Coupal about his indictment of the Town of Apple Valley’s effort to acquire Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company
(Cornered Coupal commits to no side in Water War,
Apple Valley Review, September 29, 2015). If you are wondering how Coupal’s common-sense recommendations became an indictment
and an endorsement of those opposing the Town’s unholy designs, Orr lets the cat out of the bag: We’re in a Water War
(capitals in the original). If you are wondering how the Apple Valley Review became the de facto propaganda arm of the Town of Apple Valley, we’d like to know that, too. Whatever happened to a free and independent press?
And what was Coupal’s response to this confrontation? According to Orr, Coupal verified that he meant what he said and said what he meant in his op-ed piece. No, really … and this stunning revelation was cover-blurbed. Too bad Orr didn’t discuss any of the other issues Coupal raised, but some persons don’t like to be confused with the facts.
Just so you know who’s right and who’s wrong in this whole mess, Orr takes a moment to smear the entire Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association as corrupt and on the take from unnamed dark forces. In other words, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is wrong unless they agree with Orr and the Town regarding the hostile takeover. This must be a preventative measure in case anyone at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has the audacity to venture anywhere near this topic again without the proper groupthink.
— Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.