Commentary archive
2015
December
- Poor all-knowing Pat Orr
- Poor anti-monopolist Pat Orr
- Shop local?
- Exponential growth
- This year’s water bills
- Comparing ads
- Is secrecy still repugnant in a free society?
- Apple Valley’s big day
- Guarantees, not promises
- No middleman
- Only care about making money
- Response to Barb Stanton (Carloni)
- Vote cancer for council
- Inciting violence (Lee)
- All good things must come to an end
- Controlling the controllers
- Guarantees
- Hot water
- A debtor way of life
November
- Opposing the Draft EIR Report
- Comparative water use (video)
- Re: Draft Environmental Impact Report — Apple Valley Ranchos Water System Acquisition Project (Lee)
- Fractured facts
- Re: Water conversation long overdue
- Shortsidedness
- Thank you, Al and Leane
- Politics vs water costs
- We have not yet made a decision
- Agenda item #1: Comments by Al Rice
- Agenda item #2: Comments by Al Rice
- The innumerate Mr. Puckett
- You should be ashamed of yourselves
- BS Comments (Lee)
- Town of Apple Valley water usage (Mueller)
- What’s Ranchos worth now?
- Who dragged whom?
October
- Regarding ‘Drilling Discord’ (Carloni)
- Bigger government is irresponsible
- I’m a capitalist, but …
- Whose water is it?
- Regarding the new well (Lee)
- Comparative transparency
- Where there’s smoke …
- We already have a great water system
- Not the whole system
- Waiting for 2046
- Is the Town really ‘fully capable’ of running a water utility?
- Two-and-a-half times
- Weighing both sides
- Why weigh both sides?
- Will citizens benefit?
- Enjoying the Apple Valley No Show
- Damning with faint praise
- He said what?
- Keep repeating: No decision has yet been reached
- Five bills in a row
- About your trash bill
- The fight is for money, not water
- Records Requests August 4 and September 14, 2015
- Letter: Regarding ‘Cities in a Water Fight’ by Dean Starkman (Lee)
- The gang that couldn’t lie straight
- Is it fair? (Lee)
- Where does the money flow? (Rice)
- Letter: Regarding ‘Cities in a Water Fight’ by Dean Starkman (Rice)
- The truth about water (Lee)
- Get all the facts, please
- Just a taxpayer (Rice)
- Letter to the CPUC re: Proposed decision of ALJ Tsen regarding Application 1401002
- I want a rate increase?
- Sewer rates vs. water rates: There’s no comparison
- AstroTurf vs. astroturfing
- Fixed costs
- Government’s role (Mueller)
- What now? (Hanson)
- Letter to Mayor Larry Cusack: A town divided against itself
- Letter to Mayor Pro Tem Barb Stanton: What else don't you know, Barb?
- Letter to Council Member Curt Emick: Challenging your sources
- How come you only defend Ranchos?
- Dogging Ranchos
- Not the same family business
- Missed every point
September
- Presentation for the CFGA meeting
- Court jester
- Water surcharges
- Drought surcharges
- Residents bemoan drought surcharges (Lee)
- A tale of two bills
- Silver lining
- A tale of two houses
- Request for Public Records: Warrants
- Water supplier alternatives
- Thanks
- Scott Nassif: ‘No confidence’ in AVRWC takeover
- Thin veneer
- A critical examination of the TOAV’s ‘Transparency Report‘
- No vote? No problem!
- Why AVRWC is not a monopoly
- Is TOAV being investigated for Proposition 218 violations?
- Not a water waster
- Replying to water waster David Christman
- TOAV 'transparency': One and done, or more to come?
- TOAV’s attempt at transparency is sorely lacking
- Wrong focus
- Don’t be a victim; you have the power
- It makes me wonder what is going on behind the scenes
- TOAV is in debt big time (Rice)
August
- Check your water usage
- Thank you, water wasters! (Lee)
- Higher rates for transfer to the general fund (Rice)
- Opposing the Amended Scoping Report
- Missed the forest
- What the TOAV should be doing with our money
- AV residents have facts, too, and context
- Sowing the seeds of discord
- Open letter to Barb Stanton
- The people hold the power (Mueller)
- The power of positive thinking (Lee)
- Open letter to Art Bishop
- Opposing the Amended EIR Scoping Report
- That MWA well — revisited
- The money story changes, again
- ’Twas a famous victory
- The Little Red Hen (revisited)
- No healthy skepticism
- Poor little rich people
- Whine sellers
July
- Chutzpah
- Milk of human kindness
- TOAV lack of meeting notice
- Millions for the bankers
- About that ‘scoping meeting’
- Letter opposing tonight’s Scoping Report
- Brave new water world
- Initial Study: TOAV and AVRWC System Acquisition Project
- Praise the lowered
- Scorched earth
- Apple Valley’s sixth council member
- Executive salaries
- Guaranteed profit
- Lowering water rates
- Taking the profit out of water delivery
- The audacity
- Transparency
- Water utility oversight
- What is the cost of water delivery?
- Making pricey pipes pricier
- Comments for tonight’s council meeting
- ‘Particularly municipalities’
- Acting in good faith
- Misinformation as an ’Art’ form
- Purveyors of truth?
- Still not for sale
- Letter to the CPUC re: Application 1401002
- ’They sure make a lot of money’
- CPUC protection
- Friction-free rate increases
- How much water?
- Push poll
- The truth about TOAV’s experience
- Debt service and cash flow
- It’s not about water, it’s about money
- More about that latest survey
- Well beyond coy
- How much water are you using?
June
- Back to the money issue
- It’s only (your) money
- Letter to the CPUC
- Pool party
- Welcome to Apple Valley
- About that MWA well
- Just add government
- Communicating with the Town Council
- Rising rates
- The whole truth
- Not for sale
- Not always black and white
- Just one step … on a predetermined path
- ’It’s not personal, it’s just business’
- CPUC: Please grant the joint motion in Application 1411013
- Apple Valley: We’re business friendly
- Legal buffoonery
May
- Local control
- Where is Barb Stanton when we need her? #SpeakUpBarb
- What they’ve spent
- Same old same old
- ‘Transparency is job No. 1’
April
- Everything you need to know about TOAV’s claims
- Proposition 218: No real protection in Apple Valley
- Letter to the CPUC
- Is the Town of Apple Valley shifting its position?
- Questions for the TOAV ahead of tonight’s water meeting
- TOAV declares war on AVRWC