Valley Voices: Voters show they want a say in water takeover issue (December 16, 2016)
Pat Orr is right — the ROI does indeed tell the real story of Measure V and Measure W. However, Mr. Orr’s math is wrong. To date, taxpayers have spent more than $1.6 million on an eminent domain lawsuit that is doomed to fail.
Voters were never asked if they wanted their money spent this way, and Nov. 8’s election results overwhelmingly demonstrated that voters believe government is wasting money and acted to hold politicians accountable by passing Measure V with 67 percent of the vote.
Measure W was the plan concocted by the Town’s private law firm, Best Best & Krieger. Without any choice in the matter, taxpayers were forced to spend $136.44 per Yes on W
vote. Further, our taxpayer dollars were used to intentionally undermine the people’s right to vote.
Apple Valley voters are smarter than the politicians and their allies thought. They saw through Measure W’s promises and recognized that it was nothing more than a blank check for continued wasteful spending.
The $1.48 per Yes on W
vote Mr. Orr refers to is what H2Own was able to raise from people who actually supported the measure — a reflection of its lackluster support — whereas the $136.44 in taxpayer dollars per vote was spent without consent from those whose pocketbooks it came from.
This $1.6 million gamble was made on the assumption it could be repaid with bond money once Apple Valley went through the eminent domain takeover process — an assumption that was proven wrong last week when the City of Claremont’s eminent domain efforts were rejected in a court of law. The Town’s private law firm, Best Best & Krieger, was also Claremont’s attorneys. The citizens of Claremont are now on the hook for millions in legal fees, and they must also repay the other side’s legal fees as well, in addition to costs already incurred on the takeover efforts.
Local politicians and their mouthpieces like Mr. Orr should carefully consider the facts. Voters passed Measure V, and Measure W failed despite millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded campaigning. Instead of continued wasteful spending on private lawyers and closed session decision-making, it’s time for the Town of Apple Valley to move forward and work with Liberty Utilities to have a real dialog on how we can manage the Town’s water resources for generations to come.
Pat Hanson is an Apple Valley resident. She and her late husband, Chuck, initiated the movement to place Measure V on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Source: Daily Press
Files related to Measure V
- 20150913 Commentary: Apple Valley water takeover plan: Know the full cost (Coupal)
- 20160621 Measure V
- 20160726 TOAV staff report on Measure V
- 20160831 Best supporters money can buy
- 20160831 Serious omission
- 20160831 Town paid more than $50K for ballot measure
- 20160904 Letter: Peter Allen supporting Measure V (Nassif)
- 20160906 Town business practices
- 20160908 Letter: Don’t waste your vote (Carloni)
- 20160911 Letter: Measure Waste (Carloni)
- 20160918 Our View: The right to vote on big projects
- 20160919 Support Measure V
- 20160923 Opinion: Measure V is for voting to ensure government is accountable (Mann)
- 20160924 Letter: Measure W (Piercy)
- 20160925 Opinion: Measure V respects Liberty Utilities customers’ rights (Sorensen)
- 20160929 Letter: Time to go (Varga)
- 20161002 Letter: Reject Measure W (Allan)
- 20161010 Letter: Truth about V and W (Bell)
- 20161011 Letter: The measure of a man (Varga)
- 20161018 Will Apple Valley become California’s Flint, MI?
- 20161020 Yes on Measure V (video)
- 20161023 Letter: Supports Measure V (Schappert)
- 20161025 Diving into the shallow waters of Measure W
- 20161102 Letter: Measure of a man (McCarthy)
- 20161102 No water in Measure W
- 20161103 More Measure W misdirection
- 20161103 No on W, Yes on V
- 20161105 Money flows like water
- 20161111 Letter: Diving into shallow ‘W’ater
- 20161111 Measure V garnered 2,319 more yes votes than Measure W
- 20161113 Tuesday’s election results
- 20161114 Measures V and W
- 20161115 Polls and votes
- 20161121 Voters show they want a say in water takeover issue (Hanson)
Files related to Claremont
- 20150308 Acquiring AVRWC is right move for Apple Valley
- 20150314 Expense of possible AVRWC acquisition difficult to gauge
- 20150514 Claremont Water System — Supplement to 2012 Appraisal Report
- 20150905 Letter: Lawyers, water, and money (O’Neil)
- 20150918 TOAV fires back at Coupal
- 20150923 Editorial: Water, takeovers, and the people
- 20151015 Cities and private equity firms fight over ownership of water systems
- 20160712 Public records request (Manning)
- 20160721 Conflict of interest (Manning)
- 20160904 Letter: Peter Allen supporting Measure V (Nassif)
- 20161012 Claremont Set To Raise Rates For Utilities
- 20161018 Will Apple Valley become California’s Flint, MI?
- 20161110 Statement of tentative decision (Claremont v. Golden State Water)
- 20161110 Judge issues tentative decision against city in water system acquisition trial (Claremont v. Golden State Water)
- 20161114 Measures V and W
- 20161115 Polls and votes
- 20161116 Another false narrative
- 20161116 Liberty sees Claremont’s eminent-domain loss as sign of things to come in Apple Valley
- 20161121 Voters show they want a say in water takeover issue (Hanson)
- 20161215 Another costly day for Apple Valley
- 20161218 Time to pay attention: An open letter to Larry Cusack
- 20170111 Claremont city manager getting a $21,000 bonus
- 20170114 Price tag for Claremont’s failed attempt to take over water system keeps rising
- 20170115 Our View: Time for foes to sit down and talk
- Time for the Town Council to listen for a change
- Response to Thomas Lecoq (Carloni)
- Time for a second opinion? (Carloni)
- 20170209 Avoiding the Claremont disaster (video)
- 20170213 Valley Voices: Apple Valley would be wise to work with Liberty Utilities (Wright)
- 20170216 James Belna on the Claremont eminent domain disaster (video)
- 20170220 Claremont resident talks [about] avoiding ‘disaster’ in Apple Valley
- 20170220 Conflict of interest
- 20170220 Letter: Response to Thomas Rice (Belna)
- 20170226 Letter: James Belna’s visit (Hanson)
- 20170226 Letter: Rice rebuttal (Trozpek)
- Claremont public records request
- Truth not tricks (Carloni)
- Comments to the Town Council opposing the ballot measure
- 20170314 Town Council meeting (McCarthy)
- 20170322 Skewing the facts (Hanson)
- 20170323 Letter: Sit down and settle (Henard)
- 20170406 Guest commentary: Government takeovers of water systems don’t deliver results — study
- Who pays?
- Responding to claims made on Facebook
- 20170508 Liberty Utilities radio ad — Claremont (audio)
- Not paying attention
- 20171010 Claremont reaches $4.8 million settlement agreement with Golden State Water
- 20171017 Claremont settlement reignites Apple Valley water war
- 20171026 Claremont cuts ties with its city attorney, law firm