Push poll (July 24, 2015)
When Chris Schilling calls the Town of Apple Valley’s latest excuse to spend money demonizing Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company a push poll
(Daily Press, Town’s survey shows support for Ranchos acquisition,
July 24, 2015), he’s not kidding.
Did the pollsters mention that Ranchos is not for sale? Did they mention what the Town has spent already, what it’s going to have to spend going forward, what the hostile takeover price for Ranchos will be, how the Town will pay for it, or how the Town — which can’t seem to do anything else right — is going to run what is arguably the most important service we currently enjoy?
Of course not, because the Town has promulgated one false narrative after another to hide its true motives.
So, are we surprised at the results? The Town has spent somewhere in excess of a million dollars so far in its jihad against Ranchos (it’s hiding expenditures, and fighting the release of information about how much has been spent and where the money is going), which amounts to roughly $50 per household served by Ranchos. Four years of mendacious attacks have taken their toll, both on Ranchos and on our quality of life. One can only surmise from their actions that eventually the Town intends to change the motto from A better way of life
to Rule or ruin.
It’s not about water, it’s about the money. With its spend now, pay later
approach to small-town government, the Town needs money, and this survey demonstrates once again that it’s willing to do or say anything to get what it wants.
— Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.