Full employment for lawyers (February 3, 2017)

In a move that will no doubt embolden those at Apple Valley Town Hall and their minions, the city of Claremont has allocated an additional half a million dollars atop the tens of millions that have already been squandered trying to seize its local, privately-held water company (Claremont will continue to fight Golden State for water system, Daily Bulletin, February 1, 2017).

Just think about that for a moment. A couple of years from now when this has matriculated through the court system again, it’s estimated that Claremont will be on the hook for nearly $20 million in legal fees alone. That’s separate from the purchase cost of the water system, with all of its ups and extras.

Even though that money won’t buy even one more drop of water than they already have, ratepayers and taxpayers in Claremont will have to come up with these millions in addition to whatever they pay for water, no matter who is running the water system.

Rather than learn from the mistakes others, our leaders are taking similar actions here in Apple Valley. Despite the huge sums involved, our council members don’t know what they’re buying, they don’t know what it’s going to cost, they don’t know where the money is coming from (and the Town is already broke, by the way), they don’t know what the money is going to cost, they don’t know how to run a water utility, they don’t know who is going to run the system, they don’t know what to charge for water, they don’t maintain the facilities they already have, they have a history of failure with water systems, and they don’t have the support of the voters. No wonder the Town can’t tell us the truth about what’s really going on.

At least the lawyers are getting paid.

Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.

Published: Daily Press, February 10, 2017