Commentary
- Executive summary: Everything you needed to know about Town of Apple Valley’s claims
2024
July
2022
December
February
2021
August
July
- Court report: Eminent domain trial hearing update (Carloni)
- Hearing tomorrow on Town/Liberty decision (Carloni)
May
- Liberty decision: Update (Carloni)
- Liberty Utilities decision (Carloni)
- Liberty decision: Thoughts and impressions (Carloni)
2020
December
August
July
2019
December
November
- My updated proposal: What the Town of Apple Valley should do
- Evaluating the Town of Apple Valley’s eminent domain strategy
August
- Public records request 2019-292: Attorney demand letter
- The numbers don’t add up
- Following up on unanswered public records request 2019-292
July
- Correcting the Town’s response to a public records request 2019-292
- Public records request 2019-292: Listing of acquisition-related expenses
- Public records request 2019-292: Transparency reports
January
2018
December
November
October
May
- Request for public records: Fund loans and advances
- Problems with the Town’s Commercial Warrant Reports
March
- Compensation for all
- Request for public records: Barb Stanton’s compensation, travel, conference, and expense records
- Request for public records: Transition plan
- Request for public records: US Bank Corp documents
- Request for public records: Claremont water system valuation report
- Request for public records: Missoula water system valuation report
February
- A critical look at critical needs
- Frivolous EIR (Carloni)
- Request for public records: August 2015 fuel purchases
January
- Letter: Apple Valley rate increases abound (Carloni)
- Inessential vs. essential
- What does the Town Council do?
2017
December
November
October
- Fifth water bill of 2017
- Some ‘transparency’
- A question of character
- A preview of coming attractions (Belna)
September
August
- He’s gonna need a good lawyer
- Public trust destroyed (Carloni)
- Fourth water bill of 2017
- No honor among thieves
- Not paying attention
- False impressions (Carloni)
- Misplaced attentions (Rice)
June
May
- Comparing analyses
- Someone else’s money
- Wrong on all counts
- How much money will really be available for debt service?
- Responding to claims made on Facebook
- Re: Scott Nassif and his facts (Rice)
- Experts you can trust
- At least Liberty Utilities has the facts on its side
- Promises, promises
- Voters beware! (Carloni)
- Measure F — Facts and personal attacks (Lee)
- Choose Liberty
- Failure of government
- The road to socialism
- Stop repeating nonsense
- ‘A better waste of life’
- Everything you need to know about the Town of Apple Valley’s claims
- Hidden costs, revisited
- We’re here to stay
- Tricks, lies, and dirty politics
- Negative payroll savings
- Significant errors
- I support Liberty Utilities in Proceeding A1704024
- Heed the warning signs
- Lopsided coverage
- Unfair reporting
- Historical takeover costs
- What about Liberty’s water rights?
April
- Filling in the facts
- Second water bill of 2017
- Great water takeover report (Rice)
- Apples and oranges
- Paper value of water (Rice)
- About those awards
- Far from negative
- Consider the alternative
- No on Measure F
- About those payroll expenses
- About those taxes
- Countering Tony Tyler (Lee)
- Water math
- ‘F’ stands for failure (Carloni)
- Politicizing water
- Who pays?
- Please approve Advice Letter 223-W
March
- Short-sighted and biased (Lee)
- Request for Public Records: Contracts between Claremont and BB&K
- Big lie (McCarthy)
- Truth not tricks (Carloni)
- Old tricks
- Comments to the Town Council opposing the ballot measure (Carloni)
- Comments to the Town Council opposing the ballot measure (Hanson)
- Comments to the Town Council opposing the ballot measure (Henard)
- Comments to the Town Council opposing the ballot measure
- Response to 20/20 e-mail posting on Nextdoor.com
- Letter to the editor (Lee)
- Leaders and followers
- Missing water bill information
- Request for Public Records: Current bonds and transfers
- Request for Public Records: Barb Stanton on lowering water rates
- Price tag on the AV water takeover
- Request for Public Records: Opposition lead by Liberty Utilities
- TOAV financial health check (Rice)
- First things first
- Investigate the facts (Carloni)
- Award winning? (Lee)
- Fact-checking Barb Stanton
- Document review (Rice)
- Unaffordable at any price
- Request for public records: Bonds with non-30-year terms
February
- Road to ruin
- Full employment for lawyers
- First water bill of 2017
- Request for Public Records: Contracts between the Town and BB&K
- Indirect comparisons are flawed
- Conflict of interest
- Response to Thomas Rice (Belna)
- Transparent AV (Rice)
- Apple Valley’s Fifth Column
January
- Request for Public Records (Lee)
- Yet more violations (Lee)
- Profits are essential
- Time for the Town Council to listen for a change
- Facts, not fraud
- Response to Thomas Lecoq (Carloni)
- More Brown Act violations? (Lee)
- More AV hypocrisy
- Thawing the rate freeze
- Lowering water rates
- Town accounting (Lee)
- Time for a second opinion? (Carloni)
2016
December
- Another costly day for Apple Valley
- A year of water bills
- Never satisfied
- Time to pay attention: An open letter to Larry Cusack
November
- No water in Measure W
- More Measure W misdirection
- No on W, Yes on V
- Rebuttal to Art Bishop
- Measures V and W
- Polls and votes
- Another false narrative
- Letter to Art Bishop
- Future sales tax measure (Lee)
- Water bill help
October
- The company he keeps
- Trick or treat time (Lee)
- TOAV can not balance numbers: FACTS (Rice)
- Scapegoat or conspirator?
- Water security
- F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)
- Local water
- Recent water bills (October 11, 2016)
- The business of water
- An open letter to Bill McDaniel
- Hidden future tax ballot measure (Lee)
- Unprepared: Wet or dry
- Diving into the shallow waters of Measure W
- Water bill surcharges
September
- Town business practices
- Sewer Assessment District 98-1 (Lee)
- Don’t waste your vote (Carloni)
- Spending addiction? (Lee)
- Water surcharges
- Earth to Puckett!
- ‘Award-winning’ budgets
- MIA from the ‘Transparency Report’
- Personal attacks?
- Support Measure V
- Adelanto water rates
- Proposed questions for the Apple Valley Candidate Forum
- The misdirection conspiracy
- Curious claim
- Another CYA testimonial
- Defending Puckett (Carloni)
- Good Old Boys’ Club
- Public Records Request: ‘Standing offers’
- Public Records Request: ‘Records requests’
- Public Records Request: ‘Shills’
- Water won’t wash out red ink (Lee)
- Water system maintenance
- More falsehoods
- Public Records Request: ‘Documents supporting claims of rate reductions’
- To be, or not to be … transparent (Lee)
August
- The all-consuming council
- The future of transparency
- No respect, no local control
- Vague promises
- A tangled web
- Who is a ‘town employee’? (Lee)
- Recent water bills (August 10, 2016)
- Best supporters money can buy
- Serious omission
July
- All things considered
- Conflict of interest (Manning)
- Do the right thing (Manning)
- Hot under the collar (Carloni)
- Vote no on the Town staff’s ballot measure proposal
- Better than what?
- Comparing transparency
- Drought planning
- One more reason to oppose a takeover
June
- Liberty is the best alternative
- The truth shall set you free
- Recent water bills (June 13, 2016)
- Letter: You must be very proud, Barb
- Alternative water suppliers
- Letter: What are you going to do about this?
- Communication breakdown
- Local control will be the death of us
- Is your bias showing?
May
April
March
- Doubling the cost
- Sassafras
- Weigh your sources
- Corrosive centralization
- Rates vs. costs
- Shooting the lawyers first
- Utility bill assistance
February
- Hook-up payments
- Inflated acquisition costs
- CPUC vs. Flint
- Back on track
- Shill crazy after all these years
- One PRR story: American Express (CC)
- About my public records requests (Lee)
- Why don’t conservatives embrace capitalism?
- Transparency for all
- The cost of misunderstanding
- The cat is out of the bag!
- Divide and conquer
- Oh, Canada!
- Municipal Finance 101 (CC)
- Gaffe riot
- Satire: Town Council to end rent profiteering
- Satire: Town moves to buy Verizon
January
- What ‘they’ won’t tell you, Part 1
- Average water use
- Conflating facts
- Rate increases
- Whole new situation, whole new set of lies
- Whole new situation, same old lies
- So much for all that support
- Political posturing
- Water rate recap
- What ‘they’ won’t tell you, Part 2
- What ‘they’ won’t tell you, Part 3
- Thank you, Apple Valley Ranchos
- What ‘they’ won’t tell you, Part 4
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
March
- Response to Frank Robinson
- More on TOAV’s proposed hostile take-over of AVRWC
- Last letter before today’s meetings
- Presentation to the CPUC
- The Town of Apple Valley goes full xenophobe — and fails
- Cramer Family Park — then and now