Shame on us (April 24, 2017)
RE: Support of Measure F … There is an adage: “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
Liberty Utilities and its letter writers are hoping most voters are either idiots or just don’t care to understand what is going on.
A recent letter complains about the “total cost” of the water company.
He starts at $150 million, then adds 30 years of interest to come up with the most shocking number possible. First, the court will establish the price. Just like in Missoula, Montana, Liberty over inflated the value of that water company which the court reduced considerably. Secondly, no real estate agent in his right mind would show you a home for sale and say “the purchase price is $200,000 but with taxes and interest the cost is $475,000.”
That’s just not the way we think about loans and financial obligations.
The real question is, can we afford this and how do we make the payment? By the time the June election is over, Liberty Utilities could have well spent more than a million dollars on election costs to fight the Town of Apple Valley. Is there any rightminded individual who believes this global energy company cares about anything other than profits after being granted a second surcharge for lost revenue because we did as we were told and conserved water? Is there any question that they feel this huge investment is worth the profit that the Apple Valley water system produces annually?
If you believe that these expenses will not eventually be expressed as “administrative and legal costs” that get folded into future rate increase requests, I have some beachfront property in Barstow for sale you may like to look at.
Last November, Liberty’s election professionals convinced us that we should all have a say in public debt acquisition.
Having succeeded in that maneuver, their continuing public relations campaign to convince us that their profiteering off our water with the approval of the California Public Utilities Commission, is the best, safest, most transparent option for us all has not let up. If we believe it, shame on us.
Cecil Volsch, Apple Valley
Source: Daily Press