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The lawsuit declaring tiered water rates illegal resulted from Dave Ellis‘s friends foisting a bad water project on San Juan Capistrano.
A recent appeals court decision upheld that tiered water rates are illegal because charges have to be tied to the cost of providing the service. A simple idea, and even a fair one, but a serious blow to a century-old California tradition that water should flow cheaply to the powerful while the costs are covered by the general public. No wonder so many are screaming about this decision.
The lawsuit started because a cabal in San Juan Capistrano (including Sam Allevato) supported a water plant that didn’t work, forcing San Juan to triple water rates.
But most interesting is who enabled Sam Allevato and friends: Dave Ellis.
Yes, the same gentleman who is trying to sell the billion dollar Poseidon water plant whose losses will be passed on to OCWD rate payers if project doesn’t meet rosy projections.
We’ve seen this movie before.
The court did not rule that tiered water rates are illegal. They ruled they must follow the rules in the State constitution. Read the ruling and you will also see the recycled water costs can be recovered through rates. Seems like you do not understand the ruling at all or are twisting it to attack Poseidon. Poor scholarship in this article.
You are just arguing semantics. Tiered water rates aren’t based on Prop 218 criteria. They are just arbitrary. They aren’t penalties either. The San Juan Gang got caught with their drawers down.
The author is merely pointing out the relationship between this Dave Ellis character and another project he deems dubious.
Scholarship??!!
*Ya see….Anaheim has the Colonists and Fullerton has the Indians……and
being that Anaheim spent years with better High School footballers……now that the worm has turned…….it is refreshing to see that great turn of events. Meanwhile back at the IRWD……these folks have their way of doing things and SJC has their ways. The truth of the matter is pretty simple: What kind of water are you selling, buying and using? Reclaim Water is used extensively down in the valley of confusion. What do they get for that per acre foot? OK, now what do they use for public toilets, public buildings and commercial properties? Reclaim or Potable squeaky clean IRWD water that gets mixed with Reclaim water? You may want to use your bottled water to use on your bathroom Juniper…if you want it to live a while. Does anyone drink water out of the tap or a garden hose anymore? It might be used for high temp dishwashers and laundry uses……but then…..who knows what the true quality or chemical elements come out before we add our laundry detergent. OK, DZ….answer this: If water is just water….do you believe that if you use more…….in a drought…..that you should probably pay more? Simple question, but being that you are a Colonists and we are Indians….well..
First, I am a member of the (Claremont) Wolfpack.
Second I have no idea what you are talking about.
*To be perfectly clear: Sea Kings of CDM, USC Trojan Alum (Hate our
present coach!), Seattle, Seahawks (Love Pete Carroll), New England, Patriots (Love Tom Brady and Belichek), Green Bay, Packers,(Love Arron Rogers) New Orleans, Saints,(Like Drew Brees!) NY Yankees,(Love A-Rod – saw him Fashion Island) Cleveland Indians, Chicago, Blackhawks, (The entire team is awesome!) NY Rangers,(Cool dudes!) Detroit Red Wings(Lots of Swedes), Boston, Bruins. LA Kings. OC, Ducks..(because the owner lives across the street). Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers (no matter how bad! – even without Kobe!). However, we cannot name one player on the Lakers since Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol left. We do like the coach! “Whatshisname?”
Bryon Scott.
“Does anyone drink water out of the tap or a garden hose anymore?”
Tell me that you’re joking here. Not everyone has a water filter.
*Even thirsty dogs don’t drink out of a garden hose, Dr. D.! Too many BPA’s and other nasty chemicals in those hoses.
” twisting it to attack Poseidon. ”
Yes, I am attacking Poseidon. No twisting required, just the facts.
San Juan Capistrano pushed the its rates and triggered the lawsuit because SJC was saddled with a massive losses on expensive water plant using Reverse Osmosis units. Many of the people who were involved in supporting the project, such as Dave Ellis, are also want to saddle OCWD ratepayers with any losses from the expensive Poseidon plant — which also will use many Reverse Osmosis units.
As for the current ruling, yes, it was _SJC_’s tiered rates that were found in violation of Prop 218, not all tiered rates. Which is why my second sentences says “charges have to be tied to the cost of providing the service”
you said the court ruled tiered water rates were illegal. they did not rule that. Poseidon has nothing to do with the SJC case at all. just because someone knows someone, who knows someone does not make all guilty of what one of them did. ridiculous.
And yet, when the same bank robber shows up wearing the same outfit at job after job he generally acquires a nickname. You, know like “The Green Amphibian Bandit.”
If tiered water rates are arbitrary and don’t reflect proportionate costs per parcel reflecting true cost of water system they are illegal. Yes. Scholarship. Tiered rates were not called illegal. Arbitrary ones are. SJC got caught being arbitrary. They now have legal tiered rates based on cost
So how do you charge different rates for different molecules of H2O?
it is a long story to tell so I would suggest reading the recent ruling from the court of appeals. a couple dozen pages that I don’t want to recite here. bottom line is that tiered rates can be legal when you have different sources or water at different prices and after you fill one tier with the lowest price water you fill the next tier with then next highest price water or a mix if you can’t fill a tier with one source. if you have 3 sources of water you most likely have three tiers. you need to make sure the tiers generate the income to pay for that water (and whole delivery system actually) proportionately. no way should a highest tier generate more income than the cost or it is subsidizing the lower tiers. proportionate is the key word. based on studies, not arbitrarily set. not difficult to do. this provides fairness for the ratepayers. again, the appeal court ruling provides the best explanation.
^^^ this, more or less, is correct. Nice job.
*We now begin to understand why “Government hires Consultants” to unravel Bureaucratic malaise. Our only question is: “Who make up these
perfectly UN-understandable regulations…….and then ask people to vote
of them?” Ridiculous. A gallon of water should be catagorized by type: Potable (good enough for babies to drink) or Reclaimed (stuff you won’t let your dog drink out of the toilet.) Each should have a price per gallon. The first 500 gallons a day are at the going rate. The 2nd 500 gallons a day are double that rate and the 3rd 500 gallons a day gets your water turned off. Try that….unless you are Tony Moisio, Donald Bren, Chapman University, FSU, Saddleback College or Joan Irvine Smith.
If it’s so easy to do why didn’t they do it?
Rhetorical question?
I don’t know. They clearly had a motive and a plan. If doing it legally (per Jim) was easy, why didn’t they do it legally? Maybe it isn’t that easy to keep tracking fluctuating commodity rates and changing the billing process accordingly.
It would also seem that pro rating different types of H2O molecules based on their acquisition cost would end up being unfair to people who actually conserve water – but, whatever.
In any case, the result in SJC is that somebody in City Hall has a whole lot of explaining to do