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Vern here. We begin this post with the latest FLOURISH from the Garbaginati – this particular flourish being longer and more elaborate than usual:
Come Undone.
It appears that the good folks at Rainbow Environmental have made a tactical boo-boo. Because something has really pissed off OVSD president Gina Clayton-Tarvin!
Her fury has come in the form of a veritable treasure trove of data which she has dumped into all the city’s forums over the past week. And when we say treasure trove we really mean the top-shelf good stuff.
For starters, there are a bunch of time-lapsed aerial photographs, showing that a big heap of uncovered junk perennially sits on the site despite a Huntington Beach city ordinance that clearly prohibits this.
Then there are the inspection reports revealing that higher-than-EPA-recommended levels of toxic substances have been found in Rainbow’s storm and water run-off, going back to at least 2009 and continuing to this day (or at least when Rainbow bothers to allow for the testing).
And then for the grand finale, she ties everything off in a nice neat bow by providing the text and other related documentation for pretty much every Huntington Beach City Ordinance that Rainbow is in violation of…
Our question is, what took so long? Because even though “Fish Pickens and Chicken Bones” are gross, the stuff in this data dump (pun intended) is positively criminal. So why wasn’t Rainbow and its complicit partner-in-crime, a/k/a The City of Huntington Beach, exposed a over year ago, when this whole matter really started to gain traction?
The answer to this question, of course, is simple. Because despite the constant attacks against her, the accusations of corruption and dishonesty and the weird, paranoid false narratives that spin scary-ass tales of a vicious power-hungry political animal (This is pretty much a quote), Gina Clayton Tarvin has been trying to take the high road all along,
But it seems the gloves are off now.
“Businessman of the Year” because the HB Chamber apparently admires the flaunting of laws, public health, and public relations in pursuit of quick profit!
Rainbow pretty much screwed the pooch from the beginning. First off, they’ve had Huntington Beach by the balls for decades, which in turn created a twisted sense of arrogance which assumed the gravy train would never end. This led to a corporate culture that was not at all incentivized to maintain any meaningful goodwill with the public. This mindset was then integrated into a management plan that jumped over dollars to get to dimes and lacked any foresight or vision with respect to maintaining a best-in-class facility that everyone could be proud of.
From there, they failed to recognize that they would quickly fall victim to seller’s remorse soon after the close of their deal with Republic, when $16.8 million of the $112 million dollar purchase price didn’t actually show up in their bank accounts because it was held back as a contingency to clean up their messes, of which there are many.
And then, in a stupid move will re-define all stupid moves from now until the end of time, Rainbow decided to double down and continue to be straight-up jerks to not only the Ocean View School District, but the ENTIRE Oak View neighborhood, just because a) they could; and b) because they figured the City would continue to run a screenplay, just like always.
But then a funny thing happened. HB City Attorney Michael Gates posted this on the OVSD Town Square last week:
Bravo, Mr. Gates, and thank you – this is big, bold and needed. Dear readers, keep this in mind – No matter how this unfolds, Michael Gates (below) is going to be a key player in all of this. Because he is either going to be enforcing policy as directed by the city council or ultimately leading any internal investigation needed to figure out why things are so utterly broken when it comes to the City’s relationship with Rainbow.
And then, a petition was created on change.org, demanding that Rainbow Fully enclose, ventilate and filter ALL operations at the Rainbow Transfer Station and Public Dump. As of this writing, 365 of 500 signatures have been collected. The petition is addressed to, amongst others, the entire Huntington Beach City Council. And since we’ve never met a politician who didn’t know the exact best time to leave a party, we suspect that the next time Councilman Erik Peterson (below) proposes an H Item regarding Rainbow, he’ll get a little more traction than he has in the past.
But what of the peanut gallery? [Epting and his couple of friends – V.] Who knows and who cares. Though the core of three still seem to be at it (whatever “it” is these days), their entire congregation has a combined IQ of 14. That means that even if they wanted to actually drink the Kool-Aid, they couldn’t because they can’t feed themselves.
We have spoken.
Vern again. So naturally I was all, “What have I missed?” because I don’t go to these forums as often as I used to. And I was all, to Gina, “These documents need to be on the OJ Blog, so more people will see them and they can be more easily searched – Facebook is so frustrating and transitory!”
Asked and answered.
1. Dig if you will (sorry, it’s still Prince mourning time) this 1981 original permit from City Planning Commission to expand from 1.8 to 4.65 acres to allow recycling on site. First Permit ever to handle refuse! Look at 5.3 and you’ll see that they were required all the way back then to do all operations within an enclosure. They’ve been skirting this requirement since 1981! (5 pages on City letterhead. Hello, Stan Tkaczyk)
2. Dig if you will the current City Ordinances in play (PDF.)
3. Dig if you will the Minutes from the 1981 Zoning Board Hearing, in which then-owner Mr. Tkaczyk says he wouldn’t accept odiferous materials at the transfer station – D’oh!
4. Dig if you will, Six Rainbow Expansion Plans in Chronological Order from 1964-2012! (Click each for larger view)
5. Finally, dig if you will OVSD board member John Briscoe’s power-point made for the AQMD Update Hearing last April 13. High points are these aerial drone shots:
So… there’s all that. – Vern.
Oh – almost forgot. 6. Dig if you will “the inspection reports revealing that higher-than-EPA-recommended levels of toxic substances have been found in Rainbow’s storm and water run-off, going back to at least 2009 and continuing to this day (or at least when Rainbow bothers to allow for the testing.)” :
Chris Epting texts me that, because I put up this piece (95% of which I didn’t write hence “admin”) he is going to write a big piece about my DUI’s, along with bad stuff about Patrick “Garbaginati” Mahoney.
I assume this would be on Chris’ “Surf City Chronicles” blog, or else his column space in felon Garofalo’s “City News,” as the Times’ HB Independent has long ago let him go for his erratic behavior.
Whatever. This piece hardly even mentioned him, but I guess he is that protective of Rainbow. Another day in Huntington Beach…
That place is a disgrace.
Just noticed, I left something out: the “inspection reports revealing that higher-than-EPA-recommended levels of toxic substances have been found in Rainbow’s storm and water run-off, going back to at least 2009 and which continue to this day” …. will get and add that later today.
From above it looks like no “best management practices” are being followed. I wonder if their permit is conditioned. It should be in jeopardy.
CC&R up in [Stanton?] would just love that. Uh-oh – alarm bells!
Not to say this isn’t important, but just condition your conclusion with the knowledge that almost all urban runoff falls into this category.
This is the kind of work I did in the environmental field. If I were the inspector on this site I would red tag the fuck out of this place.
Paul, do you have some insight into how we can get our inspectors off their duff and do their job?
Vern the fact is that these offenses are readily apparent to any casual observer. This means the violations were intentionally ignored on purpose by those inspectors.
The only remedy I can see at this point is to reach out to the Regional water Quality Control Board Santa Ana River Region which is based in downtown Riverside. Buck Johns is the head engineer for this region it would fall under his purview. I cannot think of any scarier entity to folks like rainbow than the RWQCB.
OMG, Buck Johns? The Dave Ellis crony?
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2013/04/buck-johns-titan-of-industry-lol/
no im sorry i got my bucks mixed up. I cant remember his first name but his last name is Buck at the RWQCB santa ana region. Its not hard to find
The Buck stops there. I’ll look it up.
This group? http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/santaana/board_info/board_members.shtml Ugh, Linda Ackerwoman is vice-chair. How many boards is this lady on?
Don’t see a Buck, although a Charles Buck has written an article on erosion in the San Bernardino Forest.
There, done. (inspection reports on water)
When will the City Leaders of Huntington Beach step to the plate and end this madness?? The OakView Community has been ignored and dumped on long enough.
Maybe it is time to end the relationship with Rainbow/Republic and seek bids from competing companies. Surely the broken promises from Rainbow are grounds to void any sweetheart agreement they now enjoy.
It is time for our current council members to remove their noses from the asses of their campaign big-money contributors and stand tall for a community that needs their help!!
Dear Vern:
Nice Blog; very thorough summary of facts and figures = every HB City citizen should read the link.
HB City = Stink City USA = is the best place to do business!
Conditional Use Permits are issued with specific conditions that must be met for the permit to be valid; Stink City USA administration & Fred Wilson never ever never inspects for any of these conditions throughout the five year permit period 2007 to present.
Then Trustee Briscoe begins coming to every Stink City USA council meeting thereby embarrassing Fred Wilson and Staff into inspecting for one little aspect of the C.U.P. permit. Inspector Al Brady actually stepped foot on Republic Trash Dump ~ Neighborhood Garbage Pit for the first time late 2015 and counted employee parking spaces. His count total was around 150, the C.U.P. required minimum is over 250 spaces. The November/December 2015 Stink City USA inspection report clearly absolves Republic Trash Dump from any further enforcement…………HUH? How does 150 spaces comply with 250 ? ? ?
Additionally, Stink City USA Administration has never inspected for promised employee count reductions, never inspected for required truck count reductions, never inspected the Laaaaazy River / Bile Swill to any city, county, or state code compliance. Never, none, and never again.
HB City is a FANSTASTIC place to make political contributions and buddy-buddy-up with the local elected folks. Five of our seven city council members and even our esteemed City Attorney have taken Republic Trash Dump campaign contributions apparently to the maximum allowed under Law.
Think about this, Stink City USA administration staff approved Republic Trash Dump 2007 C.U.P. permit request to INCREASE daily throughput from 1,500 tons to 4,000 tons per day……..while at the same time agreeing with promised by the Dump to REDUCE employee count, and REDUCE truck count. REALLY! Increase tons of fetid filthy feces and rotting garbage by +266% and DECREASE employees and trucks. Amazing.
Unbelievable. Truly………..U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.
Stink City USA administrative staff believed it and so did the bought-and-paid-for City Council & Attorney in 2007.
Let’s all make 2016 the year of public safety and sanity. Let’s demand HB City inspect, cite and enforce its own C.U.P. and City Codes.
Let’s make Republic Trash Dump ~ Neighborhood Garbage Pit …….Put A Lid On It.
Thanks sir! Great drone pics.
Who woulda thought an eccentric gentleman who seems to have just stepped out of the 19th century would have drone capability?
Thanks Vern for the additional exposure. The Maps show the growth and timelines perfectly another abuse of money and power. Agree with Chris [Byrne] and hopefully the Council will take a close look at the 500 year agreement. (Exaggerated.)
Thank You, Vern!! This a wonderful compilation. I continue to believe that City Councilman Erik Peterson, City Attorney Michael Gates, OVSD President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, Patrick Mahoney, you and the outspoken citizens of Huntinton Beach will lead us to a just and righteous resolution of the problems caused by Rainbow.
Its easy to see how this could make sane people act crazy.
John, I grew up with “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”
OVSD: injunction.