Yup, I intended to include this in the first post of the LDPCSD April 20th, 2017 Special Board Meeting (containing the traditional futile exercise of PUBLIC COMMENT before a management board that apparently is not concerned with incorrect information being presented to the public) but in my hurry to get posted simply forgot.

Although a “rough outline” it follows Mr. Barton’s previously posted Public Comment. 

Please check out the upside down word at the bottom of the page – lol! 

Oh yeah, I added the frame and border to the page because it is far more deserving of acknowledgement than any AWARD CERTIFICATE FOR TRANSPARENCY THE CSDA (California Special District Association) MIGHT BESTOW ON OUR

“NOTAAWND GM”!

 

My best to you and yours, Lew

oh yeah….

?????????????

 “NOTAAWND”

General Manager?

?????????????

{Not On The Agenda And Will Not Discuss}

 

And who sets the agenda?

Transparency my ass.

Well, here we go again…..the April 20th, 2017 Special Board Meeting of the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District (LDPCSD).  It’s called a “Special meeting” since the “regular monthly meeting” fell on a holiday so the postponed meeting is designated special……isn’t that special? — lol?  The old Saturday Night Live routine?  There I go voluntarily dating my “old timer’s view” again  –  so what?  Yes I am old and hopefully will get older since the alternative is not yet desired— emphasis on yet.

SOB

Meeting was the same old bullshit – customers ask questions and GM Pete Kampa and the Board of Directors refuse to answer or discuss the matter since it is not on the agenda (sometimes in the manager’s report which is not subject to the typical discussion/action process) YET when agenda requests are made by the public the Board President and GM Kampa simply refuse to place the matter on the agenda and PRESTO! no discussion, no action, and maintain status quo regardless of how unethical and deceptive.

Sure is a cute little system of completely ignoring very important district failures and the potential avenues for correction.  This “selective agenda item process” alone is enough to encourage ANYONE to believe something far more unethical and underhanded is going on behind the scene  – even without the other garbage so liberally doled out to our traditionally apathetic customer base.  (Apathy can be cultivated like any other crop you know.)

THAT’S IT!  ENOUGH ALREADY

Often after one of these meetings I exit believing it will be my last because there are so many other things I would rather be, and need to be doing, yet by the time I get home (after a short drive contemplating the new set of outrageous refusals by the board and GM to address legitimate questions by the public) I slowly start working on the next LDPCSD meeting report.  (Omitting all the internal shorthand inappropriate language of course – lol)

I guess the primary reason I continue this frustrating exercise in futility is to inform the public, but I will admit to the, albeit dwindling, hope that someone/agency with the authority to compel corrective action might eventually become involved.  Hope springs eternal yeah?  The corruption within the Lake Don Pedro CSD has continued for decades and will likely just limp into the future without some sort of intervention by “legitimate authorities”.   If the LDPCSD is representative of other rogue special districts in this state, the proposal to eliminate them all within 10 years (evidently discussed at a Little Hoover Commission meeting recently) might be a very good idea.

CSDA MAPPING ON LDPCSD WEBSITE?

Is it surprising that the CSDA (California Special District Association) apparently continues to support Pete Kampa no matter what he does here at LAKE DON PEDRO (or has done at other districts)?  A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link – and without all those special districts there would be no CSDA.    How sad it is to lose faith in organizations you previously believed to be trustworthy and honorable because of the unrestrained SPECIAL INTEREST ACTIVITIES of someone like a Pete Kampa.

Sure, CSDA posts a Disclaimer that their presented map information on our LDPCSD WEBSITE may not be accurate, but is that an legitimate excuse for continuing that display when provided information that it is incorrect?

SIMPLE QUESTION ONLY IGNORED

For several years now I have attempted to understand the theory, policy, law, process, etc. behind forcing MERCED RIVER WATER entitled users within the LAKE DON PEDRO SUBDIVISION (mandatory customers of the CSD by reason of that property ownership) into subsidizing a SPECIAL BENEFIT groundwater substitution water service to properties OUTSIDE THE LEGAL PLACE OF USE UNDER WATER LICENSE 11395 that OUR DISTRICT has no LEGAL DUTY to provide.

Seems like a reasonable query raising issues of PROPOSITION 218 and how taxpayers should only pay for benefits which they actually receive.  Is that not the whole concept behind SPECIAL DISTRICTS such as our CSD?  You know, that customers are only responsible to pay for the costs of providing the service which they receive – and in this case that means potable drinking water to the subdivision?  How was such a worthy concept corrupted into forcing the 99% of legal MERCED RIVER WATER users into financially supporting expensive special benefit substitute groundwater service to properties outside the legal Place of Use?

NEW INFORMATION ON THE MAPPING PROJECT?

KAMPA is still stalling on the official district water service map.  Remember?  His unnecessary +$10,000 mapping project in response to a request to produce what was actually approved by the County of Mariposa and State of California?   (And not just what KAMPA & KOMPANY have unequivocally desired since the 1990s.)   Recall that the map approved by MARIPOSA COUNTY LAFCo disappeared shortly after we became a public agency in 1980?  That the original engineer’s survey still exists but a new map was never created in substitution of what was conveniently lost?  (Most would consider that a BIG CLUE.)

What about the official water service map on file with the State of California?  Strange, when I called the SWRCB (State Water Resources Control Board) years ago requesting their official map I had one emailed to me within the hour!

This is a good example of how a public agency should operate. A request for public information results in receiving that public information.  Not like the LAKE DON PEDRO CSD where obstructionism reigns to obscure the decades of fraud and outright lies provided to the mandatory and financially responsible customers of the subdivision.  (Facilitated through the loss/destruction of authentic documents and replacement with fabricated special interest material – all intended to conceal the truth of what was legally approved in an effort to continue district water service expansion using GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION FOR THOSE MERCED RIVER WATER TRANSFERS OUTSIDE THE PLACE OF USE OF WL11395.)

Well, like everything else in this world that appears unethical, immoral, illegal or injurious to innocent others……just follow the money for the reasons how and why it started and continues.

Golly Gosh, who would want cheap potable water from expensive unreliable groundwater wells paid for by an UNREPRESENTED AND CAPTIVE-MANDATORY CSD CUSTOMER BASE located in a traditionally drought prone fractured rock geologic area in the western Sierra Nevada foothills of California where Oak and rock studded grazing land is much less expensive?

 

 

“Hummm, guess I’ll try real estate brokers and speculative land developers for $50 Bob”.

My best to you and yours, Lew

Perhaps, if you live in Mariposa County and use zip code 95329.

 

 

2013 CHANGE

Starting in 2013 (at least for me) the California Department of Motor Vehicles, for some unknown reason, changed the previous registration process for my old Chevy Camaro by adding a $22 County District fee and requiring a smog certificate.  This was a bit disconcerting since neither had been necessary since moving to, and residing in, Mariposa County.

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED

My old “grey ghost” always passed when I lived in the valley but occasionally required an inexpensive part or minor adjustment.  Still the examination was stressful.  This was especially so after reading how much work on the vehicle could conceivably be required in order to pass the exam and receive new registration IF there was a problem.

Yup, a bit stressful – turning over the ignition key of my decades old dependable one owner one driver vehicle to a stranger and anxiously waiting outside for that semi-behind the scene emissions check.

Though technically outside the garage (premises liability issues) I could still see her being maneuvered and prepped for the test with wired sensors and monitors and was within easy earshot of all the traditional metal clanks and crashes of equipment and tools being moved about in an active automotive shop.

Pacing back and forth outside the examination garage listening to her high RPM sustained revving and wondering ….. will this be the year she fails?  How expensive and/or extensive will the repairs be?  Could I do some of the work myself or will repairs necessarily require sophisticated electronic testing equipment like that found in the emissions garage?

So many questions floating about the grey exhaust laden air churned out by a thirty something year old high revving engine.  Geez, they sure did push sustained high engine revolutions per minute –  (personally I don’t believe my baby liked that much without the roadway generated wind gushing through her grill and carburetor intake – lol) but she tolerated the unusual treatment and always qualified for another year’s registration albeit diminishing use.

Yup, after moving to Mariposa County I never missed those trips to an emissions garage or that apprehensive wait for results.

AHhhh OHhhh

As most locals know, the 95329 Zip Code primarily applies to Stanislaus County, but also includes parts of Tuolumne County and Mariposa County.  I’ve heard parts of Merced County are also included but it is difficult to tell from the below posted zip code information site map.

ZIP CODE 95329 INFORMATION

Evidently in 2013 the DMV somehow changed the Mariposa County designation for zip 95329 to Stanislaus County resulting in the generation of the smog test requirement and the $22 COUNTY/DISTRICT FEES. [Curr Air ALT $18.00, CUR SJ VAPCD $1.00 and ALT FUEL RF $3.00]

You see, a smog test is only required in Mariposa County for change in vehicle ownership paperwork.

NO BIGGIE – A SIMPLE TELEPHONE CALL SHOULD SUFFICE

After a few telephone calls to the DMV and explaining the situation I was ultimately connected with an individual who had the proper “supervisory authority” to make such processing corrections.  PRESTO!  I was able to finish the renewal without a smog check or paying the extra $22.

2014 – registration went fine.

Unfortunately in 2015 the issue reared its ugly head again (bi-annual testing) with both the smog certificate and district fee required for registration renewal.   Once again telephone contact and explanation resolved the issue and renewal was processed without the smog test.    Since I had paid the additional $22 with online registration in 2015 the DMV also refunded the $22.

But again in 2016 the smog test and $22 fee was requested.  Again I made some telephone calls and explained the situation.  This time I wrote a letter with all the information and sent it with my payment.  Again I was advised it was corrected and the registration was subsequently issued.

GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?

Yup, SMOG TEST and an extra $22 requested before registration would be renewed.  After explaining the situation again, I wrote a short note and mailed the registration back with a check for the correct amount.

A few days ago I received correspondence from DMV confirming the registration payment had been received but they still wanted a smog check and that other $22!

SLIGHTLY PISSED THAT 4 out of 5 YEARS WERE WRONG

I was a bit pissed at first because in addition to the traditional request for a smog test and an extra $22, the note stated the following:  (IN ALL CAPS TOO!)

“ACCORDING TO DMV MANUAL MARIPOSA COUNTY IS NOT SMOG EXEMPT AREA.  PLEASE PROVIDE COUNTY DOCUMENTS TO PROOF SMOG EXEMPT”

Surely they meant “prove” smog exempt, but that is beside the point.  Why should I be required to provide further COUNTY INFORMATION in support of my argument which was clearly detailed on the DMV WEBSITE already?

COUNTIES REQUIRING SMOG TEST

 

Did a person or computer generate that letter?

HOW CAN YOU BE UPSET WITH FOLKS TRYING TO HELP?

I would like to note for the record that during this entire process (2013-2017) the DMV employees I have spoken with have always been helpful, polite and seemed genuinely concerned with correcting the matter.  There have been a number of humorous points and laughs on both sides.

Actually, after all this time back and forth with this issue I was beginning to hone some comical observations, speculations and suggestions to emphasize the fact I was not upset with any DMV employee per se, but rather their evil computer system overlord which quite obviously rejects such error correction due to an inherent operational bias and extreme dislike for residents in the PEOPLES’ REPUBLIC OF LAKE DON PEDRO 95329.

I advised I had downloaded the DMV (INV19) PDF Fraud Complaint Form for the Investigations Division Office of Internal Affairs and was considering substituting “system error” for “Employee’s name” to see if that might correct the problem.

BUT THE REAL JOKE WAS ON ME

The other day, while speaking with a DMV employee on the telephone and theorizing that if there were many more folks who were experiencing the same “location difficulty” but did not realize it, they too were paying $22 more than necessary in combination with the additional time, money and inconvenience of an unnecessary vehicle emissions smog check.

(I know a few people who have wrongfully paid these additional fees and jumped through “smog testing “ hoops.)

I told him many folks just pay the bill amount requested without any thought to there being a possible mistake if there was no hint of something being wrong – like with me and the requirement my Ghost Camaro be revved into a dismantler’s bone yard due to another smog check.   lol

I continued by saying these unnecessary charges could add up to a fairly substantial amount of money – especially figuring 400+ residents and there likely being more than one vehicle per household——-

THEN IT HIT ME…….

HIT ME LIKE ……..

A TON OF RUSTY OLD ROTTEN EGG SMELLING CATALYTIC CONVERTERS……

……what about my pickup?

Although never receiving a smog test request….was I also paying an extra $22 in County District fees?

NO HINT – PAID WITHOUT THOUGHT!

YUP!  Without the SMOG TEST REQUIREMENT alerting me that something was wrong I had always just paid the requested amount for my Chevy pickup without thought to “COUSIN CAMARO’s” victimization by the evil DMV electronic overlord.

RIGHT PERSON FOR THE RIGHT JOB

Evidently those DMV employees who had assisted me in the past did what they could to immediately correct the problem and process the renewal.   Unfortunately, such corrections were apparently only exemptions for that specific year and did not delve into the incorrect county listing responsible for generating future renewal notices (the 2013 unknown change).

I have been assured the problem has been remedied and I will be able to use the online registration process for my Ghost Camaro next time.  We shall see.

AN EXTRA DMV BONUS FORM TO ARRIVE    

So this year in addition to receiving my traditional registration renewal for a vehicle that rarely moves, I will also get a refund form so I can claim 3 years of over payments on the pickup.  (Not four due to the month of expiration for the tags.)

What can I say?  $66 is $66.  Heck that will pay last month’s water bill!  (Speaking of water, maybe I should wash, vacuum, charge the battery, and see if the old girl still starts? CRAP!  It’s got valid registration!  lol)

 

My best to you and yours, Lew

 

PS:  And just to keep the record straight, my Ghost always received good clean fuel and never had that “rotten egg” converter smell.  The above was just an expression….

(she is so sensitive about that issue – lol)

 

 

 

 

 

good morning to all you viewers

just messing around with the software

found a clip of this little creature

and with you, thought I’d share

My best to you and yours, Lew

Yes indeed, the continued service of MERCED RIVER WATER under L11395 was to immediately stop and strict water replacement reporting was required.  This meant that the only groundwater well in existence at the time (Ranchito Drive Well #1) had to produce enough water for all outside Place of Use properties currently being served – which it supposedly had been doing with a few exceptions.

NOTE:  This monthly reporting to MID was one of the first things Pete Kampa stopped.  After complaints the Outside MIDPOU report has sporadically returned to the agenda packet.

<BELOW> OLD PHOTO OF ORIGINAL RANCHITO WELL #1 when it was still producing water for outside MIDPOU use.   This well FAILED during the massive drilling efforts by the district under the Kampa management plan to locate other sources of  water.  Currently the fence is down and “rehabilitation” is continuing while the new wells provide the “alternate source of water” for outside POU properties.

Properties like the commercial cattle ranch operated by Director Ross.  Ironically,  Ranchito Drive groundwater well #1 was created right around the same time the Ross cattle ranch mysteriously obtained district water service (after multiple denials) through use of a water meter reserved for another rancher who was entitled by written contract.   A contract, which itself, could not initially be found in district records but was produced by the aggrieved rancher and then subsequently confirmed.

Co-incidentally the Meeting Minutes on either side of that 1993 cattle ranch service installation were also missing.

 

GIVE ‘EM AN INCH AND THEY’LL TAKE A MILE!

[give ’em one groundwater well and they’ll reconfigure your surface water treatment plant into a groundwater substitution facility!]

OK, so mistakes of the past were covered with the one existing well, but what about the thousands of other acres outside the district service area that also wanted subdivision intended water on their property?  This is where the “mistakes of the past” are clarified into a “we demand more of your water”.   Water which that one groundwater well could not possibly produce.   So many speculative land development projects outside POU at the time all requiring assurances from the LDPCSD that water would be delivered for various purposes.

PROBLEM:  How to get those MERCED RIVER WATER entitled customers (in the LAKE DON PEDRO OWNERS ASSOCIATION residential subdivision) to AGREE TO PAY FOR UNRELIABLE AND EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE GROUNDWATER WELLS with which to expand the water service EVEN FURTHER outside the Merced Irrigation District Place of Use?

Answer:  You don’t ask them to finance such a proposal, you just misrepresent the plan for the wells and take the water on the sly and by the time people realized a switch had been made it would be too late—those new outside MIDPOU properties would be existing customers then.

Same idea as when many properties were provided water on the condition of annexation into the district.  What?  We’ll supply water like you were annexed already so long as you promise to annex within a year or so, even though you cannot legally annex?

But you must be annexed into the district to receive water service, right?  Well, not always.  Ask Director Emery Ross or his friend Poe who managed to snag three meters for one property using different APNs (Assessor Parcel Numbers) from adjacent properties.    Was the water shutoff for not later meeting the condition for service?  Of course not.  So much BS.

NOTE: Properties to which the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District had no legal duty or moral obligation to serve in the first place and Pete Kampa was aware of all this during his first tour as a LDPCSD employee 1993-1997.

OCTOBER 2014

RE-ENTER  PETER KAMPA and his KAMPA COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS limited liability company through a board orchestrated closed recruitment process for appointment as the general manager who could snag numerous government grants to construct very expensive EMERGENCY GROUNDWATER WELLS for the district.  (Yet another coincidence, cattle rancher and long time LDPCSD Director Emery Ross {another co-incidence of Gerrymandering so owners who paid nothing and could not receive water could never-the-less vote in district elections} was the one who called Kampa with that confidential GM vacancy information.  Ahhh,  Lake Don Pedro, home of “water war coincidences”)

Actually KAMPA & KOMPANY had a very clever plan-

1. obtain the grant money under the guise of preventing water loss for the subdivision because of a dropping lake level due to drought,
2. this required expanding GM authority during the drought emergency and utilizing a streamlined grant filing process, providing him access to over $1 million in district funds to leverage the grants, heck, one resolution even retroactively approved prior GM actions which had not been specifically approved by the board yet),
3. use those grant funds to construct as many groundwater wells as possible while money available, (other side of this coin was the simultaneous intentional failure to properly maintain, repair and replace critical infrastructure of the existing surface water treatment plant)
4. once groundwater wells were developed that “alternate source of water” could be provided to other outside MIDPOU properties by running it through the existing GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM used for Ranchito #1, and
5. start collecting revenue for essentially selling our  “new emergency groundwater” to property owners, speculators, land developers, etc.,  who have been trying for decades without success to obtain water service from the district.  This of course only produces a never ending cycle of drilling more wells for a never ending higher water demand as more properties are provided service…all conveniently paid for by the 99% of MANDATORY CUSTOMERS in the subdivision who do not require GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION FOR MERCED RIVER WATER TRANSFERS OUTSIDE THE PLACE OF USE!

 

NOTE: The “SO GOSIP” [SAME OLD GROUP OF SPECIAL INTEREST PEOPLE] have obstructed and thwarted district responsibilities and progress for decades by misdirecting the CSD’s legally intended purpose, along with that of its predecessor (Sierra Highlands Water Company) which was to serve domestic water to the Lake Don Pedro subdivision.  Not building a facade of a water empire in these rugged drought prone Sierra Nevada foothills based on unreliable and expensive groundwater wells. Absolute foolishness.

Heck, Pete Kampa even worked with some of those same thirsty land developers and property owners 20 years ago when he was first involved in further expanding OUTSIDE MIDPOU water service for land developers.  When he came back to LDP he had 20 years of experience and political connections with which to attempt the Outside MIDPOU expansion again – along with a supportive board of directors, one of which an icon for outside Place of Use water service.

Imagine, the  many years the LDPCSD was feeding misinformation and disinformation (fabricated records) to the LEGALLY ENTITLED MERCED RIVER WATER MANDATORY LDPCSD CUSTOMERS OF THE SUBDIVISION while official records  (like our original 1980 LAFCo  approved water service boundary map, the California Public Utilities Commission approval of the transfer of facilities and assets to the newly formed LDPCSD, the STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD official service area map, etc.) magically disappeared from our records never to be seen again……or used to question expanded district operations.

You know, much of this stuff was discovered after I left the board in 2014 and wasn’t available on the internet like it is now.  I ran across some paperwork the other day which evidenced I was trying to figure this mess out back in 2011.   So now that the truth is coming out, why is Pete Kampa permitted to continue such obvious attempts at deception and concealment?

WHY is Kampa permitted (by the board of directors and others) to post outdated and erroneous maps on our LDPCSD website?

WHY is he permitted (by the board of directors and others) to deny public access on the website to existing legitimate policy regarding this outside place of use service?    (Could Kampa believe such posting might possibly evidence his intentional circumvention of various regulations to achieve an “ALTERNATE SOURCE OF WATER” which he could sell outside the POU of water license 11395?)

Sure seems like fraud to me, but I’m just a mandatory customer of the LDPCSD who must subsidize this special benefit third party water service for land developers looking to turn a greater profit.  But gosh,  since public money will be financing special benefit water service which creates that increased profit margin for developers, shouldn’t mandatory customers of the subdivision receive a “piece of that profit pie”?

BELOW is the map I was provided at a meeting with MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT managers when I was still on our CSD board.

 

YET ANOTHER DOCUMENT INTENTIONALLY CONCEALED FROM THE PUBLIC BY PETE KAMPA

Just checked the LAKE DON PEDRO COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT website before posting and this important document is referenced with a link for accessing it, yet even after months of complaint, the link to the resolution STILL DOES NOT WORK! (8 out of 8 links do not work)         CHECK OUT LDPCSD NOTICE LINKS

This cannot  be a mistake or oversight.  Just another arrogant refusal to acknowledge that which KAMPA & KOMPANY sought to circumvent through the use of public funds to develop ALTERNATE SOURCE groundwater wells for third party special interest benefit?

 

 

Existing Ranchito groundwater well cannot supply any more uses than it currently supplies (outside MIDPOU)?

Gee, if only there was a way to produce more groundwater without having the intended beneficiaries pay for that special benefit created with public funds…….

What can you say?  Apparent success thanks to an accomplished deceiver with solid long term political connections within the California  water industry?

 

 

other:  Some storm last night huh?

 

My best to you and yours, Lew  🙂