Why are
PUBLIC SAFETY
and
WATER RIGHT
LAWS
intentionally ignored?
MONEY!
OLD POSTING REGARDING THIS ROADWAY:
My best to you and yours, Lew
My best to you and yours, Lew
Certainly good news for the LAKE DON PEDRO CSD which has been severely constrained financially without those funds which have been expected for approximately one year. Perhaps there will be more information at the next Board meeting regarding these funds and how they will be used? Still no word on the Notice of Violation issued September 28th, 2017 regarding the WL11395 Place of Use issues or Pete Kampa declaring a new Place of Use in Lake Don Pedro for Merced River water.
Perhaps the issue of using public grant funds for proposed private land development projects through a GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTED SPECIAL SERVICE outside the Place of Use (and for remaining compliant with Water License regulations for properties already receiving substituted service) will continue to apparently be overlooked and not addressed? Seems an extraordinarily long wait for such a simple question, but who knows?
My best to you and yours, Lew
The following is an email response from Wes Barton to LAKE DON PEDRO CSD Board President Danny Johnson. Johnson had suggested at that last SPECIAL MEETING (Wednesday, January 17th, 2018) that Wes put his observations, comments and questions in writing and forward them to President Johnson. You will recall many of Mr. Barton’s questions have gone unanswered for over a year as documented in meeting recordings posted on this website.
“Around, around the agenda GO ROUND
As customers chase the GM
The GM stops and laughingly says
HA! We don’t have to answer!”
When General Manager/Board Treasurer Pete Kampa states he is confused about the legitimate WATER LICENSE 11395 PLACE OF USE RESTRICTIONS for Merced River water in the Lake Don Pedro area I become rather agitated because I have researched the matter extensively and the statement is just plain not truthful. PETE KAMPA has over twenty years experience with such water issues – notably including four years of “hands on” experience in setting up these OUTSIDE POU ANNEXATIONS to the Lake Don Pedro CSD which he knew twenty years ago would require GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION in the future and was the reason for his UNETHICAL APPOINTMENT RETURN to the LDPCSD in October 2014.
Kampa has laughingly dismissed this (reason for his return) as a wild conspiracy theory while simultaneously refusing to answer legitimate questions as to his activities since 2014 regarding the SPECIAL BENEFIT GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM for land developers outside the WL POU.
The plan was to DIVERT AND USE STATE AND FEDERAL GRANT FUNDS
(INTENDED TO DEVELOP GROUNDWATER WELLS FOR EMERGENCY DROUGHT USE FOR EXISTING CONSUMERS),
TO FURTHER EXPAND A SPECIAL BENEFIT GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION SERVICE FOR LAND DEVELOPERS OUTSIDE THE MERCED RIVER WATER PERMITTED PLACE OF USE.
{Like the “slumbering annexation” for a proposed 900 acre residential subdivision adjacent to the LDP subdivision that was LAFCO approved in 1995 but only acknowledged a few months before PETE KAMPA returned to the LDPCSD?}
The <MR WECs> of the Lake Don Pedro subdivision have essentially been forced to fund this SPECIAL GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION BENEFIT for decades.
[October 2017, lakedonpedro.org file photo: PETE KAMPA
using his newly acquired $35,000 DIGITAL MAPPING PROJECT (approved by the Board of Directors
despite public warnings of likely potential misuse by KAMPA)
TO CHANGE the STATE RECOGNIZED PLACE OF USE BOUNDARY
FOR MERCED RIVER WATER per WL11395]
However, the only confusion that appears to have existed, and still does, is why PETE KAMPA refused, and still refuses to acknowledge the clear and decades old legitimate 11395 water use restrictions while ONCE AGAIN ACTIVELY VIOLATING THEM – EVEN AFTER A NOTICE OF SIMILAR VIOLATIONS FROM THE STATE WATER BOARD in September of 2017!
(lakedonpedro.org file photo)
As mentioned before, I am not much of a financial person and am quite satisfied when my bills are paid and the check book balances, however, there are some BASIC financial matters that do not require extensive education or experience to understand that something is very wrong and I believe Wes Barton has discovered something OUTRAGEOUSLY SIGNIFICANT to Kampa’s continued and UNWARRANTED COMPLAINTS against the USDA and his “stated” CONFUSION as to why the USDA as failed to reimburse the LDPCSD for it’s expenses.
Let’s start with a few basic definitions.
USDA: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
G/L : GENERAL LEDGER: the principal and controlling ledger of a business enterprise containing individual or controlling accounts for all assets, liabilities, net worth items, revenue, and expenses.
REIMBURSE:
1 : to pay back to someone : repay, reimburse travel expenses 2 : to make restoration or payment of an equivalent to reimburse him for his traveling expenses
CONSPIRACY: a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal: the act of secretly planning to do something that is harmful or illegal
Danny,
Sorry for not replying to your request to explain my question concerning “request for money from USDA when
I didn’t believe we have paid the vendor thus how could CSD be reimbursed”. I waited until I had G/L to check
A couple of points that I was sure were not pertinent but wanted to verify. Secondly, I’ll stay away from most
Numbers, but can support all in detail (from CSD records).
Brief history and meeting (Jan 17, 2018) discussion:
GM Kampa (GM) indicated “confusion” as to why USDA had not paid apx $324k requested in Nov., 2017, after
Advising CSD Board final review/approval of funding was planned for 7/19/2017 (original req #1 form @$210k
Was presented to Board at that Time). [To my knowledge, no later info as to any reason to believe there was
Any delay in USDA approval; as well as GM continued the process and applicable communication for funding.]
Also during the July meeting, GM requested an additional funding to Kennedy Jenkins for $60k and that CSD
Would then owe KJ apx $70k, $59.9 for services not originally budgeted. From June 30, 2017 thru Dec 2017,
GM reports only $1129 spent (or accrued) per G/L on well projects.
12/14/2017 (Nov business), GM reported a “revised” USDA funding request #1 for $324.6k. This report
Appears to show the increased $114k ($324k-$210k) made up of old cost before June 30, 2017, of apx
$54k (nearly all NJ & sons and K J costs) and about $59k for KJ (dated Aug thru Nov 2017 include a noted
Cost of $1.7k for the “future”). GM booked this request as a billing and documented in the G/L & A/R.
Basis of my question, “why surprise no reimburse” or even “checks in the mail”:
If Grants “reimburse” only cash expenditures. CSD G/L shows apx $1k cost paid/accrued since June thru
Dec 2017. Revised Request #1 shows $59k spent since June 2017 but CSD G/L denies this expenditure.
GM requested $60k to be paid (budget) to KJ to obtain the reimbursement from USDA. Simply put,
I wouldn’t expect USDA to reimburse if I had not paid so why would USDA pay CSD if they hadn’t paid.
[Since cash, other checks and balances would probably catch G/L issues/errors on these transactions if paid.]
I don’t like “gotcha’s”, either. I reject that this is an unknowable to CSD, known only by me. However, if one
Wants to “tag” this as a “gotcha” then it must be obvious CSD’s leadership and management is in “deep
Do-do” and need to look close at their organization and selves at least as far as “financial controls”.
Wes Barton, Jan 24, 2018
e-mail: lw.wes.barton@gmail.com
ps don’t have Nellie’s e-mail, please forward
.
.
.
.
So what do you folks think?
My best to you and yours, Lew
Ever read or hear something that just doesn’t make sense, but it’s hard to explain exactly why, or what it is? How it keeps chewing at your brain until that glimmer of recognition and understanding of its illogical nature materializes in another unrelated though humorously similar example?
That’s what I thought about GM/TREASURER PETE KAMPA’s self admitted continued questioning of state officials about one stated detail contained in the STATE WATER BOARD September 28th, 2017 NOTICE OF VIOLATION regarding
that really had no effect on the primary issue for the violation notice.
OF COURSE it could conceivably be another extremely important component to understanding the surreptitious motives and plans birthed from decades of behind the scene “wink and nod” devious activities by governing, regulatory, enforcement, and managing entities and officials involved with this Community Services District’s dark side;
the continuing absolute betrayal and victimization of the extreme majority of MR WECs of the Lake Don Pedro subdivision – which to me sounds very much along the lines of
the diabolical plan of using an UNPRECEDENTED STATE WIDE EMERGENCY DROUGHT situation to obtain government grants ostensibly for EMERGENCY DROUGHT WATER FOR EXISTING CONSUMERS yet all the while PETE KAMPA was aware of both known and unknown COMPLIANCE FAILURES to SUBSTITUTE GROUNDWATER for the MERCED RIVER WATER ILLEGALLY LEAVING THE PLACE OF USE (POU) and intending to even further expand this GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM to potentially thousands of ANNEXED ACRES outside the license POU leaving costs to the majority of MR WECs of the Lake Don Pedro subdivision;
and now?—
yet another unrestrained and arrogant demonstration by PETE KAMPA (supported by his APPROVING Board) of utter contempt and conscious disregard for long established STATE WATER BOARD and MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT published PLACE OF USE MAPS for MERCED RIVER WATER per WL11395.
Yes, the CALIFORNIA SPECIAL DISTRICTS ASSOCIATION (CSDA), a not for profit lobbying organization, must be very proud of their twenty year active Board Member Pete Kampa – a government transparency award and everything!
Perhaps Pete is shooting for a diminished capacity defense plea? You know, insanity?
-or-
Is he again playing everyone for fools with his elaborate twenty plus year secret plans?
Does he have sufficient agreeable and influential contacts within the State water industry to pull off a quick POU Change with some “administrative” remedy circumventing a full blown change petition and further investigation of the facts?
I always understood a formal change petition would be way too expensive both financially and politically because it would involve considerable, and understandable, push back from down river users – especially those with prior water allotment revisions and reductions.
Why would KAMPA in light of the clear statements in the NOTICE OF VIOLATION regarding the ACTUAL 11395 POU – proclaim and institute a NEW POU in the LDPCSD and, once again, stop the mandatory outside POU compliance reporting OF KNOWN PROPERTIES OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARY?
Seriously, he received another 90 days to answer for KNOWN POU VIOLATIONS, yet he announces a NEW POU BOUNDARY FOR THE LDPCSD which is OBVIOUSLY INCORRECT AND CONSTITUTES ADDITIONAL NEW POU VIOLATIONS WHILE WAITING TO ANSWER FOR THE ORIGINAL PREVIOUS VIOLATIONS THAT GAVE RISE TO THE STATE’S NOTICE OF VIOLATION BACK IN SEP 2017!
WL11395 POU RESTRICTIONS were, and still are clear and easily understood by those NOT ATTEMPTING TO CIRCUMVENT THEM (who knows whether or not Kampa “influential contacts within the state water industry” are busy right now attempting to change this long established POU?)
Yup, RESTRICTIONS clear as big red reflective octagon stop signs and/or flashing red lights. Humm, a traffic violation analogy might actually be helpful in attempting to understand Pete Kampa’s apparent approach to this STATE VIOLATION NOTICE.
A STATE VIOLATION NOTICE which, incidentally, has been an ABSOLUTE BLESSING as to providing important missing information to this forty (40) plus year fraud against the “extreme majority” of MERCED RIVER WATER ENTITLED CUSTOMERS owning property in the Lake Don Pedro residential subdivision. An EXTREME majority of MANDATORY CUSTOMERS who are essentially forced to subsidize this special benefit groundwater substitution service for those lands annexed into the LDPCSD by county LAFCos which also completely ignored the water restrictions in WL11395. yeah, yeah….sos
OK, onward with the traffic citation analogy…..
A CHP officer on patrol observes violations of law contained in the California vehicle code for which the officer has obviously been educated, trained, and provided the authority and jurisdiction within which to enforce those laws. The officer observes a violation, initiates a traffic stop, contacts the driver and conducts a basic investigation (license, registration, insurance, driver’s physical/emotional condition, etc.) and if the violation is not serious enough to warrant immediate “in custody status” (handcuffing, placing in patrol unit, etc.), he issues a citation listing alleged violations along with a date, time and location to appear before a judge. Only one thing is missing…. acknowledgement of the driver’s “follow-up responsibilities” documented on the citation and agreed to, as evidenced by the driver’s signature.
Most of you already know this, but for those who may not, a signature on a citation documents the driver’s promise to later appear in court and IS NOT an admission of guilt – remember, that innocent until proven guilty concept? Just promise to take care of this later.
The driver’s signature is the “bond” (like bail bond) guaranteeing the driver will appear in court in the future to answer for the alleged violations listed on the citation, however, if the driver refuses to legitimately sign the citation for whatever reason, the officer will then on the scene take physical custody of the person by handcuffing and transporting to a facility/jail for identification, booking and then obtaining that signature as a promise to later appear in court. If still no signature at that time they will likely remain “in custody” until appearance before the judge where a monetary “bail” is set. (Of course I am referring to the old days so there may be some procedural changes based on specific arrest circumstances.)
Now in this NOTICE OF VIOLATION for water license PLACE OF USE violation it would seem as though GM/TREASURER PETE KAMPA, …………………using the CHP analogy above,
has been attempting to engage the traffic officer in an argument over an insignificant aspect of the violation for which the citation was issued rather than focusing on preparation for the formal court appearance. In other words, Pete Kampa is demanding to know exactly how a state water board officer determined how a related issue appears to have occurred rather than examining and addressing what triggered the original violations and represents a potential for continued POU violations in the future.
HINT: This is likely why KAMPA CHANGED THE PLACE OF USE FOR MERCED RIVER WATER FOR THE LDPCSD LAST WEDNESDAY IN HIS SURPRISE INFO DUMP (or so he believes?) —- IT WILL BE EASIER TO MEET THE KNOWN EXISTING GROUNDWATER COMPLIANCE DEMAND AS WELL AS PROVIDE ADDITIONAL OUTSIDE POU CONNECTIONS IN THE FUTURE – ALL WITH PUBLIC MONEY – if the high consumers are removed.
[RECALL how the COUNTY OF MARIPOSA owed $40,000 plus for reimbursement to the LDPCSD because the LAKE DON PEDRO WASTE WATER FACILITY had been using the wrong water meter for years and only paying for a fraction of the GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION actually being consumed. That extra FREE WATER was probably also helpful with the processing of the liquid leachate from the Mariposa County landfill that was transported to the LDP Waste Water Facility in tankers during all times of the day and night during periods of heavy precipitation. No doubt helped to keep residential sewer costs down around the golf for a while. Hum, wrong meter? Sounds recently familiar.]Of course, in this STATE WATER RIGHTS CASE, it was PETE KAMPA and the LDPCSD that indeed furnished the STATE OF CALIFORNIA with clearly incorrect and contradictory map information regarding the PLACE OF USE restrictions under water license 11395.
Rather like OUR DRIVER providing a counterfeit license, altered registration, or false insurance paperwork to the arresting officer, but when confronted about the discrepancies, starts jumping up and down, waving his arms, and screaming, “how do you know I don’t have valid insurance right now, right this minute? Maybe I just left the insurance place! You can’t prove I don’t have it right now, can you? You can’t prove right now for sure that I don’t have insurance – right now – can you?”
lol
Reminds me of a humorous sign in the Mariposa County Building Department many years ago:
Then, even after being granted a 90 day extension to prepare an answer for the court appearance (STATE WATER BOARD HEARING) our driver (GM/TREASURER) continues to pester the ISSUING OFFICER (State Water Board) to provide specific details of the evidence giving rise to the initial vehicle traffic stop (violation notice) while committing similar more serious violations as the officer drives away?
Naturally such information (if provided) would be quite helpful in determining what sort of defense would be appropriate when ultimately appearing in court and attempting to “beat the ticket” – that is, if Pete Kampa isn’t going for a diminished capacity gig. lol
BUT WAIT!
WHY does PETE KAMPA even need to respond to the STATE WATER BOARD
since he has already established a new POU by again discontinuing the compliance reporting and public information regarding consumption figures while stating they are now entitled to MERCED RIVER WATER based on a map from an abandoned project 24 years ago which clearly contradicts the STATE WATER BOARD and MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT ESTABLISHED OFFICIAL POU MAPS?
Remember how I have become rather “expressive” during meetings regarding these POU maps?
No, it didn’t happen again fortunately, but probably should have – regardless I sure as hell would have had a PUBLIC COMMENT
IF GM/TREASURER PETE KAMPA HAD INCLUDED HIS
FOR MERCED RIVER WATER, and
REPORT OF ANOTHER
IN THE NOTICED AGENDA PACKET LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
(which of course can’t be discussed at the meeting because it was not part of the “sometimes numbered agenda packet” and will most likely be lost like so many other “SUSPICIOUS UNATTACHED DOCUMENTS” in LDPCSD HISTORICAL RECORDS.)
That OFFICE ARSON PRIOR TO KAMPA’s RETURN is beginning to make much more sense now.
AS DOES MARIPOSA COUNTY LAFCo REQUESTING LDPCSD HELP WITH THEIR OWN ANNEXATION MAPS.
Recall how I accused GM/TREASURER PETE KAMPA of INTENTIONALLY USING THE WRONG POU MAPS ON THE WEBSITE AND LEAVING THOSE INCORRECT PAPER COPIES ON THE BOARD ROOM WALL FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE?
(Tell a lie often enough and it becomes a management/board truth and hopeful defense to the State Water Board?)
Well, I stand by what I said and would like to try and clear this KAMPA MAP GARBAGE up right now WITHOUT the distraction of all the audio/video stuff, ok?
This is the June 20, 1977 MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT MAP illustrating the Place of Use for Merced River water whose boundary is titled: SIERRA HIGHLANDS WATER COMPANY,
however this map also contained added diagonally hatched areas identified in the title block as
“AREAS RESERVING WATER FOR FUTURE USE”.
This map was evidently submitted to the STATE WATER BOARD FIRST during licensing in an attempt to include these other LAFCo ANNEXED PROPERTIES but they were apparently detected as incorrect and a revised map on June 20, 1978 resulted – without the hatched “reserved water” designation. THOSE HATCHED AREAS REPRESENT THOUSANDS OF ACRES THAT WERE ANNEXED INTO THE LAKE DON PEDRO COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT BY TUOLUMNE AND MARIPOSA COUNTY LAFCOs (LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSIONS).
THESE AREAS, HOWEVER, WERE CLEARLY OUTSIDE THE PLACE OF USE FOR MERCED RIVER WATER YET ANNEXED ANYWAY CREATING MUCH TURMOIL. MANY WERE ANNEXED BEFORE THE LDPCSD CONSTRUCTED THE FIRST WELL IN 1993 AS A “REMEDY FOR OUTSIDE POU WATER LICENSE VIOLATIONS”. That original well, RANCHITO #1, IS STILL OFF LINE FOLLOWING ITS FAILURE DURING ALL THE DRILLING FOR NEW WATER TO SELL OUTSIDE THE POU.
WAS THE LAKE DON PEDRO CSD SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED, FORMED AND INTENDED FROM DAY ONE TO INTENTIONALLY CIRCUMVENT MERCED RIVER WATER STATE RESTRICTIONS CONTAINED IN WL11395 THROUGH A SURREPTITIOUS GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM PAID FOR BY THE THOUSANDS OF UNSUSPECTING PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE LAKE DON PEDRO SUBDIVISION (half absentee) WHO CONSTITUTE THE DISTRICT’S EXTREME MAJORITY OF MANDATORY CUSTOMERS?
DOCUMENTS SUGGEST SOME OF THESE MAJOR ANNEXATIONS (EVEN OTHERS NOT SHOWN ON THE BELOW MAP OF annexed and proposed annexed lands) TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION ACTUALLY APPROVED THE TRANSFER OF SIERRA HIGHLAND’S FACILITIES AND ASSETS TO THE NEWLY FORMED LDPCSD!
Regarding the above RESERVED WATER that Pete Kampa insists is some sort of a SERVICE RIGHT for these ANNEXED PROPERTIES, the SEP 28, 2017 STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD NOTICE OF VIOLATION , PAGE 1, THIRD PARAGRAPH clears up this continuing false information by Kampa:
Curiously, a very large portion of that “middle hatched area” was also a 900 ACRE PROPOSED SUBDIVISION ANNEXATION that was LAFCo approved in 1995 (when PETE KAMPA was employed at the LDPCSD the first time and advocated thousands of acres be annexed into the district), yet that ANNEXATION WAS ACTIVELY KEPT A SECRET for over twenty years until PETE KAMPA was returned to complete these annexation projects by developing an ALTERNATE SOURCE of groundwater production designed, developed and operated with public funds yet intended for private annexed land development and benefit. Cute huh?
BELOW is the June 15, 1978 REVISED MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT MAP illustrating the Place of Use for Merced River water – which, for the POU, is exactly the same as the June 20, 1977.
This is the official POU SERVICE MAP ON FILE with THE STATE WATER BOARD.
NOTICE THE ANNEXED LANDS “RESERVING WATER FOR FUTURE USE” ARE ABSENT.
Remember this guy? “WOODSTOCK” from the Peanuts comics? Lucy and Charlie Brown? yeah, I’m old. Anyway, I’ve always thought our district boundary resembled Woodstock a bit (of course his tail became much larger with the South Shore Club 2,010 acre project off Bonds Flat Road that was annexed into the LDPCSD but never developed due to the developers failure to meet approval conditions set by the State Water Board. That’s why they are called “conditionally approved projects”. Conditions must be met to obtain approval. Unfortunately, those fixated on obtaining water only hear the two words “approved project” which of course is not so lol for those who end up paying for the negative results.)
So with Woodstock’s outline above in mind, notice that the county line “dip” on the top of his “map tail”, is CLEARLY ABOVE THE NORTHERN SUBDIVISION (POU) BOUNDARY. The school is between this county line and the subdivision boundary. (Some continue to interpret and claim a portion of this county line is a road. WRONG! (Please return to map reading 101 for a refresher.)
The school has always been outside the subdivision (thus POU) and this fact has been known since before it was constructed, yet once
again PETE KAMPA and HIS SUPPORTING BOARD contend everyone else is wrong – including, among others, the State Water Board, the Merced Irrigation District (holder of WL11395), previous boards, GM’s, attorneys, blah, blah, blah – everyone is wrong except Pete Kampa who set up a lot of this over twenty years ago.
At this last meeting (Wednesday, January 17, 2018) PETE KAMPA with his BOARD’s SUPPORT has proclaimed the TRADITIONAL HIGHEST CONSUMER OF GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION – and six other OUTSIDE POU PROPERTIES,
as now being
This GM/TREASURER has now refused to release the consumption rates for known OUTSIDE PLACE OF USE PROPERTIES while also attempting to “low key” the fact we just had yet another 43% water loss last month – and that’s only treated water! Raw water loss (between lake and treatment plant) is traditionally quite substantial as well.
PETE KAMPA is apparently not asking the STATE WATER BOARD for an administrative change in the Place of Use for Merced River Water under the license, nor is he seeking a formal change petition (IF I WERE A LICENSED DOWN RIVER USER I’D BE IN CONTACT WITH MY LEGAL COUNSEL AND ASKING UNDER WHAT AUTHORITY CAN A GM/TREASURER OF A CSD UPSTREAM UNILATERALLY CHANGE THE PLACE OF USE OF A WATER LICENSE DURING A WATER LICENSE VIOLATION INVESTIGATION for THAT VERY WATER LICENSE POU ISSUE?
SPEAKING OF LEGAL STUFF– that’s another thing….what’s with all these “GM EVALUATIONS” held under Government Code Section 54956.95 which deals with liability and loss issues of a district?
What is actually taking place in these so called AND agenda titled CLOSED SESSIONS for
“PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Government Code Section 54956.95 Title: General Manager”
Consider also that since Pete’s return in October of 2014 a “formal” GM Evaluation has never taken place although scheduled multiple times yet the board is again waiting for the GM/TREASURER to essentially evaluate himself. Yup.
Since the LDPCSD has a history of doing many things ASS BACKWARDS, perhaps I should follow suit and provide the end of the meeting now?
The SPECIAL MEETING ended at 1459hrs (2:59PM).
I packed up all the camera/recording equipment and exited to the parking lot. I talked with Wes Barton a bit in the parking lot and entered my pickup. While Directors were in CLOSED SESSION I finally decided to wait in the parking lot again to hear the “report out” from their “GM EVALUATION”.
The exterior door to the BOARDROOM was closed so I moved my truck from the original parking space close to the door and backed into another space near another vehicle so I could keep an eye on the closed boardroom exterior door without looking over my shoulder or using the vehicle’s mirrors (A real pain in the neck the last time on CODE 5 – lol)
1518 hrs: Director Russ Warren opened the BOARDROOM door, and while standing in the open doorway began surveying the parking lot looking for something. When it appeared as though he was going to re-enter the boardroom and close the door again, I yelled out of my open passenger window something to the effect of” “Are you done? Ready for the report out?” (I was concerned if I did not speak up they would later say “no one was in the parking lot so we adjourned the meeting and you’ll have to wait until next month’s packet to read the report out in the Minutes for approval”.)
Director Warren scanned for a bit more and located my vehicle’s new position in the parking lot and inquired:
I responded that no one had been near the door. Warren entered and closed the boardroom door behind him.
1519hrs, (one minute later) BOARD PRESIDENT DANNY JOHNSON exited the boardroom with paperwork in hand. I asked if they were ready for the REPORT OUT of the CLOSED SESSION? JOHNSON replied no and that he just needed to make some copies. (Gee, wonder what copies were needed for a GM evaluation? This CLOSED SESSION had been planned for some time, why weren’t copies made in advance? Were the originals furnished by the board or the GM/TREASURER?
1522hrs, DANNY JOHNSON returns to the boardroom and exterior door is again closed.
1528hrs, GM/TREASURER PETE KAMPA exits boardroom with brief case and proceeds directly to the Administration Office.
1552hrs, Operations Supervisor Randy Gilgo and another employee return to the LDPCSD compound in separate District vehicles.
1615hrs, Director Warren again opens the BOARDROOM door, I asked if ready for report out? Warren replies they are waiting for Board Secretary Syndie Marchesiello.
Later,
My best to you and yours, Lew
PS: Sometimes I write and post things I believed humorous at that time, however, upon a later rereading with a bit more reflection (usually after a good night’s sleep) wonder if the attempt to produce a laugh or two might have gone too far in some fashion and caused distress to others or even hurt feelings – which was certainly never my intention. You know? Crossing some invisible line subjecting the joke itself to speculation as to whether it secretly reflected a personal belief or agreement with whatever the intended point of the attempted humorous comment may have been? That’s why I use the “lol” so frequently in posts, as a reminder of the tongue in cheek nature of so much of my written expression. (It is much easier to appreciate the intended humor when “in person” and witnessing simultaneous facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc. during such a joke presentation.)
Unfortunately, after starting the rather lengthy YouTube uploading process for this video and passing that “POINT OF NO RETURN” (should probably get another computer) I realized I likely, and quite unintentionally, may have offended an apparently very large segment of the population with what many, including myself, would consider to be an innocent albeit stereotypical humorously intended comment with absolutely no ill-will what-so-ever to the referenced individuals themselves.
OK, with that said, the above may be the way I perceived my joke made at someone else’s expense while trying to make a serious point with a couple of laughs, but that other person (the joke comparison) may not think the comment so funny, but actually disparaging, intentionally mean and hurtful, and just plain ignorant.
So in the event my sometimes excessive attempts to snag a laugh or two may have indeed offended or even angered some folks, I do sincerely apologize for the 420 comment. I do not believe for a nanosecond such consumption is responsible for the extremely pathetic performance of our “BOBBLE HEADED APPROVE ANYTHING KAMPA BOARD” which has repeatedly ignored multiple public requests for the district to acquire easily obtainable, legitimate, and truthful water license facts from the STATE WATER BOARD. Oh yeah, I also do not believe such consumption alone would necessarily cause an otherwise honest individual to become corrupt and unethical – especially when Oath sworn to represent the interests of the public.
Obviously there is something else at work here.
Saturday, Jan 13, 2018-
Hey there. Well, it’s cold (chilly to you folks in the REAL COLD), foggy, everything is obviously wet and slippery on a hillside so I decided to give my posterior a break and forego the outdoor stuff today and try to figure out what I did wrong with the last “almost music” offering. (Yes actually, I am a little sore from working yesterday also.)
Well, one thing was, just because an audio track “appeared” to have nothing on it (in that space between thumping on a trashcan or finding the right note on the guitar with numerous failed attempts – lol) there is definitely background noise, refrigerator compressor kicking on and off, breathing, tapping my foot on the floor, canine “toenails” as the dog curiously walks by, wind, traffic, etc. (Even accidentally recorded a “stomach growl” once while hungry. lol) So much to consider. I must check tracks much more carefully.
Anyway, I cleaned up the non-sync “dueling harmonicas from hell” in the intro (yes, yes, I know I don’t know how to play the darn thing – but it’s still fun trying to learn – and it was a raw track that should have been turned off anyway. NOTE TO SELF….NEVER POST WHEN TIRED UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!), dumped some of that background “didn’t know it was there stuff”, and adjusted some volume levels. As always, I also like playing around with the L-R levels so the sound moves from one speaker to another on playback. Funny, I change some small aspect of the composition only to discover later how that seemingly insignificant change unexpectedly caused a shift in synchronization somewhere else. (Knocked the clapping out of sync!) Start over. (Still not right.) I can understand how some have dedicated their lives to such intricate work but it sure is tricky even with a simplistic approach like mine.
You know, I’m sure that Casio keyboard female voice has a “6, 7, 8, 9” number key somewhere, but I didn’t have time for a full-out search to find the missing “9” in “11395”, so filled it in with my own voice (but that track was muted on the first post). [No, the digital voice did not have a speech impediment with the word “nine” —-“Number nine, number nine”? Remember? That very strange recording on the The Beatles White Album? John Lennon/Yoko? …. Never mind. I’m just old and recalled a related song.]
There’s much more I’d like to do with this particular project (especially on the video side) but time, as always, seems so limited – however, I do learn something every time I mess around with the stuff so I guess it is all forward motion.
Oh yeah, Monday’s REGULAR LAKE DON PEDRO CSD Monthly Board Meeting has also been changed to a SPECIAL MEETING (as was the meeting in December) which is therefore conducted under slightly different rules and policies. As anticipated, GM Kampa received an extension for his answer to the State Water Board Notice of Violation. There’s a rather peculiar letter by GM Kampa to the USDA with copies to government representatives, apparently requesting some sort of assistance in receiving those federal funds for the groundwater wells which are now clearly being used for an “ANNEXATION EMERGENCY WATER DEMAND” rather than the “DROUGHT EMERGENCY WATER DEMAND” as was intended and “sold to the public” – but you know my opinion on that matter so why bother with it now, right?
Let’s part on a happy note.
(Although if I play it, perhaps a little off key – right? Lol)
Stay warm.
My best to you and yours, Lew
My best to you and yours, Lew
Seems I always end up going just a little bit too far with adding “stuff” to these experimental compositions. Everything will be going along pretty good until I pass some invisible line of “too much” in mixing resulting in audible distortions I am unable to remove. Sure, there may be some kind of software program that could help with this difficulty (also knowing what the hell you were doing and possessing the talent, skill, and training necessary would also be helpful, lol) but what I’m doing is still just a bit of a hobby and collecting expensive equipment will not pay for itself. Yup, I certainly have more appreciation for the folks that professionally do this kind of work and can understand how their equipment/software would always be changing and upgrading with the new technology. Not hard to imagine it consuming a big chunk of any profit that might be generated just to “stay on top” of the new thing. I recall reading where Frank Zappa would perform a bunch of quickly scheduled live concerts only to obtain the cash necessary to arrange the studio time with expensive full orchestras for special projects. Others might consider his band’s extremely lucrative (and demanded) concert schedule the epitome of success whereas for Frank Zappa it was only a means to the end of facilitating what he truly wanted to do with music.
Heck, don’t get me wrong here, I AM NOT COMPLAINING! I have been very blessed and am having a blast with what I possess even though the technology is antiquated because it is still new to me. The fact it is older equipment/software is the very reason I can afford it in the first place!
Recall how the cost of the first “anything” was way up there for the first models? The first tube television sets? Then color sets, remote controllers, built in tape recorders, digital components, etc…. prices on the old basic sets came way down (flooding market with antiquated technology that was, or would be shortly, discontinued) allowing others to afford their first television set while the continuing “new improvements” kept the price range higher for those desiring the best available.
Oh yeah, one more excuse regarding the questionable quality of this particular “expression”. Slapped it together rather quickly – have work outside waiting – great weather and soil moisture for digging, plus there was a little confusion with revisions and I ended up downloading/uploading the incorrect one – not a dramatic difference, but the other was just a bit better – maybe. lol
My best to you and yours, Lew
The internet is like a living entity when you consider the constantly evolving and growing “bank” of information and the new and various options for accessing and retrieving such. Strange, one day a submitted question will produce a particular list of results, yet later the same worded question may produce a completely different set of results. Why the difference on the same machine? Was this “apparent new information” actually entered somewhere in the system between the two requesting times, or was a server or some other transporting/reporting device nonoperational at one point? Were search parameters or the process somehow temporarily reinterpreted or reconfigured to produce differing results? Could the amount of computer traffic at a specific hub during a request be a variable? Or how I parted, or did not part, my hair this morning? Who knows? Perhaps I’ll research it later when I have more time. lol
Here’s something that is a real pain in the posterior with this research stuff – after you FINALLY locate the information and select the file to print, which often contains multiple pages, sometimes the printed result is less than satisfactory for a variety of reasons. Obvious print failures are actually preferred because I know right away what’s screwed up and must be reprinted – like in a low or malfunctioning ink cartridge situation, however, there are other subtle – less obvious errors that will drive me up a wall ass backwards with frustration, like with the information I am posting today.
So this morning while browsing the internet I discovered some interesting December 1991 – January 1992 correspondence regarding Resolution 92-13 prepared by the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors requesting the STATE WATER BOARD to expand the PLACE OF USE Boundary (for Merced River water under license 11395) so the South Shore Club project could develop. (NOTE: South Shore Club was/is also known as La Ventana Development.) That project was ALSO SPLIT between the counties of Mariposa and Tuolumne along Bonds Flat Road between HWY 59 and HWY 132. (Like the LAKE SHORE 900 acre proposed subdivision across from the LDPCSD annexed by Mariposa in 1995 – it is also in both Mariposa and Tuolumne.) The La Ventana Development consisted of 2,010 acres for residential development and another golf course (among other things) with 772 acre feet of Merced River water per year to be permitted if …..
(THE BIG QUALIFIER)
….THE STATE WATER BOARD CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL WERE MET BY DEVELOPERS AND OTHER JURISDICTIONAL ENTITIES INVOLVED – WHICH THEY
REM? I posted that informative STATE DECISION because of the excellent WL history cited?
Here it is again:
wro93-02
The below documents may help answer why subsequent annexations into the LDPCSD (such as the proposed LAKE SHORE RANCH annexed in 1995 by Mariposa County LAFCo when Pete Kampa worked here the first time) do not have similar refusals by the STATE WATER BOARD…..Apparently “they” (County Officials, Planning Departments, LAFCos, LDPCSD Directors/Management, outside POU land developers, etc.), chose to pursue a different plan in obtaining water from the district THAT DID NOT INVOLVE PERMISSION FROM THE STATE WATER BOARD OR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE WATER LICENSE.
Groundwater substitution?
Frankly I still do not understand the logic behind the GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION IN LAKE DON PEDRO.
I can understand the common meaning of conserving surface water through groundwater transfers for one reason or another, but that is NOT WHAT THE LDPCSD IS DOING.
How can a remedy for existing PAST VIOLATIONS be turned into a PERMANENT DISTRICT POLICY to expand water service outside the POU of the license?
I have read much about GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION on various state websites (and else where) and thus far have not found how “LDPCSD’s groundwater substitution policy” has been sanctioned by “AUTHORITIES” as a legitimate policy or method for a public water company to intentionally, and repeatedly, “circumvent state water license restrictions” to serve water where it would otherwise be unavailable.
Here is some very interesting research into this GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION: (Link to download)
I can understand existing prior violations having been corrected with groundwater substitution but a policy for continued expansion outside the POU for perpetuity? You know what they say, follow the money. Who benefits? Well, certainly the private developer who otherwise could not receive MERCED RIVER WATER gets cheap quality water as though entitled like in the subdivision; the counties benefit because they don’t have to supply the water for developments they tax and receive revenue; and of course water district mangers, engineers, management companies etc., all benefit because more work equates to more compensation. Seems the only ones losing on this scam are the MR WECs!
(And of course the MERCED RIVER.)
Maybe this “GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION FOR DROUGHT AREA WATER SERVICE EXPANSION WITH PUBLIC FUNDS” is on the internet somewhere but I haven’t discovered it yet – maybe tomorrow I’ll try parting my hair differently? Lol Still would be strange though.
Yup, I do not understand considering this recognized drought prone area, designated high fire severity zone (and disadvantaged community), unreliable groundwater production from extremely expensive wells in a fractured rock geology requiring arsenic and other contaminant removal with various monitoring and state reporting requirements. Groundwater sources that the State of California has been attempting to protect for future generations with strict detailed regulation and enforcement?
But a permissible and authorized special benefit water service in the LDPCSD for private land developers paid for with public funds by
None of this makes sense.
So I was preparing to scan those pages into the computer this morning (so I could post on lakedonpedro.org for viewers) but noticed the last line on a number of pages was missing so there was no continuity of thought between the end of the preceding page and beginning of the next. (Hum, rather like this post, eh?) This doesn’t happen all the time but it sure does slow down the routine when it does! (Print, cuss, scan, cuss, download, cuss, and upload cuss, then write around…..you get the idea lol, cuss)
I certainly didn’t want suspicious handwritten or typed additional words to “complete” these official government documents (what do you think I am? A local public agency!) So, I cleared the print spooler (always have to look that up) and printed each page separately. I thought these documents were important as clearly illustrating another reason why the SOUTH SHORE CLUB project had been abandoned – it wasn’t
This was the project containing the “shape file” (map) that Pete Kampa ultimately used 24 years later in his recent attempt to fabricate a new PLACE OF USE map as the FINAL ANSWER TO THE LDPCSD WATER SERVICE AREA FOR MERCED RIVER WATER using a $35,000 digital mapping project the Board of Directors approved.
Do you recall how that “shape file” played such an important role in Pete Kampa’s plan?
Kampa and his Board of Directors steadfastly refused to SIMPLY CONTACT THE STATE WATER BOARD for an official water service map with PETE KAMPA as “THE VOICE OF THE DISTRICT” repeatedly advising:
“WE WILL USE THE MAP THE STATE HAS ON FILE”.
Sounded good, yeah?
Ahhhhhh, but it was only
traditional
KAMPASPEAK – KAMPAGANDA!
Pssst…. Kampa never revealed which state agency possessed his “secret map” (and the foundation for his digital mapping project to create an incorrect map with an expanded POU), much less how old, obsolete and immaterial that map would be to current circumstances – but he certainly knew the facts.
Pete Kampa has been very disingenuous regarding this subject for over twenty years.
Why would he change now?
My best to you and yours, Lew
88888888888888888
MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT LETTER TO SWRCB RE MARIPOSA PROPOSED ORDER TO SWRCB
ATTORNEY LETTER TO COUNTY COUNSEL
MARIPOSA COUNTY COUNSEL LETTER TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
AGENDA ACTION FORM MARIPOSA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISOR
MARIPOSA COUNTY RESOLUTION NO. 92-13
My best to you and yours, Lew
(Save flint shavings)
(Reference to old style Buffalo Head Nickels and holding on to them so tight they…..well, you know the variations.)
While showering this morning I had a realization of how a common practice integrated into my life (for various things), had been skillfully taught by my Father whose “trick” had been INSPIRED from his living formative years during the Great Depression when millions of Americans desperately wanted for almost everything.
I recall this simple procedure started for me back in the sixties when my brother and I were deemed old enough to “make” our own breakfast orange juice without adult supervision – but with permission naturally. Of course this milestone of maturation may have also doubled as a form of temporary child distraction to insure some limited (and valuable) “parental privacy” that was rapidly disappearing like……, well, orange juice. My brother gave Dad’s eulogy during which he humorously noted how Dad had returned from TDY (Tempory Duty – often extended periods of time when the aircraft was away from home base) and had a sort of TREASURER HUNT set up for us – how a certain amount of money – made up of various denominations of coins (both my brother and I collected coins when younger) – had been placed in a certain area for us to find – kind of like an Easter Egg hunt….. [UPDATE @ 1900hrs: didn’t recall for sure when first posted but Mom confirmed….as my brother had said…..the coins were actually tossed in a snowbank in Grand Forks North Dakota upon Dad’s return! LOL!] – however, in this “returning from TDY reality” there was not quite the “total amount of treasure” as previously understood which naturally kept the two of us preoccupied trying to locate the remainder while Mom and Dad could privately discuss everything that had transpired while separated.
Find a couple….do another count.
Find a few more…do another count….”What’s missing?” Do some math…..
“Keep looking! ….. They’ve got to around here here somewhere!”
“Anything valuable requires protection”
Yup, what a modern and convenient miracle concentrated orange juice was back then without having to cut oranges in half, place them on the “juicer”, pressing and twisting down on the halves with juice, pulp, and seeds squirting and popping out all over the place…especially your eyes!
How could concentrated frozen orange juice in a can possibly be made any better? Well, Dad had a secret to share with us boys regarding his tried and true recipe:
when such containers instructed add “three cans cold water” to that “glob” of previously frozen concentrated product, 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 cans of water could easily be added without noticeable decrease in consistency or flavor.
And like magic an “extra” glass or so of orange juice could be created with every can of prepared concentrated juice! Naturally, subsequent child conducted experiments to increase production of “extra juice” failed because like so many things in life there is a natural and definitive “sweet spot” and regarding concentrated orange juice that spot was a mixture of between 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 cans of water (depending upon the manufacturer) – otherwise the taste and appearance of “too watered-down orange juice” resulted. (As I recall Mom wasn’t wild about the added water recipe but reluctantly went along with the concept – perhaps a result of acknowledging the benefit of having kids also preoccupied with the correct mixture of their breakfast juice as in their searching for treasurer?)
So why did I think of this orange juice recipe while in the shower this morning?
So why did I think of this orange juice recipe in the shower this morning?
Because I have been using the same “almost empty” shampoo container for about a month now without any negative effects – still have plenty of suds, cleansing capability, and a lasting scent just by adding a little water to the bottle after each use.
Just a habit.
So while adding a little water to the shampoo bottle this morning I laughingly muttered to myself and companion
(who was outside the stall patiently waiting for her traditional licking of the shower floor routine)
yet, simultaneously appreciating the fact I was actually sensibly conserving, smiled, looked up and said,
All a matter of perspective I imagine.
My best to you and yours, Lew
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Then for some reason felt the urge to share. Go figure.
When I wrote last year (yesterday – Part 5 of that December 14, 2017 “totally special” Special Meeting – lol) that I believed the LAKE SHORE RANCH LAFCo (Local Agency Formation Commission) approved annexation into the Lake Don Pedro CSD back in 1995 (during PETE KAMPA’s first employment tour with our district, 1994-1997) was split between both TOULUMNE and MARIPOSA COUNTY, I was writing from recall and didn’t have the extra time necessary to research or post the information, so figured I would do a quick update post with the LAFCo map used in the 1995 approval. Both with and with out my traditional blah, blah, blah written comments!
The point I was trying to make was, or rather the question I was raising, is PETE KAMPA once again attempting to funnel PUBLIC RESOURCES THROUGH THIS TUOLUMNE COUNTY MULTI JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN in preparation for ONCE AGAIN using the GUISE OF “SECURING EMERGENCY GROUNDWATER IN CASE OF DROUGHT”, when in actuality like his first EMERGENCY GROUND WELLS, is only continuing his original goal of providing an “ALTERNATE SOURCE” GROUNDWATER SUPPLY to substitute the MERCED RIVER WATER THAT ALREADY DOES, AND WILL CONTINUE TO
to serve the thousands of acres of LAFCo annexed property
KAMPA worked to include twenty years ago?
A district incidentally, which has OPERATED FOR NEAR FORTY YEARS UNDER THAT WATER LICENSE!
Is this failure to mention such a monumental variable to water service in the LAKE DON PEDRO AREA only preparing for some other bullshit Kampa defense of “plausible deniability” when public funds are again obtained through misrepresentation and ultimately misappropriated to KAMPA’s HIDDEN AGENDA FOR ANNEXED PROPERTY SUBSTITUTED GROUND WATER SERVICE CONTINUING TO PAID FOR BY THE 99% OF INNOCENT MR WECs* of the subdivision?
I was curious as to why this sudden hurried push by KAMPA for our district’s involvement with this TUOLUMNE COUNTY “HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN” until recalling Kampa’s LAKE SHORE RANCH project, aka, the “SLUMBERING PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION from 1995” (across from the LDPCSD treatment plant) — had land in TUOLUMNE COUNTY also which might require public funds from that county for development of ground wells for MERCED RIVER WATER SUBSTITUTION for those private land developers outside the WATER LICENSE PLACE OF USE on that side of the county line.
Only those intimately involved (perpetrators and beneficiaries) would know since PETE KAMPA has clamped down on public information even more since his “emergency return” in October 2014 to remedy this OUTSIDE POU CONTINUING FRAUD AGAINST MR WECs.
2018 will be interesting.
*Merced River Water Entitled CustomerS