These “Ranch News letters”, sent to constituents/friends of Emery & Betsy Ross, include the typical one-sided political propaganda they have infamously manufactured for over twenty years.   “Ranching Lake Don Pedro”?  Certainly the material is cow related, usually a ranch musing or observation, advertisement, or repeated cattle subject by another, but always political.   Carried in a free, every two week local paper.  And the reason for the enormous mailing list of customers all over the world?  It carries the “DISCOVERER” newsletter for the Lake Don Pedro Owners Association (LDPOA).   Pretty slick huh?

No seriously, think about it, it was a built in winner from the get go for an area devoid of a daily local newspapers most folks take for granted else where.  Sure, there’s online newspapers now, and other city newspapers will deliver here, but I mean something local pertaining to the Lake Don Pedro area.  What’s happening here that affects the residents and future residents.  Not just for the locals who are scratching out a home in this sometimes hostile foothill environment, but also for the over half who are absentee owners.

OH BOY!    NEW ISSUE OF THE FOOTHILL EXPRESS!

Prior to moving up here full time I would often read my Foothill Express/Discoverer from cover to cover wanting to know more about the area.  Extremely interesting when compared to a city newspaper.  One every two weeks.  Often by the time I receieved it, whatever I may have been interested in attending was already over!  lol  Anyway, I enjoyed reading the “local news” and found myself agreeing with some of the regular commentators and “Letter to the Editor” writers.

Somewhere in all this <linked together thought processing>(sometimes do not recall if posted or not){Sometimes I fail to Update properly}[Sometimes like now it is “spontaneous writing” complete with multiple error corrections] stuff …I believe I eluded to being disappointed with learning the truth about some people because it was more pleasant believing in the facade of their integrity.  What I mean is, I previously read what these people had written and believed it on “face value” that they were legitimately expressing what they believed while promising to do an honest job for their community.   I fell for it “hook, line and sinker”.  Fortunately I had enough time to “spit some of these hooks” and discover who was working the lines.  So sad.  ANYWAY, some of the absentee owners are not close enough to visit their LDPOA property regularly and having at least some source of information was/is fortunate.

OH NO!  WHAT’S HE GOING TO SAY NOW?

So Emery and Betsy did it right with their friends and former publishers and received positive name recognition through the interesting career perspective as a cattle rancher in Lake Don Pedro.  Plus the added benefit of having influence and control over what information the public might be exposed.   I noticed in the recent edition Emery and Betsy Ross are supporting the current Foothill Express owner, Debbie Cook, who is challenging District II County Supervisor Merlin Jones. (Undoubtedly there will be more on that.)   I remember wondering, when the former owners/publishers announced they were leaving, what the heck Emery was going to do?    Question answered.

Yup, nothing wrong with being a rancher, many young children grew up with dreams of being a cowboy thanks to television programs like Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Rifleman, The High Chaparral, etc.   Absolutely nothing wrong with the occupation at all, except in this case – the deceitful way in which  that dream was facilitated with public resources and decades of obstructionism regarding district functions.  Not the sort of cowboy behavior I learned from those shows as a kid.  Now I understand a bit more why Emery and Betsy have been so involved in local LDPCSD politics through the many years – they had something to hide and protect.

ANWAY, here’s the cover page to the December 2010 Ross Ranch News issue which contained the grand announcement of Emery’s latest political accomplishment.  (I’ll locate the other pages hopefully):

“Emery won re-election this year to the Board of Directors of the Lake Don Pedro Community Services District on the November ballot, and was also re-elected President of the Board this month.”

Sounds impressive – just like the resume of PETE KAMPA until you understand how some of these accomplishments were actually achieved.  (ie, PETE KAMPA and his “KAMPA COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS, llc” management corporation being appointed as the new general management authority for our LDPCSD.  ON its face the information sounds complimentary until you understand it was accomplished through: a director providing confidential information to his long time friend; failure of the LDPCSD to publicly notify of the GM position vacancy;  immediate same day Board appointment of KAMPA & corporation without any traditional background check and/or verification of submitted information in the application – all this plus – the applicant had prior employment history with LDPCSD and left amid a number of customer complaints that remained opened and unresolved.)  But of course, no one knows this outside of the few that might visit this site.  Reminds me of a bumper sticker I have pinned above my desk:

IF YOU’RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

lol

I enjoy the nondescript truism of this statement because there’s all sorts of stuff we’d be outraged about if we did the research and were able to discover the truth ….but who has time for that?  Ignorance is bliss -aye?

WHO DOES THE MOST DAMAGE?

You know, what is really so reprehensible about such conduct is the fact PETE KAMPA is a highly trained water industry professional who has actually instructed other CSD employees and government officials in the proper way to administer and conduct special district business.  Similar to the difference between a common low-level criminal and an experienced crooked cop who knows exactly how to circumvent the law. 

Who typically does the most damage to a community?

This leads us back to the different perspectives of what customers and the voting public consider as ethical, or acceptable, conduct by their “leaders” and/or what nonsense they are willing to tolerate.

ANYWAY, it is most unfortunate that those exposed to such propaganda rarely discover the “flip side” of these long published self-serving advertisements by E&B Ross.  The fact of the matter is, only three months later Emery resigned as president of the board due to a Mariposa County Grand Jury investigation and their subsequent recommendation that he do so (resign as president).  ROSS Resigns due to Grand Jury Recommendation

Also do not forget another Director at that time completely resigned from the Board following a “no contest” plea for providing false information to a Grand Jury investigator.  (Old Posting:  NOLO CONTENDERE PLEA BY VICKI KEEFE)

MORE INFO ON ROSS RANCH: RANCHO SANTA TERESA

later.