Yes, I know some would say it is a matter of splitting hairs, but I wholeheartedly disagree.
When you consider only some of the highlights:
thirty five years of public agency deceit and betrayal to 3,128 legal customers under Water License 11395; decades of festering community turmoil; obstruction by a 20 year chlorinated water cattle ranching special interest director who had started the business with a “liberated water meter” and is repeatedly elected to office by voters who neither use LDPCSD water or pay a thin dime to the district because of the way in which expanded district service boundaries were drawn by “water empire” inspired District employees and Directors, real estate and land development speculators; grand paper GIS illusions of an enormous water provider smack dab in the middle of drought prone Sierra Nevada fractured rock foothills; approved by the respective County LAFCos of Tuolumne and Mariposa without confirmation of alleged District assurances of being able to even provide water to proposed and/or approved land developments, [LDPCSD CANNOT legally serve any of its 5,160 acre feet a year of MERCED RIVER WATER outside the PLACE OF USE regulations of LICENSE 11395; a private water line without adequate “check meters” running through the director’s cattle ranch that had been specifically denied water prior to and during property acquisition; the very long history of significant unexplained LDPCSD water loss; a multi-million dollar land development/mortgage corporation employee on the board of directors and acting as LDPCSD GM; the unsolved February 27, 2012 arson of our administration office during research and investigation into the OUTSIDE PLACE OF USE ISSUE (the transfer of Merced River Water outside the permitted Place of Use under L11395 and the GROUND WATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM TO REMEDY THOSE ILLEGAL SURFACE WATER TRANSFERS), and all the little mistakes, errors, accidents, coincidences, failures, omissions, etc. ……
<take a breath Lew>
consider also the hundreds of millions of dollars (perhaps more) currently in play between private and public interests such as the MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT and its FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC) hydroelectric re-licensing endeavor along with the proposal to raise the spillway of LAKE McCLURE to hold more water and possibly backup the YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK born MERCED RIVER maybe all the way to Briceburg CA amid concerns and challenges by environmentalists anticipating the potential destruction of the MERCED RIVER WILD AND SCENIC PROTECTED DESIGNATION…. so many things simultaneously seeming independent yet interconnected, bouncing off one another at one point yet later meandering in harmonious partnership at another, yet all the while, these interests are orbiting about the central and unifying gravitational pull of BIG MONEY WHICH incorporates the satellite philosophy of “at any cost —- as long as another pays”.
an active “cover-up theory” appears to be gaining more reality traction with every passing day.
Blah, blah, blah…. regular viewers (hopefully) already know and understand this.
Back to the point: PETE KAMPA, aka KAMPA COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS LLC, the current Interim General Management of the LDPCSD, advised at the MARCH 21, 2016 Monthly LDPCSD Board Meeting that the USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT required re-publishing of something.
<AUDIO RECORDING> GROUND WELL PROJECT UPDATE BY KAMPA
“But it’s been also waiting to hear from USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT that has been many, many hours every single month …an, it’s been, just ahh, a zoo trying to get them to commit to the grant. They’ve been working with us since February of last year …we followed everyone of their requirements, ahh the most recent one that we did was, republish in the newspaper again to meet ahh a current request, that was submitted to them late last week we hope to hear any day because I’ve got the DWR grant on hold until I hear back from them, kind of on hostage…..” P Kampa
THIS IS WHAT KAMPA SAID WAS “REPUBLISHED”
SORRY FOR THIS INSERT & forgive the other mistakes. I’m a little tired but felt this important enough to add. I was listening to the audio over and over to make sure I had the right transcription of the KAMPA KOMMENT correct but hearing him use that word “hostage” again in that sense just hit me wrong –
ON HOSTAGE? HOW DARE YOU USE A WORD LIKE “HOSTAGE” CONCERNING PUBLIC FUNDS IT APPEARS AS THOUGH YOU SECURED BY MISREPRESENTING THE FACTS TO THE USDA AND OTHER STATE WATER AGENCIES!
WHAT ABOUT THE 3,128 (approx 99%) OF LEGAL MERCED WATER USING HOSTAGES in the LAKE DON PEDRO RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION victimized by your SPECIAL BENEFIT RE-CONFIGURING OF OUR SURFACE WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO FURNISH WATER TO THOSE PROPERTIES THIS NON-PROFIT PUBLIC AGENCY COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT HAS NO LEGAL DUTY OR MORAL OBLIGATION TO SERVE!
YOU PETE KAMPA & KOMPANY SHOULD BE FOCUSED on your duties of providing water to the property owners for whom that surface water treatment plant was designed, constructed, and intended to serve in the first place. People have been programed to believe “COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT” equates to anyone needing water in the general area of the LAKE DON PEDRO SUBDIVISION, I do not believe California regulations and approved plans and orders support that position.
The people in this subdivision have a legally designed process that requires them only to pay for the costs in providing that which they receive – and they do not receive anything from KAMPA & KOMPANY catering to private special interests except higher bills!
Say it with me viewers (should I be using pom-poms or doing gymnastics or something also? lol)
THEY DID NOT WANT SUBDIVISION PROPERTY WITH WATER-
BUT ONLY SUBDIVISION WATER ON THEIR PROPERTY!
Yes indeed, the actual “HOSTAGES” (if such a word should even be used during the current war on terrorism where the word is used properly) are the legal customers who have been paying for this third party special benefit water service for decades by boards of directors with BUILT IN OBSTRUCTIONISM because elections are often determined by voters within “Expanded District Boundaries” who
- do not receive water
- cannot legally be served water under L11395
- must provide their own “alternate source of water” (ground well water)
- pay nothing to the district
- yet can vote in district elections and determine outcomes?
That’s not right…what is that called again? Oh yeah – GERRYMANDERING!
$&$&$&$&$
“In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan-advantaged districts. The resulting district apportionment is known as a gerrymander (/?d??ri?mænd?r/); however, that word can also refer to the process. When used to allege that a given party is gaining disproportionate power, the term gerrymandering has negative connotations.
In addition to its use achieving desired electoral results for a particular party, gerrymandering may be used to help or hinder a particular demographic, such as a political, ethnic, racial, linguistic, religious, or class group, such as in U.S. federal voting district boundaries that produce a majority of constituents representative of African-American or other racial minorities, known as “majority-minority districts“.
$&$&$&$&$
Hey folks – add to this already unfair “set up environment” the fact that over half of the LDPCSD legitimate customer base are availability customers (LDPCSD fees paid with property taxes for future water service on their property) and are prohibited from voting in district elections due to respective county residency requirements!
Owners of property who receive no water and are legally prohibited from receiving MERCED RIVER water, pay nothing to the district yet can still never-the-less possess a voting power in district elections while legal future MERCED RIVER water users who have paid decades of availability fees on property taxes can not?
Wow. What a hi-jacked system.
KAMPA & KOMPANY wants to talk about “hostages”? What a bunch of duplicitous, underhanded, sneaky …… (1 2 3 5 ………breathe Lew, breathe…… back to subject of “republish in newspaper again” KAMPA KOMMENT…..)
REPUBLISH?
NOT CORRECT KOLONEL KAMPA. The above PUBLIC NOTICE was published in the MARIPOSA GAZETTE because it WAS NOT published in the DECEMBER 2015 issue as it should have been. The USDA required publication in the local newspaper of general circulation and as we all know up here in LAKE DON PEDRO that can be tricky business since the LDPCSD serves customers in both TUOLUMNE COUNTY and MARIPOSA COUNTY. Double the pleasure, double the fun huh?
Different county regulations, rules, laws, procedures, and of course different local publications of general circulation that carry legally mandated PUBLIC NOTICES for that county to “inform the public” as to various legal matters – past, present and taking place in the future. Naturally the Sonora Union Democrat is published out of the city of Sonora in Tuolumne County and the Mariposa Gazette is published – yes! Toss that viewer a cookie! In the town of Mariposa, in (please only one cookie per topic) Mariposa County.
The LDPCSD in November had a notice published announcing the “availability” of this project grant money in both the Sonora Union Democrat and the Mariposa Gazette, however, after the 30 day comment period, the ”Notice of a finding of no significant impact (FONSI)” was only published in the Sonora Union Democrat. That is how I was able to view it last Sunday night in the online version of the Mariposa Gazette and thus able to pass it on to you folks.
So the recent publishing of the FONSI in the Gazette was actually the first time this information was published, not a republishing as advised by IGM PETE KAMPA. Still, the public comment period has passed. That just doesn’t seem right. How could anyone comment about what KAMPA & KOMPANY were doing during the comment period in November-December when the actual conflicting activity did not take place until February of the next year?
Still seems like an exigent circumstance which should stop the process and generate a serious investigation as to what KAMPA & KOMPANY were doing with our pubic funds.
NO NEW WATER SERVICE CONNECTIONS ALLOWED?
This is really interesting – it is my understanding that the grant application process for that $500,000 grant specifically stated the MONEY WAS NOT TO BE USED FOR EXPANDING WATER SERVICE, whether inside the legal place of use under L111395 or out. The location didn’t matter – no new service connections – period. I am waiting for a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Officer to approve the request and calculate the copying costs for the between 125-150 page document. I don’t see why there should be an issue acquiring it though since it involves information about public money going to a pubic agency and will be forwarded to the public.
IF GRANT CONDITIONS STATED NO NEW CONNECTIONS…..
QUESTION: Then why was the LDPCSD Board on February 16th 2016 quickly trying to abolish the Resolution which prohibited further water connections outside the legal PLACE OF USE?
(Recall many things were in motion. MID knew a FOIA was coming but it just happened to get lost in route from West Sacramento to Merced. LDPCSD Board President Danny Johnson thinks our attorney should re-name the “Outside MID POU properties” report because it sounded too negative [was this the suggestion of an MID employee when they tipped off LDPCSD to the FOIA request]? THEN once finally receiving a walk-in FOIA request, MID eventually responds but develops some convenient selective memory problems refusing to acknowledge 15+ years of MID REQUESTED monthly water license 11395 compliance reporting by the LDPCSD? Strange, huh?)
ANSWER: Because new wells that were planned and constructed with public funds for that purpose (serving water outside permitted areas requiring ground water substitution) were coming on line; some customers were starting to ask inconvenient questions about questionable district activities; and water thirsty land developers and speculators had been advocating and waiting for an “alternate source of water” for a VERY LONG TIME!
EVEN MORE TO THE POINT – it is also my understanding that had the USDA been aware of this surreptitious plan for the grant money those funds would not have been provided to the LDPCSD.
NOT ONLY THAT, but the USDA had no idea about the history of RANCHITO WELL #1 or the fact it was a REMEDY WELL TO PRODUCE WATER TO REPLACE MERCED RIVER WATER THAT ILLEGALY LEFT THE PLACE OF USE!
KAMPA AND KOMPANY are using a legal remedy that was designed to fix multiple violations of the water license restrictions (one ground well) and turning it into a permanent “alternate source” supply water to provide properties with ground well water that are not entitled to under 11395! What a con game.
That is big news. I’m waiting to hear about my request to purchase that “whole enchilada”, but while our appetites are growling in anticipation of that full meal of information, how about a small tidbit just a morsel of more truth that has been removed from our rightful plates of understanding.
Here are two maps submitted by PETE KAMPA documenting the LDPCSD Water Service area, yet gosh darn it, he never told the USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT agent the reason we only had one well after decades of operation was because we violated the terms of L11395 so much the MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT demanded we monthly compliance report about the pumping and diversion of MERCED RIVER WATER outside the permitted PLACE OF USE. Now, if it is true the grant would not be awarded if this information was made known – regardless of what KAMPA planned, seems to me this is still a material misrepresentation of the facts to obtain 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS to THEN WRONGFULLY USE TO EXPAND SERVICE.
Two different crimes in my mind. Intentional misrepresentation of the facts to first secure the $500,000, and then the intent to misappropriate, not to mention the continuing deceit and fraud against the 3,128 legitimate customers of this district. In my pissed-off not so humble opinion I might add, which of course doesn’t mean squat. State and/or Federal authorities need to investigate and figure out why our district is headed in such a direction without a vote of the 3,128 customers it is supposed to be serving. Only the State and/or Feds can help as the Mariposa County District Attorney has refused. Here are the maps showing just what I thought they would – an expanded service area with no explanation as to why such properties were not originally included.
Now here’s our District Service Boundary (map provided by MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT HOLDER OF LICENSE 11395) which is approved for, and follows, the subdivision boundary. Notice that 1,000 acre subdivision is not included. The district has operated under L11395 for over 35 years.
OK Which map do you think people wanting water outside of the subdivision DO NOT WANT?
That’s right, the middle one. Our district service area was planned to be served under the water license by pumping MERCED RIVER WATER from LAKE McCLURE to our SURFACE WATER TREATMENT PLANT and treated, stored and distributed to the properties within the subdivision. PERIOD.
Remember how words were added to the draft of the agreement?
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION APPROVAL
THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION APPROVED THIS ON JANUARY 21st, 1981:
and NOT
WHAT THE LDPCSD HAS TOLD CUSTOMERS FOR DECADES REGARDING THE DISTRICT’S PERMITTED SERVICE AREA:
GOSH! Once again, sure seems like misrepresentation to everyone involved, the 3,128 legal customers within the Lake Don Pedro subdivision and the USDA.
Sure seems more and more like a “massive cover-up” between LDPCSD and the MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT, but who else is involved?
Got to go – I have fallen waaaaay behind.
My best to yours, Lew