Privatize the profits...socialize the losses

(I thought I invented the headline "Privatize the profits..." but in doing some research I see that there's a million other people out there using it. Oh well...I still like it.)

I try to stay focused on local issues most of the time but sometimes the national and global events are just too compelling to let pass.

Can you believe that bill that Congress passed to bail out the "400,000 homeowners" at risk of losing their homes?

It's going to cost the taxpayers $ 25 billion. The CEO's of those two companies(yes Fannie and Freddie are private entities - not government programs) pulled in $32 million in the last two years as these companies went down the tubes.


What's sad is that this was all so predictable. When the Federal Reserve stopped reporting M3 several years ago, it was a hint of the problems we're facing today. Printing all that money just prolonged the agony a few more years.

Isn't it strange that all of these Harvard and Yale MBA's couldn't see this coming? What about GM not being able to forecast the need for vehicles with better gas mileage? All the money in the world can't buy an education that has more value than common sense.

Here's another fun website to checkout.

Stormwater Update

You are probably aware by now of the writ of mandate to the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board to cease and desist from any permit activities for stormwater treatment. The LAWRQCB is ordered to revise the standards for stormwater treatment and to consider the economic and social impacts of the permit.

This is great news and let's hope that it will affect the future chloride TMDL's as well as stormwater treatment.

Here are some links if you want to learn more;

• Writ of Mandate
• Ventura County Draft Permit
• Citizens's letter to LARWQCB (feel free to copy all or part for your own letters)

In the meantime, it is still prudent to reduce our stormwater pollutants as much as possible. How do we do that? There are solutions that we can implement now to help avoid future costs.

1. The number one problem causing runoff is develpment and pavement. We are currently requiring new development to treat the stormwater increases that they cause.
2. Trash. Remember the "Don't be a litterbug" campaign? It seemed to help for awhile but there is still a lot of trash being thrown on the streets.
3. Street cleaning; As I mentioned at the workshop, the street cleaner is not able to perform properly because there are too many cars left parked in the street. Santa Paula gave out tickets on street cleaning day. Something to think about? I hate tickets as sources of revenue since it's a way to tax without a vote but I wouldn't mind seeing cleaner streets.
4. Grants: The Prop 84 sustainability grant program will give preference to communities that include "Ahwahnee or Sustainability Principles, GHG and energy efficiencies". We should be adopting some of these principles in our General Plan for future grant opportunities.

Where's the cuts?

Remember last month when the sewer bill was increased to $72 rather than $85? We were told that staff and consultants had really worked hard to cut costs and save that extra $13 a month.

If only...

Sorry, but there were no cuts or cost savings. Here's an analysis of the new revised numbers. The items that were removed from the expenses were the line items for new sewer plant operations. The new sewer plant won't be online for a year so those expenses weren't needed anyway.

The only actual budget reduction was the amount for the delinquency allowance. There was an anticipation of about $257,000 expensed due to non-payment of sewer bills. Now that that new ordinace requires landlords to put the water/sewer bill in their name, the strategy is that if the tenants don't pay their bills, the City can put a lien on the landlord. As a landlord myself, I think it's a bad idea since you can't control how much the tenant uses. Anyway, that expense has been reduced to $51,500.

Actually, there was one increase in the proforma. Salaries - starting in 2010. The 4/4/07 proforma had an annual 3% increase in salaries built in. An update on 4/27/08 bumped it another 3.9%. The new proforma expenses include an additional 8.3% per year! So, in 2010 and at least through 2016, a big jump for a total of 15.5% per year.

Here's the comparision Chart


~Enjoy

Housing Overload to Farmland Boom...

Look at this amazing graphic from the New York Times. According to the census department vacancies are running about 10%. Our neighborhood is seeing vacancies and some people walking away from their homes. The for rent homes don't seem to be on the market for long though.

This is another article from the New York Times finance pages. Food production is so dependent on the cost of oil that investors are looking to "monetize" every step of the food chain.

Food Is Gold, and Investors Pour Billions into Farming June 7, 2008 12:32 PM - , Organic Consumers Association Huge investment funds have already poured hundreds of billions of dollars into booming financial markets for commodities like wheat, corn and soybeans. But a few big private investors are starting to make bolder and longer-term bets that the world's need for food will greatly increase - by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators and shipping equipment. ..rest of story here...

p.s. I just tested the links and realized that you have to register to view the NYT articles. Sorry about that - but - the registration is free!

Crude Oil is $127/BBL...yikes!

If you've heard me speak about our sewer plant, you know that one of my biggest concerns is the extremely high amount of energy that it will use(when Bert Rapp and I first had this conversation in 2006, oil was about $62/BBL). The Micromedia and Vertreat options could have provided Title 22 water quality with a much lower energy use - but - the Council had no will to change the direction we were headed(I won't even bring up PERC). What will this mean to us in the next 5 - 10 years and beyond? I understand the value of enhanced treatment and recycling water, but what if energy turns out to be in shorter supply than water?

Anyway, back to the subject, here is a Washington Post article by author, James Howard Kunstler, discussing "Peak Oil"...

"the truth is that no combination of solar, wind and nuclear power, ethanol, biodiesel, tar sands and used French-fry oil will allow us to power Wal-Mart, Disney World and the interstate highway system -- or even a fraction of these things -- in the future...

...So what are intelligent responses to our predicament? First, we'll have to dramatically reorganize the everyday activities of American life. We'll have to grow our food closer to home, in a manner that will require more human attention. In fact, agriculture needs to return to the center of economic life. We'll have to restore local economic networks -- the very networks that the big-box stores systematically destroyed -- made of fine-grained layers of wholesalers, middlemen and retailers...

...We'll also have to occupy the landscape differently, in traditional towns, villages and small cities. Our giant metroplexes are not going to make it, and the successful places will be ones that encourage local farming."

Read the entire article here.

Procrastination can be fun...

Was it Erma Bombeck or Ann Landers who use to say "slap me with a wet noodle" when she was in trouble? Anyway, my blog neglect is certainly causing trouble for some and a little for me.

Mostly it's that little voice in my head that says I want to share something with you readers but then there's something else to do; play tennis or golf, do laundry or shop and what about those Council meetings? There's just not enough time to do all the wonderful things that fill our lives.

I have a confession. I'm a software junkie. I love to search for and download and test all kinds of software. Several years ago I wrote a database program for a Title I school district to track student assessments over the years. It was challenging but fun ...like crossword puzzles...(from he**)

I have this fantasy that there is a program out there that will manage my life and keep me organized and productive. Oh, and record my blood pressure and Dr. visits too. There are a lot of good productivity tools out there. Using the tools(software) is so cool! I can plan and create and evaluate and be productive...well maybe not so much. It's the doing the stuff on my list that seems to be a problem.

Why am I telling you this? Because I've unsubscribed from my software testing lists to have more time for blogging. This doesn't mean I'll quit my habit but I just won't get distracted by it every day. LOL!

Here are two you might enjoy; www.giveawayoftheday.com and www.bitsdujour.com

And here's a link to software I'm testing right now and really enjoying; www.gemx.com

I love the graphics and all of the modules of the doOrganizer. Be sure and check out the MindMapper module. A lot of creative teams use mind mapping for projects nowadays. Visual mapping is easier to understand(hence those nifty McDonald's cash registers with pictures on them).

We'll get back to serious discussions soon...and I don't know where Claire's blog is. Maybe it is being redesigned(that's on my list too)

Hot Topic

I just want to make a brief statement about Chief Egedi's issue and then I don't think that anyone should be making statements until all of the facts are known.

First, I'm hearing a lot of wild comments in town but unless you are one of the participants how would you know what has transpired?

If allegations prove to be false, look at the harm that is being done to families for no good reason.

Now, I hear that there is a long history of disillusionment and disappointment with Fillmore politics. Up until the last couple of years, I was contentedly ignorant with my head in the sand.

Without that long history of disillusionment, I try to take everything I hear with a grain of salt and work really hard to determine the facts before I make any judgements. Although I am outspoken on many City issues, I withhold a lot of comments just to make sure I give the benefit of doubt. It is my belief that all of us are doing the best we can to do the right thing. I've been proven wrong on that count a few times but it remains my default position.

So, let's give these families some space to sort things out without adding extra "fuel to the fire" so to speak.