Politics & Government

Sanitary district fires back letter

In response to demonstration at supervisors meeting, Ross Valley Sanitary District calls on supervisors to remove themselves from investigation.

Following a bombardment of complaints about the Ross Valley Sanitary District during the public open time at the Board of Supervisors meeting last week, the sanitary district has responded with a letter urging the supervisors to distance themselves from the group of complainants.

"This event may only be described as a trial orchestrated by accusers, to convict defenders who were not present, nor invited to provide a defense," the letter, signed the Ross Valley Sanitary District, begins.

The testimony presented during open time last Tuesday included concerns about the district raised by Larkspur Council Member Dan Hilmer, Corte Madera Council Member John Dupar, San Anselmo Mayor Barbara Thornton, and former San Anselmo Council Member Peter Breen. Fairfax Mayor Lew Tremaine and Ross Mayor Chris Martin were also supposed to come speak but couldn't due to scheduling concerns.

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Hillmer also presented a large chart to the supervisors claiming that rate increases have gone up, as have salaries and overhead, while the amount of money spent on pipe repairs has gone down.

Read about the concerns raised last week and the sanitary district's answers here.

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"We kind of came together, because we all have had concerns that have been expressed over time," said Thornton.

Thornton said a number of her constituents have raised questions about the fee increases and that her concerns about the district go back four or five years.

"I felt something wasn't right, but I didn't really know how to approach it," she said.

At the supervisors meeting, Supervisor Hal Brown requested that staff look into the accusations raised about high legal costs and salaries at a time of economic downturn.

"The best response we can give, and its not much of a response, is to look into some of these assertions," said Brown at the meeting.

But the letter from the sanitary district argues that it was inappropriate for the board of supervisors to take any action, because the discussion was conducted during the public comment time and the district had not been notified.

The district alleges that the supervisors "tainted the process, which calls into question the neutrality and impartiality of the effort."

The letter states that the supervisors did not hold the people speaking against the sanitary district to the standard three minute allowed to members of the public, that they only heard one side of the issue, that they did not table the discussion for a future agenda in order to notify all parties, and that the called for investigation is not be conducted fairly.

Primarily, the district feels that these issues are being raised solely to attempt to force the Ross Valley Sanitary District into consolidation. The letter points out that one individual who spoke – though he wasn't names it was clear the letter referred to Rick Holland of Fairfax – has led an active and sometimes hostile campaign to force the district to consolidate with other districts in the area.

Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who served on the San Rafael Sanitary District board previously, did say at the meeting that consolidation efforts in the past "were unilaterally thwarted by concerns that Ross Valley raised at the time."

Sanitary District Board Member Johnson said that the Ross Valley district is the best financed and has the most pipe and that consolidation would give other districts those resources while forcing the Ross Valley Sanitary District to take on the liabilities of San Rafael or Corte Madera.

"It's scary actually," she said.

Kinsey also noted, however, that the voters had the opportunity to vote for other candidates for the sanitary district board and chose not to. This past election saw the return of both incumbents running, Peter Sullivan and Pat Guasco, along with the election of newcomer Pam Meigs.

Ultimately, the letter calls on the supervisors to withdraw themselves from the issue and recognize that they have no oversight over the sanitary district.

"The Ross Valley Sanitary District requests your board to retract itself from this manufactured conflict, and allow the people of the Ross Valley the right to self government and due process under the law," the letter says.

It then closes with this quote from Gandhi: An error does not become truth by reason of multiple propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.


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