Water Is Life
Community information:
GPUD – Georgetown Divide Public Utility District
(530)333-4356
* If you have received a $30 per month increase in your
water bill since 2017 & a $100 per month increase in your water bill since
2016 & are concerned about this please read the responses to these
questions & contact your local water department, &/or vote accordingly.
Questions posed to the people directly involved via GPUD in
the water situation on The Divide (Anyone that feels influential on this
situation is welcome to answer this & post their responses.):
What is your name & involvement with GPUD & the
situation?
Do you currently have the ability to make decisions &
enact change over the rates charged to local water customers without taking
legal action, or protesting via political routs?
Are you an elected official, or employee of GPUD? If so,
what is your current salary, or pay rate? Are there any other non monetary
perks you receive from your position?
What is your current position or stance in regards to the
new fees & rate increases?
Were you one of the people that supported the changes &
Why?
Were these changes voted on by the people or something
enacted by the ruling parties in charge of GPUD at the time & were you one
of those members?
What are your overall views & stance on city water?
What is your response & stance on the allegations of
corruption & mismanagement at GPUD?
In your opinion do you believe there are loopholes &
ways to exploit the current GPUD documentation system to cover up, or misinform
the population about expenditures & justification of expenses? What checks
& balances are in place to keep people honest with the people’s money &
how it is spent?
Do you believe that it is wrong to tax someone to live? Do
you believe in the right to Life as an inalienable right & that aside from
oxygen that water is essential to life?
How much water does one person in modern society require to
sustain a happy & harmonious existence? Do you believe that they should
have free access to this life giving resource?
Do you believe there should be restrictions on how water is
used prior to charging for it if it falls within the definition of use for
survival?
Do you believe this person should be provided this base
amount of water at low to no cost? Depending on their income level?
Do you know that a house can be deemed uninhabitable under
slum lord laws, if a landlord does not provide (In California 2,000 gallons per
day) a base amount of water to a renter? Do you believe it is a landlord’s
responsibility to provide a safe & inhabitable living environment &
this base rate, or GPUDS based on the fact that it will affect a person’s
survival, when they can not live without access to water? (Note: it costs a
minimum of $10,000 to drill a well & several thousand dollars for an
inadequate rain catch system. For low income families this puts them at the
mercy of monopolized city water in my opinion.)
Do you believe in taxing private wells, rain catch &
other off grid systems? Why?
Are you part of the lawsuit filed against GPUD? How are you
involved?
Were you involved in the Grand Jury Investigation? How?
What was the result of the Grand Jury investigation? Who was
at fault & why is the community paying for the results instead of the
people at fault?
Out of the 3,774 residential, commercial & irrigation
water customers in this county how many voted for & how many in the
affirmative for these rate changes? How does that number break down into those
categories & how are they defined?
Do you believe that an increase in the water bill by $30 in
one year & $100 in 2 years could be a major hardship on people?
Do you have programs to support low income families to address
this hardship & how do you apply for them? Have you done a study to
determine if this truly alleviates the hardship?
Due to the current tension over this issue, how could you
handle the situation better than you have?
How are you handling the situation better than the people
with the opposite views as you?
Are there currently any health concerns or contaminants
affecting our water supply?
What is the list of chemicals used to treat our water &
how can these adversely affect our health?
Would you be willing to support a fund raising campaign to install
an off grid water catch, filtration & storage system at every home on the
divide?
What do you most disagree with about your opponents opinions
on this situation?
What do you most agree with about your opponents opinions on
this situation?
Why do you love being involved in this situation? What are
you hoping to do to change, or maintain the current situation?
(I feel it is a
sacred duty to have the peoples trust & responsibility over such a crucial
resource. The officers of GPUD are the people’s employees & should act in
their best interests & by the peoples’ authority by majority opinion,
without sacrificing minority rights. This should never be abused!) Do you make
decisions that go against the people’s wishes & why? What checks &
balances are in place that you are held to to keep your actions accountable
& justified?
If GPUD’s revenue is 1.5M over budget from the previous
financial year, why are you not lowering rates to customers?
How will GPUD be held accountable with a cap on the reserve
account & decisions made on how it is spent, when & why? What is the
reserve account specifically in reserve for?
At what point will GPUD be required to lower customer rates
back down to within the expected budget for the year & do the people
approve this budget?
What regulations from the state are effecting these
increases & why?
What part did voters play in this increase? Do community
members need to be accountable for their lack of involvement?
Can you provide an itemized list of the planned budget for
2018? Also an itemized plan for emergencies, etc. that the reserve will be held
for & a limiting list of what will allow access to these reserve funds.
What are your expected improvements in equipment, etc. Do you anticipate
expanding in any way with staff or supply infrastructure? What is the current
amount of the reserve fund?
If you have increased the rates & charged fees to cover
these necessary improvements & for emergencies, why would you need to apply
for a loan? Why are the fees not exactly what you need to resolve & balance
the current financial situation? Is GPUD currently in debt?
Is there a plan to develop the area for increased
population?
Are we retaining all of our water or is some of it released,
or sold out of the area?
What water demand restrictions are placed on developers
& commercial/irrigation agencies?
Are there discounts for residential customers watering food
crops, or maintaining a wet barrier of plant life around their home for fire
prevention?
How will your expenses be justified & who will make sure
you are truthful?
What other sources of revenue does GPUD have other than
rates & fees & how is this allocated?
How are community members able to decide the salaries,
hourly rates & reprocussions for a job poorly done by their employees at
GPUD?
How does a “Standardized” system as opposed to a Tiered
system for our rates make rates proportional to the level of service provided
& how are these levels defined & priced?
What is the WTP Fee of $30.16 on our bill? What is it for
& how is it justified?
What is the Base Rate? Why is it justified to charge this,
when water is not being used? If the state requires the base rate to be the
same regardless of income, what is done if low income families can’t afford the
base rate? Is their water turned off? Are vacant houses, or houses without
tenants racking up water bills & do these bills have to be paid prior to
access to water being restored? Is it right to charge for services, when no service
is being provided? Do you feel these policies are right, or wrong? Should
landlords, or tenants be responsible for these charges?
What are your fixed costs & how much are they?
What are the variable costs anticipated & how will you
implement checks and balances so this open ended need isn’t exploited?
If our base rate covers Fixed costs, why would that ever
need to change, if the fixed costs don’t?
How do community members challenge & have a say in what
you spend their money on?
Is the Base rate $0.0255 per cubic feet the same for
everyone? If this changes based on the size of water meter, what are the
differences in rate & water provided?
With other utilities there are discounts given for
conservation in comparative months for previous years & exceptions given to
people who are using a utility at the heart of their business, or needs for
survival without alternate options, i.e. if you are renting an all electric
house & have no access to a fireplace, or propane for heat, the electric
bill is discounted because you can’t stay warm without using electricity. Why
doesn’t GPUD have these perks & penalties? Is it because we are not in a
drought? Do we have a surpluss of water? If so is there enough water to provide
water for free?
If the Base Rate Covers Fixed Expenses, what does the Water
Use Charge Cover?
A statement on your website says that GPUD is required to be
financially self sufficient. If this is the case then is our water retained
entirely on the divide, or is it provided to other communities? Do they pay for
our water & are the people reimbursed for this by a lessening of our rates
during times of surplus? Are we currently, or are there plans to sell water, or
release it for free off the divide? Is it fair to provide water for free, to other
communities, have us foot the bill for maintenance, or sell water to
communities, without a lightening of the financial burden on our bills? Should
we not provide excess water for free to community members prior to taking on
the needs of other communities?
Are the increases in our water system being made to supply
new housing development, or commercial endeavors? Do you anticipate, or
encourage population growth? Do you support the development of our community?
How much do you expect our population to grow over the next 10 years?
How many years have you lived on the divide & where did
you move from?
Have you held a political position before & what do you
do as your carrier?
Do you feel like you are a good representative of the
community’s wants, needs & way of life on the divide? Do you care about the
forest & our small town mentality, or are you interested in developing a
new area for the city growth do creep into?
~Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions
honestly & transparently. I’m sorry, if I missed something, or worded
something in a way that upset anyone. I just want the community to have an idea
of the people influencing our day to day life.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Cimmarusti
