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Hey everyone. This page is for you, The Divide Community. Its meant to be a Hub for easily accessing information about our local water, especially information relating to GPUD & the fees & rate increases some of you, who don't own a well, have seen on your current water bills. Recently I posted a series of questions I had about the situation on Facebook posed to the community at large & especially to candidates, employees of GPUD & anyone upset with the current state of things to respond to, if they so chose. I decided that, due to the evasion by self proclaimed experts in this issue & interest by the followers on the Facebook group The Divide & an overwhelming amount of information that I never thought I would be expected to personally sort through (it would take years), that building a website was an easier way than trying to maintain one post to keep us all connected on the feedback I got from asking those questions. My hope is that I won't be the only one that gets involved in researching the answers to these questions & that anyone that cares about our vital water resource being managed properly will take on one or several topics to provide me answers with documentation to back them up. Then maybe we can get to the bottom of what is really going on with our water supply. In my opinion based on the reaction to my questions, the current individuals in power & striving for power over this small town board, while they may be very passionate about their views & correct in their veiled statements they use to manipulate & sway the people to their opinions, are not honest & forthright about their real motivations, or the reasons behind these new rates & fees, nor the supposed opposition of these fees. Just because someone says something happened doesn't mean they have proof. I want some documentation to base my opinions on & it would honestly take me years to sort through all this mess on my own. I just hope that you the people of our community know that there are factions out there manipulating this water situation for their own gain. The self proclaimed heros are not what they appear. The people accused by the people raising an out cry are not innocent of their own machinations. Just be really careful how you vote this election because there are individuals behind the scene trying to take the people's voice away who have ulterior motives, agendas & really nasty ways of being. This website is going to be a temporary resource & will only last so long as the people are interested, so read it, tell me what you think & protest at the board meetings, etc. if you aren't happy with how our life giving resource is being manipulated to control us. Water is Life.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

The Original Questions


Water Is Life

Community information:
GPUD – Georgetown Divide Public Utility District
6425 Main St.
Georgetown, CA 95634
(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

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