Last night the City Council approved a new fee study along with a number of fee changes.  Some fees went up and some were actually decreased.  Yes, really.  DECREASED.  The report is page-turner and exciting.  OK, it is a page turner if you stay awake and exciting if you find unsalted popcorn to be “spicy”.  That editorial review aside – there is some interesting data contained within.  I’d like to encourage everyone to take a glance at the report and check the fees you may be paying.  Your thoughts on the pricing is valuable.

You can find the e-Packet HERE.

This is a warning: In tough economic times, scam artists come out from under the rocks and prey on folks who truly need help. If you get one of these emails, delete and move on. These scams are on the increase and everyone should be careful. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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Dear Sir,

I am highly compelled upon strict recommendation, to write you this very urgent and confidential letter.

Urgent?  What possibly could this mean???

I am BARRISTER M. USMAN the Lawyer to MRS. MARIAM ABACHA the wife of the late Nigerian Head of State General Sani Abacha who died of heart – attack on Monday, the 8th of June, 1998.

Clearly, the fact it was a Monday is significant. I just don’t know why…

Upon the sudden and tragic death of her husband, General Abacha, there has been an intensive but secret exercise by the present civilian government to close/freeze all his bank accounts both home and abroad as he was confirmed to have directed a certain percentage of oil proceeds totalling over US$ 500M (FIVE HUNDRED MILLION U. S. DOLLARS) into private bank accounts scattered in several countries of the world; accumulated during his 41/2 years of military rule. An issue that was already on press before his sudden death.

Wait – a secret exercise which was in the press? Then is it still a secret? I don’t know about you, but this is exciting!

Since this exercise started few month ago, my client who is still in confinement has been in a very serious agony and mental stress as the entire family have virtually lost every including landed properties and major investments both home and aborad.

This sounds so sad!.. Good news, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud in the next paragraph!

Luckily, there happens to be a special security account which my client deposited a sum of US$ 51, 357, 000. 00 (FIFTY ONE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND U. S DOLLARS). This fund in my company_s name and is lodged in a Company Security Account Deposits (CSAD) with a West African Sub- Regional Bank. The fear there is that my client is one of the directors and invariably a major shareholder in the company, there exists a possible trace of this fund when once they finish with the accounts/assets principally owned by her husband, the Late Head of State himself.

Uh huh.  Got any bridges to sell?  Blah blah blah…

While it is a joyous moment to make fun of these emails, many still fall prey to them. These scams are easy to spot, but as the economy is weak, con artists are thinking of ways to extract your precious cash from you. Take care of your finances and get appropriate guidance from professionals before engaging in a transaction.

Sacramento cannot take money with one hand and force unfunded, mandated spending with the other.

The Honorable Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Office of the Governor
State Capital Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

It was a pleasure to meet with you on May 12, 2009 in San Jose as you described the news of the May Budget Revise. The news was sobering and, speaking for the elected officials in the room, it was also alarming.

The reality of California enacting its authority under Prop 1A (2004) to borrow funds from local government is terrifying. For San Carlos and our $30M general fund, the loss of a projected $1M in property tax revenue will push us into the worst kind of cuts, including significant cuts in safety.

In the few moments we had to speak, I mentioned delays (or moratoriums) on the state mandated spending programs would be much needed help in the face of the desperate situation threatening local governments. Some examples of these unfunded mandates include:

• $115,000 unfunded spending for NPDES Stormwater represents the additional cost in the first year of the five-year permit term to hire consultants for the various studies and reports that would be required. It is difficult to be sure of costs because many of the permit terms are not clear, but ultimately the entire program cost could be double or triple the $500,000 budgeted for the program from the local stormwater users fee.
• Complete the Streets (State). Beginning January 2011 the new law (AB1358) requires cities and counties to include complete streets policies as part of their general plans so that roadways are designed to safely accommodate all users, including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit riders, children, older people, and disabled people, as well as motorists. While it is hard to know what this will cost in terms of planning or implementation, it is evident that it adds a significant funding burden to San Carlos and other localities.
• Sanitary Sewer Management Plans (State). Required by the State Water Resources Control Board General Waste Discharge Requirements on May 2, 2006. Through this ruling, collection systems became the last major component of the wastewater management system to be regulated. Treatment plants, including pretreatment programs, have been regulated for some time. Each agency operating a collection system is required to prepare and implement a Sanitary Sewer Management Plan comprising 12 elements. This new requirement will cost San Carlos $94,000 to develop an operations and maintenance manual. It is likely that an ongoing inspection program will be needed to obtain compliance with these requirements, which represents a start-up cost of $190,000 and yearly operating costs of $190,000.
• Enforcement of Wastewater NPDES permits (State). The Regional Water Quality Control boards have been continually raising the bar on wastewater NPDES permits when they are renewed and aggressively enforcing any violations. Mandatory Minimum Penalties apply. This is one of the reasons why the SBSA must invest $260 million to renew and upgrade the treatment plant and conveyance system.
• Addressing Climate Change in CEQA (State). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research has updated CEQA guidelines to require local agencies to address climate change. This requires additional consulting costs on all projects, both public and private.

Governor, local governments are committed to the good agendas these laws were created to enact.
Local governments are committed to getting California’s economy moving forward.
Local governments are also where Californians truly witness these hard budget times.

We are looking for strong, pragmatic leadership to recognize this simple truth: Sacramento cannot take money with one hand and force unfunded, mandated spending with the other.

I urge you to help us put pragmatic controls on the mandated spending being required of local governments. I look forward to working with you and to helping restore California’s economy quickly so we can return to meeting our environmental and other commitments.

With kind regards I am –

/S/
Omar Ahmad
San Carlos City Council

The Governor came to talk to elected officials today in San Jose.  We knew he was bringing bad news, we just didn’t know how bad.

• The Bad News: the Governor  explained the “May Revise”  of the budget would reveal a stunning $15.4 Billion deficit.
• The Worse News: if Propositions 1A-F do not pass, the deficit will be $21.3 Billion.
• The Really-Vile News: In the case of the $21.3 deficit, the legislature will likely enact the law allowing the state to “borrow” funds from local governments.

The meaning for San Carlos – about $900,000 of our property tax dollars will go to the state.

Ouch.

Loudon Wainwrite III penned a song about a skunk in the middle of the road. The chorus includes the phrase “stinkin’ to high heaven…” Welcome to initiative 1A-F coming to an election on May 19.

There is nothing to like about any of this. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Sacramento excited about these propositions. As a result of arcane budget laws the public is now subject to the unfiltered sausage-making of the legislature and voters are now faced with the deciding vote.

Very simply the questions 1A-F ask are not as important as the unstated, critical question: Shall California conclude this budget goat-rodeo and start working on the challenges facing the state or shall we endure another several-month-long round of partisan gridlock with virtually no likelihood of a new budget deal

The wrench in the system is the requirement of a 2/3rd majority approval for the state to pass a budget. This system is unique to Arkansas, Rhode Island and California. Forty-seven states, the very-blue and very-red, have a majority vote to pass a budget. In California’s case, the ideologues of party mechanics can hold the budget, and the state, hostage with the fervor of a dogma-heavy fringe minority.

A real fix will have to take place in eliminating this rather arcane point of law. Before we can do that, we need our state to get to work

Some will argue legislators should be locked in the capitol chamber and water-boarded until a better deal is made. While schadenfreude may make one smile – there will be no “better” deals made in Sacramento. Ideologues have taken measure to exact “revenge” on those who voted in favor of a budget deal. The members of those factions who remained “loyal” will not deal, and those who did are on their way out of elected office.

We will not get a better deal until we fix the 2/3 rule.

Frankly, current events require getting California back in shape and looking to long term fixes for the mechanics of how our state works and what we can do to move it forward.

I’ll be holding my nose as I vote for these initiatives and start working immediately on the initiatives to overturn the 2/3rd budget rule.