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Reduce water…and continue building? Huh?
Also, the Pentagon and insurance companies see climate change as huge threats. Politicians hedge their bets through campaign contributions. The a pentagon and insurance companies cannot afford to allow processes of urbanization in coastal zones that might be underwater. Florida everglades are.infused with salt water. Civil unrest might result from youth confined in coastal urban areas where 40% of the world's populations reside. San Diego has blinders on about water shortages. Developers and labor unions do not want to hear this message. Taxes will have to go up. Desalination at Carlsbad cost a billion dollars and will provide a small percentage of necessary water. Local politics will not cope with these inconvenient messages. Neither the right nor the left can deal with the implications. San Diego is well behind the curve. Old guys are incapable of discarding the normalcy bias and young people are in a lost generation. Michael Aguirre preached water infrastructure. Now he looks like Nostradamous. Anthropogenic climate change is probably real. What is plan B? It looks like business as usual as with everything else. Time will tell.— April 7, 2015 6:48 a.m.
Reduce water…and continue building? Huh?
Climate change diverted the jet stream north increasing temperatures there. That has left San Diego in a drought. What we thought was "normal" was a relatively wet period. You can say we are reverting to a normal, drier period. California was warned as early as 1981 to spend on water infrastructure. I doubt that San Diego should continue to add population. Developers will disagree. More people means more greenhouse gases, although that is a worldwide problem. Agriculture should eliminate crops that require lots of water such as rice, cotton and almonds. There is no way to create the infrastructure in a few years. Water rationing and changes in meat producing are inevitable. Just my opinion..... based on paleoclimatology. Barstow was a big lake, for example. So was El Centro.— April 6, 2015 7:41 p.m.
Put up or cover-up, public utilities commission?
Don, The federal judges are appointed for life. Aguirre has asked the federal court to intervene in the PUC-Gate. These judges have more autonomy. Playing up to the local press is not as common as you might see for state court judges. The Sunroads scandal involved Marcella Escobar-Eck. The powers that be from Bonnie Dumanis as District Attorney to Jerry Brown as Governor all seemed to gang up on Aguirre. I felt that Aguirre was 100% correct, however.it was a study in closing ranks and use of the "paper of record" to discredit someone who was doing the right thing. As you know, you can get crucified in this town very easily. All you need to do is to stand up the good old boys and girls downtown. Nice to read your replies. You and Steve Erie know this town - Paradise Plundered - Scam Diego....— April 1, 2015 2:17 p.m.
Put up or cover-up, public utilities commission?
Don, Aguirre's detractors filed complaints with the State Bar against him so that the UT could claim that Aguirre was "under investigation." None of those complaints were found to have any merit. Unfortunately, such complaints come under an immunity from civil litigation. You know all this already. I just provide the comment for the benefit of others who may not have followed the smear campaign against Aguirre. Aguirre stood tall when others tried to personally exploit the Sunroads controversy and the Pension debacle, like the former head of the SEC (Levitt) collecting millions per month for being a "consultant" to San Diego in the pension crisis. San Diego tries to run to big law firms to cover it's backside. Sounds like the PUC. The UT ran an article about Florio's emails today. There was no mention of Aguirre. The UT does not want to give him any credit. The PUC needs to ban an ex parte communication. The State Bar strictly prohibits these contacts with decision-makers. There is good reason for that. Attorneys involved in those contacts are being warned that the PUC rules do not relieve attorneys from their duties not to make ex part contacts with decision-makers. No such contacts should ever be made without a copy to all others parties or their counsel. The three-day rule of the PUC does NOT trump this rule in regards to attorneys. In person contacts by lawyers with decision-makers is prohibited. So the State Bar does have good effects although it's disciplinary process can be abused and exploited, as it was against Aguirre. That was not the fault of the State Bar, however. The ex parte settlement conferences should not be participated in by attorneys with decision-makers. If intervenors participate, there is nothing the State Bar has to say. But the basis of their ethical rules should be adopted by the PUC because the same rationale applies. Such a PUC rule would help clean up the rush to compromise ratepayers interests in exchange for fat intervene fees for going along with private utility explotation. Aguirre will set aside the SONGS settlement as a "private attorney general." He will get fees and set an example. Peavey needed a lesson and so does Florio. Just working on numbers on a technical level is improper because the appearance of impropriety is increased making it look like the hearings are just a post hoc dog and pony show. I will be talking to politicians about reforming this kangaroo court. They get huge "campaign contributions" so maybe the courts are the only hope. That means Aguirre and Severson.— April 1, 2015 10:06 a.m.
Put up or cover-up, public utilities commission?
The rot reached the tail. I attended public meetings and watched some hearings on video. There was a clique of pompous pro-utility hacks with several intervenors who played ball. Too bad that Aguirre/ Severson and the City Attorney of San Bruno broke up the party. The gravy train is over for a lot of these clowns. "Wall Street West," it could be called. Too big to jail. When you know the Governor, and can meet secretly in Poland, and when you are married to a state Senator, in Peevey's case, you think you can get away with anything. Time to throw crooks in jail in America. But having money means that a separate treatment is given to the rich and well-connected. This could have been worse than Enron because this atmosphere of corruption endangers public safety. SONGS could have melted down or worse. That was my interest in this matter. Barbara Boxer had the last laugh on this one!— March 31, 2015 7:50 p.m.
Put up or cover-up, public utilities commission?
The fish rots from the head down.— March 31, 2015 1:41 p.m.
Is Peevey worth $882 an hour?
The irony that Aguirre would be awarded no fees and that Michael Peevey gets his attorneys fees paid and has a big going away party despite criminal investigations and allegations is predictable. $882 per hour for a top criminal defense attorney is not surprising. Once the decision to pay for the defense is made, then top attorneys get that and more. Aguirre and Severson, however, get to take the depositions because of the lawsuit they filed questioning the "excessive" attorneys fees. This gives then an opportunity to force Peevey and perhaps others to take the Fifth Amendment. Indemnity of public officials for the costs of defense also involves whether the official acted in "good faith." Aguirre and Severson are brilliant attorneys. Cajones and brains. San Diego needs attorneys like these to act in the public interest. My prediction is that Peevey will take the Fifth. That tends to prove lack of good faith. His defense costs may thereafter be denied. At minimum, maybe a more modest defense lawyer. Information about San Bruno and the SONGS settlement will be illicited at a minimum. Aguirre always said that "crimes were committed." He was a former Deputy Assistant US Attorney. He was also the City Attorney. Maybe next time Peevey will listen when he is given legal advice. He was told that crimes were committed and that money was being taken from ratepayers without due process. Governor Brown will not pardon Peevey.— March 29, 2015 4:45 p.m.
Michael Shames loses appeal of libel suit
Don, Let's hope that the PUC procedures can be reformed. Today's UT article reveals that Attorney Mia Severson has noticed depositions of PUC President Michael Piker, Timothy Sullivan, Michael Florio and Michael Peevey in her lawsuit to challenge the retention of expensive criminal defense lawyers over at Shephard Mullin to defend the Commission from multiple criminal investigations now under way. These depositions are to be public, if Mia Severson gets her way. The attorneys cost $882 per hour for the big guns and $700 per hour plus for non-big gun lawyers at Sheppard Mullin. That is a very expensive taxi cab! They are talking about 5.2 million dollars to defend the Commission. I would probably advice former Chairman Michael Peevey to take the Fifth Amendment if the criminal case is strong, which I do not know. I hope that the clique is broken up on the smug little fraternity at the PUC. They think they are god-like and immune from legal process. Their cozy little backroom deals are over. Sunshine is the best antiseptic. Bravo! Mia Severson is one tough cookie. Hopefully, the SONGS settlement can be set aside and documents discovered and depositions taken in that matter. That settlement was a huge fraud on ratepayers. Phase three involved the key issue of prudence. How can a 4.5 billion dollar settlement be based on lack of discovery and public hearings? The answer is that a massive cover-up went down. Best to you, Don.— March 28, 2015 11:59 a.m.
Michael Shames loses appeal of libel suit
Thanks, Don. I have had experience with the PUC in advising an intervenor and in making statements at public meetings of the PUC. Reading all the filings by the various intervenors is quite revealing. Many decided to recommend the settlement at SONGS on the basis that the PUC had already made up its mind. How true that was! Thank God for Aguirre/Severson, Ray Lutz and Rochelle Becker who did not give in. The next Governor of California is now the Lt. Governor. He may be more inclined to listen to consumers. Then there is the Wrath of Aguirre/Severson in the former of their federal lawsuit. The criminal investigations and civil suits should help end the dog-and'pony show that is the PUC. Ex part settlement conferences need to be ended. Maybe court oversight of the PUC will need to be ongoing under court orders. Reading through the documents regarding the SONGS settlement reveals a deeply flawed system. I told the Commissioners in Costa Mesa last year that all documents should be produced first, the authors placed under oath and questioned, and the issue of prudence determined BEFORE settlement. They literally hung their heads in shame but went ahead and approved the settlement. There was a huge cover-up at SONGS. The operator endangered 8.5 million people in Southern California. Documents have been withheld from Senator Boxer's Committee. It is beyond criminal. Thanks to some very determined people that terrible fate was avoided. Now it it time for justice. The UT ran an article today about the search warrants executed at former Chairman Michael Peevey's home. Add this to San Bruno and Diablo Canyon misconduct and one begins to see the dimensions of the problem. Keep up the reporting of this important issue.— March 27, 2015 3:15 p.m.
Michael Shames loses appeal of libel suit
Aguirre taught Shames a good lesson. I hope this teaches intervenors a lesson, too. The PUC itself needs to be cleaned up. It is a go-along-to-get-along system. The PUC must go along with utility companies, and intervenes must go along with the PUC to get their intervene's fees. The intervenors make some noise but cave in at the last moment. If they do not cave in, they are not awarded attorneys fees and costs because the PUC determines that the intervenors did not make a contribution to ratepayers' interests. Thus, the PUC can, in effect, punish effective intervenors rather than to reward them. Setting intervenors' fees leads to abuse by pro-utility PUC Commissioners who routinely deny fees to those intervenors who question utility company waste,.fraud and abuse. We saw this happen in the SONGS decommissioning settlement. The tendency to corruption is something that should not be tolerated either at the PUC or by intervenors. Aguirre stood up to both ends of this rotten fish.— March 27, 2015 6:35 a.m.