Well they waited until after the election to start, but the writing is on the wall. Our rates will soon be going up.
Thanks to the McClatchy News and mailed hit pieces we are getting exactly what the public asked for when the re-elected two rubberstamps named Tom Van Groningen and Paul Warda to the MID Board.
And thanks to poorly chosen endorsements by the McClatchy Bee and the Modesto Police Officers Association (MPOA), we also elected a new rubber stamp named Glen Wild who has never spoken up at meeting but still managed to get himself elected despite knowing almost nothing about electricity or water except when you flip the switch the light comes on and when you turn the faucet the water comes out.
At this weeks meeting we had our noses rubbed in a budget that doesn't explain where the money is going and what it's being spent on. Now Allen Short has continued to make the claim that we have a line item budget but the facts don't bear this out.
For example on one line is an item for $2,208,000.00 dollars with a description of "T&D Administration". Sounds nice but when asked what the$ 2.2 Million dollars were being spent on the staff couldn't or would't provide the answers.
When asked to explain how the $580,000.00 dollars labeled "legal" were being spent, again the staff couldn't or wouldn't provide a breakdown.
When asked about $345,000.00 dollars for the General Manager the staff wouldn't or couldn't provide any answers to Board members or the public.Many in attendance found this disconcerting since MID had just had its bond rating reduced from A+ to A stable which will cost the ratepayers about 13 Million dollars next year.
Director Cecil Hensley requested that the Board look into a general belt tightening regarding expenses but Board Chairman Tom Van Groningen interrupted him five times in an effort to stop the inquiry.
No answers were forthcoming from staff regarding the many questions put forth by Mr. Hensley.One interesting aspect was to watch staff do a little soft shoe dance regarding a $10 Million dollar discrepancy in the budget.
The Board of Directors couldn't get an answer from the staff regarding most of the budget question and neither could the public.Staff seems determined to put forward an electric raise of at least 3% and very possibly more early next year.
You didn't read any of this in the McClatchy News, maybe because they endorsed all of these rubber stamps or maybe their just don't care about the consumer and like to play politics. And now we'll all be paying the price because some listened to them.
