Archive for the 'SCVWD' Category

Alviso gets what it wants

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Yesterday, the SCVWD Board voted 7-0 to approve the Alviso Slough “Restoration” Project, as Paul Rogers reports in the Merc. (The Board meeting itself was interrupted by a visit from Governor Schwarzenegger, who chose SCVWD headquarters as the backdrop for signing the water conservation bill.) I haven’t got a lot to say, other than I’m […]

Your tax dollars at work

Friday, October 30th, 2009

So I got a little pink slip in my mailbox yesterday, because I wasn’t home to sign for a certified letter. I schlepped down to the Post Office to pick it up, and I was surprised to see that it was a package from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. For me! I open it […]

Flashback

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

This evening, I went to a public meeting in Alviso, about a proposal to modify the Educational Center that the Santa Clara Valley Water District has promised to build there. The original proposal called for a dedicated structure, bathrooms and landscaping on Gold Street, which happens to be just next to property owned by the […]

The Tony Estremera Full Employment Act

Friday, August 28th, 2009

(aka AB 466) passed today. Maybe we can get Schwarzenegger to veto it.

Grand Jury Report, now that I’ve finished reading it.

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

OK, this is going to be a long one, and a definite flashback to 2008. The Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury has a long history of negative reports about the SCVWD. While I was campaigning, I met with Sid Seidenstein to discuss the issues raised in the last report, which came out in 2006. […]

Grand Jury Report

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

The Santa Clara County Grand Jury has issued yet another scathing report on the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Santa Clara Valley Water District – Awash in Cash as County and Cities Drown in Red Ink. The report slams the District’s recently-build water quality laboratory and two proposed project in Alviso, the slough dredging and […]

The iron fist

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

The big action at today’s SCVWD Board meeting was a direction to District staff to craft a mandatory conservation plan, ready to implement in case renewed calls for voluntary 10% conservation fall short. The directors also expressed strong support for tiered pricing, where heavier water users pay more than the thrifty. About half of the […]

Pay packets

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Paul Rogers, the environmental reporter at the Mercury, watched yesterday’s Board meeting on the online video, I’m sure to see the discussion of term limits. But the parts that really grabbed his attention were the following two agenda items, which awarded raises to the SCVWD’s District Counsel and Clerk of the Board, making them the […]

Past term

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

This morning’s Mercury had an editorial calling for term limits for the SCVWD Board. Not coincidentally, the agenda for this morning’s Board meeting (moved up from next week to go along with the budget workshops) included a discussion of term limits. I give Director Estremera credit for asking for this item on the agenda; no […]

Environmental Advisory

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Then, only two hours after the end of the Board meeting, the Environmental Advisory Committee met. Most of their discussion was about the process required to get an item on their own agenda. All of the advisory committees meet at the pleasure of the Board. Their agendas are set by the Board, and the only […]

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