To the citizens of Fall River Mills

As a service to those who want to know what is really happening between Walt Caldwell's Mountain Echo and the Fall River Mills CSD, I provide this venue for information.  All comments will be monitored for civility and, when available, accuracy.  If any rise to a level advocating violence or physical retribution, they will be deleted.  Remember, the difference between libel and an accusation is which side of the conversation you are on.  Keep it real, keep it clear, keep it factual or it is gone.  Dumbplumber

To the people of Fall River Mills:

In the four weeks since the last Fall River Mills CSD board meeting two things have become painfully clear:  One, those who have taken all their CSD information from the Mt. Echo, know little more than they did a year ago. 

And Two, what little information they did get was mischaracterized, erroneous or outright fabrications. Reading the Echo has become an exercise in futility. If you want to know anything about our Community Services District, you certainly can’t get it from someone who never asks questions, before putting his ignorance in print.  Unfortunately, his logic could be compared to that of a demented inmate, but it hasn't stopped him from declaring his agenda with all the fabricated, self-righteous indignation he can muster. 

One thing has become abundantly clear, Mr. Caldwell is not happy with our District Manager, nor the Board, and by default believes that he and LAFCO should control our future, not our citizens. It’s like he’s yearning for the Sordahl, Guldaman and Pena years, when our District was indebted well beyond its means and finances were never questioned by Mr. Caldwell.  His tether to reality seemed to have snapped almost 2 years ago, when he was called to task for this serious lapse of journalistic duty.  This most notably because Mr. Caldwell's desk is less than 80 feet from the District headquarters.

Truth is he wants our Manager gone. And apparently he and the LAFCO Director, who has launched her own ground war with the Manager and Board, wants everyone not kowtowing to them gone as well. Caldwell, because our Manager has accomplished more in the last year and a half than anyone in the last 30 years. And the LAFCO director, because our Manager has dared to reveal her incompetence and deceit.

And who covers up her incompetence, is our own Mr. Caldwell printing and justifying everything she says, and partnering with her to oust our manager, who has figured out her game. But instead of avoiding this highly unethical and reprehensible behavior, he is touting this conflict as high drama on the front page of the Echo. Clearly he lacks ethics, courage and shame. 

About the Echo editor's only claim to fame is his religeous devotion to the Brown Act, which, I would remind everyone, was in full force, while Bell, Vallejo and San Bernadino, California were being flown into the ground.  And which as we speak, is being slowly dismantled for what it is, an overzealous, unsustainable attempt to keep public entities and their members honest.  Yeah, good luck with that.  Just try and record the minutes of labor negotiations with public representatives.

Meanwhile, our manager and Board need to focus on progress and restoration of our District and leave the battle with the LAFCO director and Mr. Caldwell to those with the backbone and tenacity to right this public wrong. This blog may be the only venue for that effort. 

Thank you.  Dumbplumber

Another Romney letter

Dear Mr. Romney,

I sincerely apologize for bothering you or interrupting your national ‘talking points tour’, but it is beyond time for me to talk, and you to listen.

Today I received not one, but three solicitations, from your campaign, in the mail. Nevermind that I have returned at least five of your previous fund raising solicitations with large hand written notations requesting, asking and finally demanding my name be removed from your mailing list.

Aside from the obvious fact that you are wasting trees, postage, valuable time and effort, you are simply aggravating an already sensitive situation, as I am totally and absolutely pissed off at you, your campaign and the RNC, for the way they treated Herman Cain and Sarah Palin in the primaries.

Be clear, I will NEVER vote for Obama, like I have no intention of voting for you. It is my firm belief that you will only take us to the same place as that socialist/fascist, union loving, double talking lawn jockey, but it will take a few years longer. And nothing you have said over the past few months has changed my mind.  I simply want to be able to clean and reload before I start drooling oatmeal from my scooter.

Having said that, if you and your campaign lack the ability to do something as simple as removing my name from your mailing list, WHAT THE FUCKING CHANCES YOU WILL HAVE OF RUNNING THIS COUNTRY, OR LEADING A CONGRESS THAT CAN’T GIVE US BACK TOILETS THAT WORK, STOP THE INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULB BAN OR TURN OVER THE U.S. POST OFFICE TO SOMEONE THAT CAN DELIVER A FIRST CLASS LETTER FOR 40 FUCKING CENTS?

So before you even think about sending me another solicitation, you might consider a way to remedy the above and include it in a speech, because so far your platform is about as meaningful as HOPE and CHANGE.

Signed….the Dumbplumber

Obamacare and Bruce

This is a response to local newspaper editor, Bruce Ross's warm and fuzzy take on the passing of Obamacare.

And in true ‘Ross’ fashion, you have drafted your entire editorial without uttering the words: ‘personal responsibility‘, ‘tort reform’ or ‘rewarding bad behavior‘. You see Bruce, your inability to predict unintended consequences is the reason America, in general, and California, in particular, are in the shape they are.

Just like “Cal Fresh” pretends to be a publicly financed smorgasbord to allure, fitness and contentment, Obamacare claims to be the express lane to wellness, financial security and a panacea to all mankind. When in fact, it is a financial nightmare in the making, the ultimate transfer of wealth from the prosperous, healthy and responsible to the irresponsible, reckless and thoughtless. And with Obama’s open borders policy, can’t you see the invasion from every country, to come here for healthcare. Yeah, I didn’t think you did.

For example, we have spent over $5 trillion on poverty since the 60’s yet we have more in “poverty” today than then. We created Medicare as a safety net for our elderly, yet over the years it was bastardized and prostituted into a lure for illegal aliens, a crutch for the drug and alcohol addicted and a cash cow for scooter manufacturers and any other medical device available to anyone with a persistent malady, self inflicted or not. And don’t get me started on the fraud, waste and abuse, that we ignore at the peril of our future.

And now you like a new $2 trillion dollar black hole that will only get bigger with the manipulation of the Bill’s text. You might want to remember this when you’re in line behind a tattoo laden, drug addicted, chain smoking, alcoholic scooter jockey waiting for your kidney transplant.

Yessir Bruce, your myopic view of what is an intentional assault on U.S. taxpayers is the reason that we aren’t just slipping into the abyss, but rather headed straight down into it in full afterburner.

December 21, can’t come fast enough for this Dumbplumber and I pay for my doctor visits out of my own pocket, because I don’t want my neighbor paying for it. We are so Screwed.

Dear Mr. Baugh

Mr. Les Baugh
Chairman-- Shasta LAFCO
1450 Court St. Suite 308B
Redding, Ca. 96001-1680

June 25, 2012

Dear Mr. Baugh:

I apologize for sending your LAFCO mail to your Supervisor address, but I have lost the faith that Shasta LAFCO has the ability to forward mail to its intended recipient.

Secondly, I have recently been informed that you are totally without knowledge of the deteriorating relationship between your LAFCO Director, Amy Mickelson, and the Fall River Mills CSD manager and Board.  Nevermind the repeated warnings, posted in Redding.com were leveled against you for ignoring her history, inexcusable behavior, inexplicable hiring and total waste of taxpayer money in the first place. Let me explain.

Ms Mickelson’s career history is well documented on the Internet, from Mendocino to Del Norte, to Lassen, to Modoc, etc., etc.. So it remains a curious mystery why this person was ever installed as the LAFCO Director at Shasta County, especially when at least two of these positions were terminated under extremely serious charges. Perhaps the person responsible for her hiring chose to look no further than her FaceBook page for qualifications.

Next, her behavior at Shasta LAFCO has been less than the model of cordiality, understanding and efficiency. To FRVCSD, she has been abusive, obnoxious, condescending and woefully shortcoming in her duties.

Her MSR and SOI for our Community Services District is now over 6 years delinquent under “STATE LAW“. Notwithstanding that Kathy Howard, former director, was ill for some time before Ms. Mickelson came on board.

So in the absence of the State mandated MSR and SOIs or the required routine reviews of same, the new manager for our CSD has been diligently requesting completion of both documents, pursuant to expansion of services in our valley. To that end, the FRVCSD contracted with an independent consultant to prepare an ‘internal’ Comprehensive Municipal Services Review Study/a 20 year Plan, a 101 page document, to comply with auditors demands. (This is available on the FRVCSD website) Which was given to Ms. Mickelson last October, which she promptly refused because, "it was not in proper format", which she had NOT specified, so it was resubmitted in her requested format.

Meanwhile, the Director has interjected herself into at least one CSD Board meeting, by attending a ‘special meeting’ uninvited, and without being listed on the agenda, attempted to go into a lengthy diatribe on how LAFCO works. She was gaveled down as out of order and invited back, when she would be under the Brown Act. It was most likely the last civil act she attempted with the CSD and it was illegal.

Since then, rather than completing her mandates, the Director has instead either continued to request more and more documents (some exceeding those requested of other CSDs), or as in a recent moment at the last LAFCO budget meeting, refused documents being handed to her....again. 

This moment went to a head in the foyer outside the Supervisor’s chambers, when some of us from Fall River Mills confronted LAFCO counsel to ask WHY the Director refused the documents she had demanded. His response was: “They weren’t in the proper format”. Mr. Chairman, I submit to you that the final documents demanded were check registers. Perhaps you could enlighten me exactly what “format” you would want them in!  Beyond the fact that you were witnessed running away from this moment,  if you intend to claim further ignorance of this situation, you need to take it up with your Counsel for failing to notice you.

Additionally, on more than one occasion, some of us have noticed that your Director has funneled copies of correspondence directly to the local newspaper, BEFORE it was received at our CSD, as it was featured in our local newspaper in an untimely fashion.

And not to nitpick, but our local publisher has been in tandem with your Director in bashing our CSD, either in a questionable, unethical or quite possibly illegal communications, since last year. Basically, she lies, he prints it. (We can document it)

And what confuses me is while you profess to know nothing about the relationship dissolving between the Director and our CSD, your co-Board members, Dave Kehoe and Patrick Jones have both been advised and still no resolution has been put forth. We even suggested that an ‘independent’ consultant be retained to finish the MSR and SOI, with the Board reviewing and approving the report. However, no one has moved to consider this.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, this Director has cost the ratepayers and taxpayers of the Shasta County Community Services and Special Districts over $200k per year, for the last 6 years, or well over $1.2 million dollars. Absent a finalization of the Mountain Gate CSD MSR, because the Director failed to complete the submitted document, this is the abysmal batting average of your Director:

　

According to the Shasta LAFCO minutes from 2005 through 2011, during Amy Mickelson’s tenure, the following MSR studies have been formally finalized and adopted by Shasta LAFCO:


Happy Valley FPD Final 02/02/200
Centerville CSD Final 02/15/200
Cottonwood FPD Final 05/03/2007
Burney FPD Final 06/14/2007 (a new Mello-Roos District subsequently rescinded, but MSR not revised as approval indicated would be required)
City of Shasta Lake Final 02/11/2009 and 06/11/2009 (?)
Shasta Lake FPD Final 04/02/2009
Anderson FPD Final 10/01/2009
City of Anderson Final 03/03/2011Not exactly a ringing example of efficiency and austerity in these hard times. I have been advised that an outsourced MSR can be completed for less than $10,000, mostly because they are updating a template. Much like the 16 pages of double spacing, representing the Mountain Gate example. However, if I do some 8^th grade math, our Director has cost tax and ratepayers over $133, 333 dollar for each of the 9 documents completed. And there are 26 Districts left to go.

　

Mr. Baugh, you can now consider yourself ‘Noticed‘. I apologize in advance for your not being aware of this situation. However, if something is not done to resolve this dilemma soon, I am more than happy to forward it to the Shasta County Grand Jury, the California Attorney General and all other interested parties for their reaction.

Sincerely,

　








　

Mumm Mit

The other day, the world was witnessing the financial meltdown in Europe, with Greece being the fattest cow in the slaughter house. And what was Mitt Romney talking about? Jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

Hey Mitt, how about you address the spark that will make your jobs speech meaningless, Greece.

Unlike Mitt Romney, the Dumbplumber would answer the question of Greece like this: Europe has many flaws, but right now Greece is the ripest pimple on Europe’s face. Cut’em loose. So what? It’ll start the dominos! Let’er rip. You can’t save an alcoholic by giving him more booze and you can’t save Greece or Europe by giving them more money. Ditto Italy, Spain, Ireland or Portugal.

If Europe has a problem with all that flakey ‘bundled’ loan paper Barney Frank and Chris Dodd let Fanny and Freddie sell them, well then take it up with those clowns. American taxpayers had nothing to do with it, so STFU.

You see, it’s the problems created by politicians, scam artists and investment bankers is that they always put the American taxpayers in the crosshairs. Time for the instigators to make amends. Time for the suckers that bought hundreds of trillions of worthless paper (which they still trade today as if it’s of any value) from the financial experts and take their complaints to them.

American taxpayers didn’t create this mess, they didn’t exacerbate this mess, they didn’t profit from this mess and they sure as Hell shouldn’t bail out any other financial ‘wizards’ that were dumb enough to buy it. You don’t spend your paycheck at a carnival. But if you did, you can’t go back to dad and mom for compensation to hold you over. Idiot.

But you can rest assured that both Mittens and our First Socialist Porch Monkey (with sincere apologies to other Porch Monkeys everywhere) will be headed down to the Fed or the Treasury printing presses to indebt America, once again, to pay for the failures of it’s leaders.

We are so Screwed

　

Memo to Republicans

To: The RNC and California Republican Party
　

Gentlemen,

Please explain to my why I would send money to or support anyone who lacks the ability to do something as simple as removing my name and address from a mailing list.

After almost a year of begging, then telling and finally demanding that my name be removed, you continue to clog my mailbox with your trash. If you cannot do something as simple as this, then tell my why I should believe you possess the ability to lead my State or Country.

And as much as I detest Liberal, big spending, bigger taxing, union hugging, moonbat eco-Nazis, at least they have sense enough not to ask me for money.

Terry Briggs---Fall River Mills, Ca.

Belaboring the Point

Point of Order: Would someone please tell me why, when some political hack or union thug addresses a crowd, they always contend that Governor Walker was against “labor”.

This confuses me because I am an independent plumber and I consider my services “labor”. I also consider those that work for other non-union contractors as laborers. They work just as hard or harder, they get just as dirty, they usually work more hours for less pay and benefits, than union workers, and are proud of their job. I also admire and consider waitresses, window washers, dental assistants and grocery clerks “laborers”, because they get just as frustrated, insulted and abused as the rest of us.

So why is it that only the 15% of ‘union’ workers consider themselves “labor”? What, are the remaining 82% of us, chopped liver?

I am also offended when some pro-union goon claims that some governor or another, “wouldn’t come to the table”, wouldn’t compromise, wouldn’t participate in “collective bargaining”. Nevermind it was at the table where some low level bureaucrat agreed to something he didn’t pay for.

Hey, here’s a clue Sherlock, “coming to the table“, “compromising” and “collective bargaining” (all metaphors for extortion, strong arming and intimidation) are what have bankrupted America. Don’t believe it, just deny these unions their demands and wait for the picket lines and government shutdowns to begin. Get it?

And where did “Collective Bargaining Rights” come from? Last time I checked, collective bargaining was not a right, but rather a seriously abused privilege, extorted from politicians with promises of huge campaign contributions for their next election. “Rights“, my ass!!!

So you will pardon me if my apathy towards the Media is palpable. For, not even Fox News ever dignifies those of us non-union workers as “Labor”.

We are So Screwed