Sewer Rate Increase Passes!

It was an odd Board of Supes meeting. Three Los Osos Sewer items on the agenda for a meeting with no live audience. COVID-19 had conquered the in-person sewer angst audience displays. And it would take something of that magnitude to do so.

There were only letters read and phone calls, both recorded and live. Not one in support of raising the rates of course. Those voices made the silent, really silent, majority, so the rate hike passed.

There was quite a lot of tension. The vote was read and there was not enough votes to stop the rate increase. First, John Waddell had to give a report on the rate increase's necessity. (Silence from the online audience—now that was a first. Well, two firsts for a sewer meeting—online, and most especially the silence!) Then Supervisor Bruce Gibson laid out how he was approaching this. A similar rate increase had passed in Shandon, so he was going against the Staff Report, and insisting that Los Osos get the same time delay benefit to pay. There would be NO Board vote postponing the results of voting until the virus had vanished however, as the rate protestors had wanted. (Similar delay attempts had occurred on other sewer items in the past.) Gibson made a motion.

Supervisor Arnold was adamant that this "Shandon Delay" NOT be applied for Los Osos. The board had voted that way when they had no idea what these COVID-19 delays could mean. The board should NOT be so generous to Los Osos, the rest of the County should NOT be required to pick up the tab waiting for Los Osos to recover financially to PAY the new rates. 

Supervisors Compton and Peschong asked questions. Arnold reiterated her points as if a word hammer would move Gibson. It did not. County Counsel volunteered possible compromise positions. NOPE, both from Gibson and Arnold. This scene repeated too many times to make sense in a movie. Arnold attempted her own motion, and it failed to get a second.

Finally Gibson got Supervisor Hill's second. He had to restate the motion. 

"I move we find there is not a majority protest of the sewer service charge; that we adopt the ordinance and waive its reading; that we direct staff not to impose the increase until 30 days after the proclamation of local emergency has been lifted. We authorize the Clerk of the Board to get the certified copy of the approved ordinance and this other action to the Auditor/Controller/Tax Collector/Public Administrator no later than August 10th of 2020. We find the project exempt from CEQA."

All but Arnold voted YES!

And there is more I could write, but I am too lazy to look at my notes.