Live Oak candidates discuss grand jury report, water rate
Ahead of the most contested race in the Yuba-sutter area, seven candidates vying for two seats on the Live Oak City Council met recently to discuss a variety of issues facing the city during a forum organized by the Yuba-sutter Chamber of Commerce and the Appeal.
Candidates running for the two seats include Dale Carlson, Johnny Ceballos, Jeramy Chapdelaine, incumbent Lakhvir Ghag, Cruz Mora, Nancy Santana and incumbent Aleks Tica.
Q: The most recent Sutter County Grand Jury report noted several unfavorable issues with Live Oak city government. Do you have any general takeaways from that report?
Ghag said there were a whole bunch of issues to take away from the report. He said the city hired a manager who tried pushing an agenda item that had already been rejected by council twice. The item was to divide the city’s restaurants into an east and west side to help council members vote on a specific issue – by doing so, two council members who owned businesses would be able to vote without recusing themselves. He said he asked the city administrator to go through an outside attorney to verify that it wasn’t a violation of the Brown Act, though he was denied. When the grand jury came out with the report questioning the decision, Ghag said he told the administrator that this was the lowest form of government the city had seen in a long time.
Mora said there was such a turnout in people wanting to run for city council primarily because of the city’s misappropriation of funds, along with other issues. He said he’s lived in the city his whole life and that the issues it’s currently facing shouldn’t be happening. He said officials need to find ways to hold the culprits accountable. He said the grand jury found a clear conflict of interest in appointing the city’s financial director as interim city manager.
Chapdelaine said he found the grand jury’s findings alarming. He said one thing
he experienced firsthand over the last few years were the council’s Brown Act violations and the lack of ethics from some of its members, both past and present, which has really affected the morale and led the community to be less active. He said the dynamic needs to change and that community members should be encouraged to be active in the process, who are supposed to help guide the direction for the community.
Ceballos said there were numerous problems highlighted by the report but addressing the internal controls within the city could help address a lot of the problems. Obviously, he said, there are things that fell through the cracks in terms of certain projects not being completed or staff not being aware of various projects going on. He said there needs to be improvement with the city’s internal controls and making sure everyone on staff is on board. It could very well be a quick communication fix, he said, and through little things like making sure council members conduct their education requirements on time.
Carlson said his main issue is with the city’s contracts with its vendors, which, in their current form, can lead to cost overruns. There isn’t language in the contracts that protects the city from bad advice or other issues, he said. He said he is also displeased with some of the expenditures the city has made using ratepayer funds, like a $3,500 Christmas party. He said it isn’t fair for ratepayers to be covering those costs. He said the grand jury report opened everyone’s eyes to the issues within the city that need to be fixed as soon as possible.
Tica said some of the projects that were mentioned in the grand jury report came down to timing and who was in charge of that timing. With the previous city manager, he said, the city had issues with delivering those projects on time, and now that a new city manager has been hired a lot of those projects have been completed. He said the city is working very hard with its consultants and others to finish the remaining projects, as well as fix some of the conduct issues with current council members. He said holding council members accountable for the funding issues is something that needs to be
done, and that officials are working to find solutions to problems highlighted in the report.
Santana said the grand jury report was disturbing, and that she’s been to council meetings where she’s witnessed citizens not being listened to. She said that isn’t acceptable because the city works for its residents. In one instance, she said, she saw a resident raise concerns about the city’s plan to hire consultants. While the city was supposed to obtain five bids, the citizen asked and was subsequently blown off by council members. As far as financial issues, she said, the city needs someone like her who has audit, budget and financial experience.
Q: A Grand Jury investigated the city this year and recommended the creation and implementation of a water rate increase, which has been a hot topic for the city. What are your thoughts on a rate increase?
Ceballos said studies have shown that Live Oak has one of the lowest rates compared to some of the surrounding communities. He said it would be worthwhile to explore the option, even though an effort a few years ago did not pass. Bigger picture, he said, a water rate increase would put the city back into compliance with the notes in place for the project.
Carlson said there has been a lot of misconception with regards to the water rates, as the city does have the lowest rate in the surrounding area. Even though people’s bills might say $97, residents are only paying approximately $23 for water – sewer is what makes it so high, with residents paying about $68 a month because of a stateof-the-art treatment plant that costs money to run. He said because the city hasn’t had a rate increase in some 15 years, there may very well need to be an increase at one point or another, but people have to realize it won’t be a huge increase.
Tica said his first year on council was when the city worked on the study, and at that time it was going to be a large increase, which council members didn’t agree with. He believes that if the city needs to do a water rate increase, it needs to be a marginal amount, possibly a few percentage points. However, because the city’s sewer rate is much higher, he said, officials could modify that by
moving it over to residents’ property tax bill to make the monthly utility a lot less restrictive as it would only need to be paid twice a year.
Santana said the city cannot keep increasing the water and sewer rates for residents. She said the city just increased things, and with residents struggling through a pandemic, she doesn’t think it’s something the city should be considering at the moment. With approximately $4 million in the city’s general fund reserves, she said officials could manage the money better and not need a rate increase.
Ghag said the water rate hasn’t been increased in over 12 years, and while the issues seem to come up many times there has been no follow through. When meters were allocated to residents, the city’s facilities weren’t included, he said, so he questioned why residents should have to pay while the city isn’t treated the same. He said the city’s water fund continues to shrink, so someone needs to find out who is taking payments out of the fund and who is drawing a salary.
Mora said he did a
Public Records Act request for the city’s personnel budget, which stated that council members get 10 percent from one of the water funds. He said it’s crazy for council members to get a percentage of residents’ water fees, so by eliminating that, there wouldn’t be a need for an increase and could possibly lead to a decrease in rates. City staff are also receiving some funds from the city’s water fund. He said he doesn’t think residents should be paying the salaries of workers through their water bills, as there is a designated fund for that.
Chapdelaine said the city spent a ton of money on rate studies over the years and that there is plenty of data to revisit the conversation. He felt there were some flaws to the city’s rate nexus. He said the city’s sewer enterprise fund is estimated to be sitting at a $2.4 million surplus at the end of the year, yet the city’s water enterprise fund is sitting at a $265,000 deficit. Considering the city shares operators and staff for both, he said officials should be able to go through that, study the rate nexus and find a solution to pick up the additional funding needed to balance the funds, rather than draw one of them way down.