LAFCO's appeal

It wasn't enough that LAFCO's foolish decision against the Water Management District (MPWMD) was overturned in court. Now LAFCO is digging the hole deeper by appealing Judge Wills' decision against them. LAFCO has already wasted over half a million dollars of public money on legal costs and now more on the appeal.

LAFCO's own staff and their $70,000 independent consultant recommended approval of MPWMD's latent power to sell water retail. But Chris Lopez, Matt Gourley, Kimbley Craig, Pete Poitras and Mary Ann Leffel all voted to block the buyout by refusing to approve MPWMD's latent powers. The court found they had no legal grounds for their decision.

Why are five LAFCO commissioners so determined to block the buyout of Cal Am? Most of them live in Salinas. They don't pay Cal Am bills and would not see a 60% increase in the cost of their water if

Cal Am's desal plant were ever built. The two that do live on the Peninsula, Leffel and Poitras, are long-time supporters of Cal Am using their seats on LAFCO to carry out their personal opposition to the buyout.

Make no mistake, this LAFCO vote was about Cal

Am's proposed desal plant. Add some hubris in the mix and you have the mess that LAFCO has created in opposing the will of 24,000 voters and attempting to block MPWMD from carrying out the mandate of Measure J.

In the five years since Measure J passed, the typical Peninsula water bill for 5,000 to 6,000 gallons a month has gone up more than 50 percent. That would never have happened under public ownership.

— Melodie Chrislock, Monterey