Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Deception and ineptitude?

Is it a lie to tell the California Department of Health when the state application asked if Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD) was required to hold an election prior to entering into a loan contract? They responded, “No.” Why did RMWD hold a special election in August (costing ratepayers nearly $100,000) if it wasn’t required?

The state loan application also asked, “Is there any litigation pending relative to the operation of the water system or proposed project?” RMWD’s response was “No.” However, RMWD was and is currently in litigation over our drinking water chlorination with Miox and Dukek Engineering.

Deception: when RMWD ran the August election, voters were told they could only get the loan with a “yes” vote, while the general manager was trying to find a loophole in Ordinance 95-1 that requires a public vote for public debt. If there is a loophole in the ordinance, why hold the expensive election?

Ineptitude: RMWD reported to the Department of Health that they had spent $1,820,700 on engineering. Construction costs for the loan was $4,909,720. These engineering costs are outrageously high – nearly half the construction costs.

Rainbow has on staff a licensed engineer and engineering support staff. Why are we paying for outside engineering? Generally, when a product is purchased, like reservoir covers, engineering is provided as part of the product purchase.

When I developed my project, my engineer had to be qualified to design the project. My engineer did not hire an engineering firm to design the project.

 

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