GSD Campaign Gets Nasty

A determined group of real estate and developer interests are trying to take over the Granada Sanitary District (GSD). They are stooping to despicable lies and smears against the incumbents. WE NEED YOUR HELP to preserve the Granada Sanitary District.

If you believe, as I do, that the GSD incumbents - Gael Erickson, Ric Lohman, and Leonard Woren - have done an outstanding job keeping GSD rates the lowest on the Coast, maintaining GSD infrastructure, cooperating to make recycled water available, protecting ratepayer investments, and working to prevent spills, it is critically important that you cast your votes for the incumbents.

PLEASE EMAIL THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR FRIENDS who will also support the GSD incumbents, and ask them to do the same.

This is likely to be a very low turnout election, so EVERY VOTE COUNTS!

At issue is a critical piece of infrastructure needed to protect our beaches, plus the very survival of GSD as an independent district serving its community.

The opposition wants to abandon the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside’s (SAM) Wet Weather Flow Management Project that is well through the planning and engineering process. It will provide underground storage for excess wastewater flows during high flow periods, in a completely passive system not vulnerable to the frequent power outages we have during major storms. The current expected completion date is prior to the rainy season next winter.

Even including the purchase of a parcel of land on the Burnham Strip - which will preserve and protect this important part of El Granada’s heritage - the total cost of the project is about half of the alternative, when all costs are included. El Granada residents - indeed all Coastsiders and visitors to the Coast - will benefit from the protection of the Burnham Strip opposite Surfer’s Beach for the enjoyment of the public.

Starting over with a different project will most likely result in delays of several years, possibly resulting in fines such as the $2.3 million recently levied against Pacifica. Those fines would affect all Coastside ratepayers, including GSD, Half Moon Bay, and Montara / Moss Beach.

Pro-development forces in Half Moon Bay obstructed this important project for many months by refusing to finance their share. Consequently, GSD and the Montara Water and Sanitary District (MWSD) are completing the Wet Weather Flow Management Project without HMB sharing in the costs. Even more insulting, HMB’s City Manager dropped an official City letter into the County Planning Department attempting to delay and obstruct this important project.

Emails are being circulated claiming “The incumbents have had 12 years to fix this problem and have not.” In fact, Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside member agencies, including GSD, have already implemented the most important parts of the Wet Weather Flow Management Project at considerably less cost than the original proposal.

The completed components have already reduced spills from the Intertie Pipeline System (IPS) from about 10 per year prior to 1999 to about one every two years since 2003. Completing the final piece of the project should eliminate even those infrequent problems. It has been estimated that these existing improvements have already saved ratepayers approximately $1,323,473.58 in potential fines from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Facts about sewage spills and their potential cost to the entire Coastside community are available in the article “Pacifica Fined $2.3 Million for Sewage Spill” http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/pacifica_fined_2.3_million_for_sewage_spill/091031/

Help counteract the lies and distortions being spread by Judy Taylor and Jim Larimer.

There were NO overflows from the IPS during the recent big storm on October 13. Both Taylor’s email and Larimer’s smear topic on a local web site include a photo warning of contaminated water near the beach. This warning has nothing to do with any sanitary sewer spill, and using it to suggest there was a sewer spill is a gross misrepresentation.

I am President of the Montara Water and Sanitary District (but writing here as an individual citizen) and know all three GSD incumbents well. My interest in keeping the GSD incumbents in place is to protect the financial interests of my MWSD ratepayers. We do not want to be burdened with a more expensive project, or with fines caused by delays and obstruction. I have served as an MWSD representative on the SAM Board and followed these issues closely. I am knowledgeable about the project.

You are welcome to call me anytime - especially before you cast your vote - to discuss the facts so you can make an informed decision. My cell number is 415-370-3897.

Thank you very much for your support. Please vote to re-elect Gael Erickson, Ric Lohman, and Leonard Woren.

Paul Perkovic