The City of Santa Ana announced this week that “under their approved emergency water regulations, they have declared a Level 1 Water Shortage. This means every municipal water user must reduce their consumption by 3 percent compared to their usage during the same time period last year. Failure to achieve the 3 percent conservation reduction the first time will result in a warning to increase your conservation efforts. Continuous failure to conserve may result in a 15 percent penalty on your water bill.
The City has made the information about their water regulations readily available online. However according to the City’s Water Conservation Ordinance No. NS-2781, which was passed by the City on April, 20, 2009, the City was also supposed to:
When a water shortage appears imminent, the City Manager notifies the City Council and recommends holding a public hearing for the purpose of determining whether a water shortage emergency exists. If the City Council determines that a water shortage exists, it then makes the decision as to the appropriate phase of the Ordinance to implement.”
I don’t recall that the City of Santa Ana ever held a public hearing to determine if a water shortage emergency exists, do you? At least one resident is wondering if the City is misleading the public to believe that the regulations they have imposed are mandated by the State of California. Could Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos be using the City’s extreme water regulations to fill the City’s coffers – when and if the City starts penalizing us for not complying?
The City of Santa Ana and the Orange County Water District (OCWD) are hosting a Water Forum on October 30, 2014, from 6:30-8 pm. But that is not a public hearing.
The water forum will include conservation tips, rebate information, water contamination update, OCWD expansion and the future of water resources including desalination.
To attend the water forum on October 30, the city says you have to first register by visiting www.ocwd.com/watersupplyseries.
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I'll pass this on to the Underground. thanks Editor!
My thanks to Mike Tardif for bringing this issue to our attention.
You mean Seamus MacDuff? Awesome!
I will neither confirm nor deny .....
Editor - If the City told you that meeting attendees need to register to attend they are either misinformed or are again deliberately misleading. A meeting of the OCWD is governed by the Brown Act - it is a public meeting - no registration is required.
Santa Ana Sunshine Ordinance -
SECTION 1 The CityCouncilofthe CityofSantaAna herebyfindsdetermines anddeclaresasfollows
A That all public agencies actions to the greatest extent possible should be taken openly and that their deliberations should be conducted openly
B AninformedpublicisessentialtodemocracyItisthegoalandintentof
the Cityof Santa Ana Sunshine Ordinance that citizens of Santa Ana have
timelyaccesstoinformationopportunitiestoaddressthevarious
legislative bodies prior to decisions being made.
C The City Counci's lduty is to serve the public reaching its decisions in full view ofthe public
When a water shortage appears imminent, the City Manager notifies the City Council and recommends holding a public hearing for the purpose of determining whether a water shortage emergency exists.
A call for a public hearing - a requirement of the Sunshine Ordinance that decisions be made in public - none of that happened.
That is typical of a Council that only gives lip service to transparency.
Well hopefully they will fix the leak near Morrison Park, which sends a River in front of Councilwoman Amezcua's house everyday before they start billing residents. am sure there are many many more.
Hey, For Reyna, Martinez and Benavides, raising taxes/fee's beats the sh*t out of getting a real job.
No one at city council answers my emails--it gets dark 40 minutes before 6 pm. Why do I have to wait those 40 minutes to water? Is there more evaporation in the dark at 5:20 than in the dark at 6 pm?