9-2-09

 
9-2-09
Merced Sun-Star
Committee formed in another stab at addressing water issues...E.J. SCHULTZ, The Fresno Bee
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/268/v-print/story/1034171.html
SACRAMENTO -- With only 10 days to go in the session, state lawmakers are taking a final stab at solving California's water woes.
But the last-minute push for legislation got off to an inauspicious start Tuesday after leaders had trouble deciding who would serve on a newly formed committee charged with drafting a plan.
Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, announced his members for the joint Assembly-Senate 14-member panel in the morning.
He promised to make water his top priority in the remaining days of session, which ends on Sept. 11.
"Water is the best opportunity we have right now to show that we can do something big," said Steinberg, who named himself as the panel's leader. "Maybe we won't get it done in the next 10 days," he added. "But I'm sure going to do my darnedest." But the Assembly delayed its announcement of who would serve on the committee, forcing the postponement of the first meeting until today.
Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, eventually decided to name herself to the panel, which includes Valley Sens. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, and Dean Florez, D-Shafter.
The delay meant one less day to craft a solution that has eluded Republicans and Democrats for years. The conference committee must complete its plan by next Tuesday. It would then need approval of the full Assembly and Senate.
"This is a longshot," said Assembly Member Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto. But we "desperately need something to happen to move this forward." Democrats, who control the conference committee, are pushing for an independent council to oversee the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the source of farm and drinking water for much of the state.
Republicans are skeptical about creating such a council, which they fear would block a proposed canal that would pump water around the delta southward. Delta residents, who strongly oppose the canal, look at the council very differently -- they worry its sole mission would be to build a canal.
The Schwarzenegger administration believes it has authority to build the canal -- known in the water world as "conveyance" -- but approval by the proposed council would give the project momentum.
Water users, including Valley farmers, have said they are willing to pick up the tab for the canal, which would cost billions of dollars. State water officials already are studying various alternatives, including a canal around the delta or a tunnel under it.
Steinberg said "conveyance must be a part of this package," but "what the recommended method or mode of conveyance still remains to be seen." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he won't sign any bills that don't include a bond to pay for water projects such as dams, which have long been favored by Republicans but opposed by Democrats. Previous bond proposals have run near $10 billion. But Democratic leaders -- if they agree to a bond at all -- will likely push for a smaller dollar amount.
Several Latino Democrats, including Florez, have bucked more liberal members in pushing for a bond, which would have to be approved by voters. They have been spurred on by the Latino Water Coalition, a Valley-based group pushing for new dams and canals that they say are needed to secure water for farms and jobs for farmworkers.
But on Tuesday, a union coalition that includes the United Farm Workers union appeared to jump into the battle on the other side. The "Change to Win" coalition, which also includes the Teamsters and other unions, on Monday gave $1 million to the "United Farm Workers' Committee to Oppose State Water Bonds," according to campaign filings.
Water conference committee members
Senate: Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; Dean Florez, D-Shafter; Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles; Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills; Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto; Sam Aanestad, R-Penn Valley; Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar.
Assembly: Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles; Anna Caballero, D-Salinas; Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana; Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore; Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber.
Drop in Merced property values leads state...CORINNE REILLY
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/1034199.html
Assessed property values across California fell this year for the first time in nearly eight decades -- and Merced County saw the biggest drop of all.
In fact, no other counties in California experienced declines even close to the level recorded locally, according to new data from the state's Board of Equalization, which tracks property assessments across California.
The total assessed value of all property in Merced County fell $2.6 billion -- or 13.4 percent -- compared with last year. The next largest year-to-year decline was 10.5 percent, in Riverside County.
Statewide, property values dropped 2.4 percent.
Because property tax bills are based on assessments, the sharp decline in property values will leave Merced County with far less tax revenue this year. Local cities and the county already have slashed their budgets as a result.
Kent Christensen, the county's assessor, said he wasn't surprised when he learned that declines in Merced were the biggest in the state. "For many years we had a false economy here," he said. "And these numbers reflect that."
Christensen said Merced's near-total dropoff in commercial development last year played a considerable role in determining the county's bottom rank.
"Commercial growth is what carried us in 2007 and 2008, but that's no longer the case," he said. "In places like Riverside, where that kind of development is still going on, the situation isn't as bad."
Even other counties in the San Joaquin Valley have fared far better than Merced. The next-worse decline in the Valley was in San Joaquin County, where property values fell 10.2 percent compared with last year. Madera County's year-to-year decline was 8 percent. Stanislaus' was 7.7 percent. Fresno's was 2.9 percent.
Across California, San Francisco County saw the biggest gain, with a 7.1 percent increase.
Each year, county assessors release figures compiling the assessed value of all properties in their jurisdictions. This year's total for Merced was $17.4 billion. That includes the worth of about 82,000 parcels of residential, commercial and industrial real estate.
Last year's local total was about $20 billion. The total for 2007 was roughly $20.5 billion.
Merced County sent notices in June to roughly 42,000 property owners who will receive lower tax bills this year. In 2007, the county sent lower bills to about 6,500 property owners. In 2006, that number was just 100.
Letter: Running for cover...HENRY DUPERTUIS, Merced
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/v-print/story/1034201.html
Editor: I was very disturbed by Keith Law’s letter to the editor Tuesday suggesting that Rep. Dennis Cardoza should not have a town hall meeting because there might be a “right-wing” confrontation.
Does he suggest that only those with a certain political view be allowed to speak at a public debate? How can a history teacher have such a narrow view of the history of America and the world?
America was founded on confrontation, from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Concord Hymn, “By the rude bridge that arched the flood,” to the mountains in Afghanistan.
These confrontations were not against only words, but against machine guns and artillery.
President Kennedy did not dodge confrontation with Nikita Khrushchev on the Cuban missile crisis. The farmers at the Battle of Lexington Green faced confrontation with courage and resolve and drove the British back to Boston.
Have our politicians come to the point that a few raised voices will cause them to run for cover? If so, I fear for America.
Letter: Voters sold short...PAT TRIEWEILER, Atwater
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/v-print/story/1034173.html
Editor: Rep. Dennis Cardoza sold his voters short when he decided not to hold a town hall meeting.
He would have found us well-mannered and behaved. We would have asked him difficult and spirited questions regarding health care. It would have been a win-win for Cardoza and our community. Instead. it was a lose-lose for all of us.
Cardoza has gone to great lengths to tell us about his teleconferences and his high-tech accessibility. He even brought in the Democratic majority leader to speak to the local papers. It was no more than a photo op in the Sun-Star. But the fact remains, no town hall meeting.
I feel our community has been mistaken for Hollywood’s version of Tombstone. We wouldn’t have shouted or screamed or have fired six shooters into the air during the proceedings. Our citizens conduct themselves with dignity and respect for our elected officials.
We just wanted some questions answered in a public forum and they weren’t.
Fresno Bee
Tribe paid for Madera politician's D.C. trip
City Council member testified for casino...Chris Collins
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-print/story/1623502.html
A Native American tribe that wants to build a casino near Madera paid for a city council member's trip to Washington, D.C., last year so he could testify in favor of the project, interviews and recently filed court records show.
The council member, Gary Svanda, has been a vocal and longtime supporter of the controversial project. When he testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in May 2008, he said he was speaking on behalf of the Madera City Council and the Madera County Board of Supervisors, according to a hearing transcript. But neither the city nor the county approved the trip, and some council members said they didn't find out about it until after he returned.
By state law, Svanda was supposed to report the cost of his flight and who paid for it. He never did.
Neither Svanda, the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians nor the company that wants to build the casino -- Las Vegas-based Station Casinos -- would say how much the flight and hotel stay cost, or even which hotel Svanda stayed in.
Government watchdog groups say the trip was a conflict of interest because Svanda was elected to represent Madera residents, not the tribe. Members of the tribe also accompanied Svanda.
"When elected officials need to travel in the service of their community, the public should pick up the tab," said Douglas Heller, executive director of the nonpartisan Consumer Watchdog group in Santa Monica. "It's much more expensive in the long run when special interests pay for travel because of the indebtedness politicians inevitably feel."
In contrast, when Frank Bigelow, a member of the Madera County Board of Supervisors, went on a similar trip in October 2007 to testify before the same committee, the county paid his expenses -- a $1,038 flight and a $422 one-night hotel bill, records show.
Bigelow said the county paid for the trip because the Board of Supervisors has voted to support the casino project and he was advocating for the county's interests.
It's not clear whose interests Svanda was representing at the hearing. Even though he told the committee the project has "strong local support," the Madera City Council never has taken a vote to support or oppose the casino project, and council members are divided on it.
Cheryl Schmit, founder of the gambling watchdog group Stand Up for California, said Svanda should not have told the committee that he was representing the city.
"It's a criminal offense to lie to Congress," she said. "That's a real concern."
No disclosure made
Svanda says he did nothing wrong. He insists he went only as a private businessman and not as a representative of the city -- despite his statements at the hearing.
Svanda said he was only following up on Bigelow's earlier testimony and that it wasn't improper for the North Fork tribe to pay for the trip. The tribe bought his air ticket and reimbursed him for his hotel stay, Svanda said.
It's unclear who asked Svanda to attend the hearing: Svanda said Bigelow asked him to go, but Bigelow said he didn't.
Elaine Bethel-Fink, the tribe's chairwoman, said questions about who paid for Svanda's flight and hotel are "petty."
"My thinking is that anyone on my team should have [their travel costs] paid for to promote our projects," she said.
Bethel-Fink did not elaborate on what she meant by saying Svanda was on her team.
Elected officials are required to fill out finance disclosure forms each year that list any gifts worth more than $50. This also includes any payments for travel costs outside of California, though not necessarily hotel costs. Svanda did not disclose either the flight or hotel costs.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces the disclosure laws, said such violations could result in a fine of up to $5,000.
If necessary, Svanda said, he will amend his 2008 finance disclosure form to include the cost of the trip. He also said he will abstain from any future votes on the casino "if there is a perceived conflict of interest."
There wasn't any indication of who had paid for Svanda's trip until Station Casinos filed for bankruptcy in late July.
Bankruptcy records reviewed by The Bee list hundreds of people, including Svanda, who have received money from Station Casinos over the years. The list does not say how much money they had received or why.
In an initial interview, Svanda said he had no idea why he was on the list and was "not that interested in knowing." It was not until after he was asked whether it may have been for the Washington, D.C., trip that Svanda acknowledged the tribe had purchased his airline ticket and had reimbursed him for his one-night hotel stay.
It's unclear why the court records appear to indicate that Station Casinos made the reimbursement when Svanda says the tribe reimbursed him.
Longtime involvement
The North Fork tribe has long sought to build a 55-acre, $350 million casino four miles north of Madera off Highway 99. Station Casinos also owns another 250 acres of adjacent property where the tribe could expand -- potentially turning Madera into an entertainment mecca.
Because the property is about 35 miles from the North Fork Rancheria, the tribe must first get approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs before it can build an off-reservation casino. The bureau has approved only a small number of off-reservation casinos in the past 20 years -- and the process is notoriously cumbersome.
In October 2007, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing to address complaints from North Fork and other tribes on the slow pace of the process and on several other issues. Bigelow says he doesn't remember how he first found out about the hearing but asked the committee if he could testify.
At the hearing, Bigelow was joined by Jacquie Davis-Van Huss, then the North Fork tribe's chairwoman. He asked the committee to encourage federal officials to release a key environmental study on the casino. He also said that both the county and city of Madera "strongly support" the project.
But support is not unanimous -- Madera County Supervisor Vern Moss and Madera City Council Member Robert Poythress oppose the project. Madera Mayor Sam Armentrout says he has not taken a stance. A ministerial association in Madera that includes 30 churches and ministries also opposes the casino.
Bigelow said he was invited to testify at the next hearing in May 2008 but couldn't go because of a previously scheduled conference. He would later describe Svanda in a letter to the Indian Affairs Committee as "one of the initial liaisons from the city to the project's development team" and as someone who has "been involved since [the casino project's] inception in 2003."
Svanda, who works as a financial adviser for Edward Jones Investments, was first elected to the City Council in 2000 and served until 2004. After a two-year break, he successfully ran for a second term.
False representation'?
During his first term in office, Svanda said, he and a former mayor, Herman Perez, started a business coalition to promote the casino project. The coalition now includes more than a dozen businesspeople and has thrown luncheons and other events to tout the benefits of the casino.
Svanda said the coalition does not receive any money from the tribe or Station Casinos.
At the May 2008 hearing, Svanda was accompanied by the new North Fork tribal chairwoman, Bethel-Fink, and the tribe's treasurer. He introduced them to the committee as "two important political leaders from my area."
Svanda's testimony focused mostly on why the casino was a good idea and the need for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to approve the project -- noting that it had "very strong local support."
According to the transcript, Svanda told the committee that he was speaking "on behalf of the City Council of Madera and the Madera County Board of Supervisors."
In a recent interview, however, Svanda said he was only representing the greater Madera business community and did not represent the city "in any way, shape or form."
He said he told the committee he was a council member only because its members "wanted to know who I was."
Council Member Poythress said he felt Svanda made a "false representation" by speaking on behalf of the city.
"I haven't been happy with people taking liberties to say the city of Madera supports this project when there has been no official position taken," he said.
Sacramento Bee
Levee repairs continue on Bradford Island in Delta...Matt Weiser
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/v-print/story/2154494.html
Levee repairs continue today on Bradford Island in the Delta, where a flood was narrowly avoided after the island was rammed by a cargo ship.
The impact last Thursday on the remote island in Contra Costa County tore out half the width of the levee over a 100-foot distance. The damage went undetected until the next day, prompting a flood warning across the island.
"There was very significant damage and the potential for levee failure," said Dave Mraz, chief of the Delta-Suisun Marsh Office of the state Department of Water Resources, which assisted with repairs.
"The bow of the vessel came right up to the waterside edge of the levee," he said. "The cracks that were generated came right into the middle of the levee crest."
A flood on the 2,000-acre island, which sits below sea level, could have jeopardized drinking water for 23 million Californians.
Bradford is one of eight westernmost islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that help divide inland fresh water from salty tides in San Francisco Bay. In a flood, the island would fill with water, potentially sucking salt water into the drinking water canals.
A flood like this in 2004 on another island required water delivery cutbacks for days.
The latest incident began at 8:30 p.m. Thursday when the 570-foot cargo ship Tasman Revolution struck the island's north levee. The cause was first reported as loss of steering control aboard the ship. But U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jeremy Pichette said Tuesday it was piloting error.
The ship had recently left the Port of Stockton after loading rice, steel and lumber.
The ship was not significantly damaged, the Coast Guard reported, but was towed to an anchorage in San Francisco Bay for inspection.
No one reported levee damages to flood control officials that night. The damage was found early the next morning by a resident on his way to work, said Mike Warren, one of only about 100 people who live on the island.
"It was just totally irresponsible for anyone to allow that ship to back out of here and never inform us at all," said Warren.
Smith Cunningham, superintendent of the Bradford Island levee maintenance district, quickly mobilized a construction crew to begin fixing the damage. This involved shoring up the land side of the levee with a strengthening berm, then rebuilding the water side for more than 100 feet.
Located near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, Bradford Island can be reached only by boat. This complicated repairs.
"It was a horrible risk until probably about two in the morning (Saturday), and then we started feeling comfortable we were going to save it," said Cunningham.
No water leaked through the levee, but officials urged residents to evacuate as a precaution. Only one did so.
Pichette said the Coast Guard did not learn of the levee damage until about 1:45 p.m. Friday, thanks to a report from the Bradford Island ferry captain. By then, repairs were under way.
What caused piloting error aboard the Tasman Revolution remains unknown. The ship was cleared to leave San Francisco Bay late Saturday, though an investigation is ongoing.
The Water Resources Department contributed at least $600,000 to repair the island, Mraz said, and expects the Bradford Island levee district to seek reimbursement from the ship's insurance carrier.
Manteca Bulletin
Court sides with Manteca over higher fee on homes...Dennis Wyatt
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/6693/
Morrison Homes went for broke in its lawsuit against the City of Manteca over government facilities fees and lost big.
The Third Appellate Court last week sided with the city and overturned a San Joaquin Superior Court decision that initially blocked the city’s ability to raise the fee from $350 to $4,702 per home to help growth pay for everything from a new city hall to a library and performing arts center.
It means Morrison Homes will now have to pay full freight for homes they build in Manteca despite their contention the signing of a development agreement protected them from annual increases justified under state-mandated nexus studies. Morrison Homes has also been ordered to pick up all of the city’s legal costs connected with the appeal.
The court essentially ruled that if the city was increasing an existing fee based on a nexus study it did not represent a new fee. Morrison Homes argued that it was a new fee and therefore they couldn’t charge more because the builder had a signed development agreement with the city. Since the fee was just referenced and not a specific amount tied to it, the court said whatever fee the city could justify and adopt was the fee.
Had Morrison opted for a negotiated settlement Manteca offered after the initial decision in a bid to reduce the possibility the city could end up with no more than $350 if it was unsuccessful on the appeal, they would be paying $3,800 per low density residential unit and $3,169 per medium residential unit through Jan. 1, 2012. After that point, the fees would have been adjusted upward to reflect the increases in the Engineering News record Construction Cost Index for the previous two years.
That is the deal Florsheim Homes took in May.
The two builders ironically are developing separate segments of the same project off Woodward Avenue west of Airport Way. It means Florsheim will be paying $900 less per home for government facilities fees through the deal reached with Manteca than Morrison Homes will.
Florsheim – along with Pulte Homes, Morrison Homes, and the Building Industry of the Delta – believed the city was charging growth too much for the facilities they said they needed. So after the city refused to consider lowering them, they sued.
The lawsuits started when home builders contended Manteca hadn’t proven its case that as the community grows the city needs a larger police headquarters.
Nor did builders believe the need for a new library, more city office space, an expanded corporation yard, a new animal control shelter or a performing arts center had been justified as required by state law with an accurate nexus.
City officials countered that they have conducted studies and public meetings over the course of several years that the facilities costing $109.1 million are needed and growth’s share of that tab - ultimately $4,702 a home - was justified.
Whether the facilities were needed was one of the premises of the original lawsuit filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court by the Building Industry Association of the Delta against the City of Manteca.
Developers, through BIA, also contended:
•the fee was excessive.
•growth was paying more than its fair share.
•the fee was unfair as it is nearly a 1,200 percent increase.
City leaders countered:
•the fee was justified as required by state law requiring exhaustive studies known as nexuses before such a fee can be put in place.
•the BIA got the city to delay the implementation of the fee for several months examined the nexus and discovered - with the city concurring - they had charged growth $73 too much per home for a new library and the fee was reduced accordingly. No other cost splits between growth and existing residents were challenged successfully at that time by developers’ representatives.
•the city has been talking with developers which is why the original fee of $4,702 ended up being phasing it in over three years starting with $4,000 in 2007, $4,300 in 2008 and $4,702 in 2009.
•the fee had been at $350 for 20 years since it was adopted in June 1986 with no adjustments for inflation or identifying what new growth during that time would demand in terms of city facilities.
Tracy Press
Poll: Voters not keen on Delta canal...TP Staff
http://www.tracypress.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Poll-+Voters+not+keen+on+Delta+canal%20&id=3513457-Poll-+Voters+not+keen+on+Delta+canal&instance=home_news_bullets
A poll released last week shows that most California voters disapprove of the way the state handles its water supply, but they don’t want to pay for new dams and reservoirs and oppose the idea of a canal that would ship water around the lower reaches of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
About two-thirds of registered voters throughout the state said they think California is “on the wrong track” when it comes to managing its water system, according to the survey released Friday by EMC Research, a market and public opinion research firm commissioned by watchdog group Restore the Delta to conduct the study. Close to that same percentage said they strongly oppose building a so-called peripheral canal to divert water around the Delta — an idea soundly rejected by California voters more than two decades ago, but one that proponents say would provide those who rely on water pumped from the Delta with a more reliable supply.
To complete the four-day survey, EMC Research called 800 registered voters from the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Eureka, Fresno, San Diego and the Central Coast.
Though only 40 percent of voters polled considered themselves well-informed about California’s water issues, more than half said they consider it a high priority to ensure the state has a reliable long-term supply of water.
Thirty-five percent said promoting water conservation is important, while almost half said they would oppose a bond to build new dams and reservoirs. Less than 44 percent of those polled said they would support such a water bond, which would likely cost California’s general fund about $700 million a year in debt service, according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, another Delta watchdog group and member of Restore the Delta.
The survey found that more than 70 percent of Republicans opposed a peripheral canal, compared with 80 percent of Democrats.
The poll — which the research company said has a margin of error of about 3.5 percent — reported that Northern California voters tend to be more informed about the state’s water crisis and are more likely to oppose a bond and peripheral canal.
YubaNet.com
Strategic Planning at NID: Will Water Marketing Be A Key Consideration?...Susan Snider
http://yubanet.com/regional/Strategic-Planning-at-NID-Will-Water-Marketing-Be-A-Key-Consideration.php
GRASS VALLEY, Sept. 1, 2009 - It was announced last week that a landowner in southern California plans to sell 14,000 acre-feet of water a year to the Mojave Water Agency. Sounds irrelevant to people living in Nevada or Placer counties? Probably does, until one hears the price tag of this deal: $5,500 per acre-foot. Money like this -- even a fraction of this figure -- could go a long way in providing water service for people within Nevada Irrigation District's boundaries where service is currently not available.
For Director Nancy Weber, selling some of NID's surplus water could translate into bringing water to people living with failing wells. She also sees the periodic sale of water as a viable means of creating long-term financial stability for NID.
Weber is not alone is this line of thinking. Director Nick Wilcox also believes that marketing NID's surplus water is a good thing. And at NID's recent board meeting (Aug. 26) during a discussion on potential topics for future strategic planning, Wilcox reminded the board of its agreement to learn more about the subject. "We had committed to do a workshop on water marketing to get background information for strategic planning," Wilcox advised. While dead silence initially followed this remark, the board eventually decided on October 7 for a preliminary discussion on the subject.
NID directors also offered other topics to add to the list of prioritized objectives established when the district adopted its formal 2005-2006 Strategic Plan. Increased water storage, adaptation strategies for dealing with climate change, a reduction of NID's carbon footprint, optimizing hydroelectric revenues, broader asset management protocols, a needs assessment study, watershed sustainability and water conservation strategies were among the subjects proposed last week. "We need to increase water storage, but not to build massive dams but build smaller reservoirs on the western slope," Director John Drew offered, adding that there should be some consideration for providing additional wildlife habitat.
Wilcox agreed with Drew, pointing to climate change and its affects on local precipitation patterns as a major reason for considering new water storage. As snowpack levels decrease, Wilcox said, additional storage will be necessary to capture runoff. At the same time, he also called for increased use of alternative energy sources, such as photovoltaic systems, to help reduce NID's overall carbon footprint.
Director Weber said future strategic planning should also include a review of NID's current financial plan, with a focus on the funding and scheduling of the district's major capital improvement projects. "I'm concerned about some of the big projects coming very close together. I believe we should stagger our large projects over time," Weber advised. "We are in a period of expansion -- and this is great -- but we need to look at this. We can't continue to keep putting out this kind of money without going into debt."
Weber also called for a reassessment of NID's public relations approach to project impacts, particularly through better environmental studies. "We need to restructure our environmental approaches for transmission lines in residential areas, emphasizing minimal disturbance and rehabilitation," Weber noted. "I think that quality environmental studies must be paid for and we need to get the best people to do this."
Directors Jim Bachman and Scott Miller both echoed the suggestions of their counterparts, adding that NID should do more to capitalize on hydroelectric power as a revenue source. "We should reap some benefits after relicensing is all done," Bachman said, referring to NID's ongoing involvement to renew its hydroelectric license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). "I'm hoping our income will increase," he added.
In addition, Bachman noted that wells are also drying up in parts of Placer County. "We need to help people there to get both raw and treated water," he advised. While he acknowledged that some of these wells are in areas currently not served by NID, Bachman suggested it would be of benefit to both residents and NID if these areas could be incorporated into the district.
The Oct. 7 water marketing discussion will be conducted during NID's regularly scheduled board meeting. The district's strategic planning process will begin with a public workshop held on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Both meetings begin at 9 a.m. and the public is encouraged to attend.
San Francisco Chronicle
Vast shift in bird species expected from warming...Peter Fimrite
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/02/MNBT19E450.DTL&o=2&type=printable
Birds of a feather will no longer flock together, and some California species will face extinction as a result of global warming, according to a study released Tuesday by PRBO Conservation Science.
The study, which predicts how birds in California will adapt to changing climatic conditions, says there will be a dramatic change in the pecking order of the avian world over the next 60 years.
In one fell swoop, the changes in bird habitats and behavior between now and 2070 will equal the evolutionary and adaptive shifts that normally occur over tens of thousands of years, according to researchers with PRBO, also known as the Point Reyes Bird Observatory.
"What we found is that not only will species shift and communities change, but the composition of communities in certain places will not resemble anything we see today," said Diana Stralberg, a landscape ecologist and the lead author of the report, "Reshuffling of Species With Climate Disruption: A No-Analog Future for California Birds?"
"Species will exist in different and unusual combinations," she said. "Food and prey might not be available, and there may be unanticipated interactions with other species, including predators."
The study predicts a scramble among bird populations for new flocking partners and habitats, which will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers. Some birds will be pushed toward extinction as they struggle against unfamiliar avian competitors, strange predators and unpredictable prey.
Study's predictions
-- Species including the California thrasher, rufous-crowned sparrow and ash-throated flycatcher will move to the Point Reyes Peninsula as it gets drier and less foggy. Those birds will then commune with strangers like the purple finch and black-throated gray warbler.
-- The distribution of the white-crowned sparrow, a black-and-white bird that likes coastal scrublands, including Point Reyes, will decline 76 percent, meaning they will be found in fewer places as temperatures rise.
-- The distribution of the varied thrush, a large, robinlike bird from the Pacific Northwest that often spends winters in California, will decline 87 percent.
-- The distribution of the yellow-billed magpie, commonly found in oak woodlands only in California, will decline by 32 percent.
-- Of the five bird species, including fox sparrows, Clark's nutcrackers and MacGillivray's warblers, that will see the greatest percentage declines in distribution, only one, the white-crowned sparrow, is not a forest-dwelling species. The distribution of some species, like acorn woodpeckers, will actually increase.
John Wiens, PRBO's chief conservation science officer, said what happens to birds could happen to us all.
"Birds are nature's barometers," said Wiens, who co-wrote the study. "If birds occur in different combinations in the future, it's likely that other organisms such as insects and plants will as well. The reshuffling of bird assemblages that we project may just be the tip of the iceberg."
The study, which will be published today in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS ONE, was conducted by scientists with PRBO, Stanford University, UC Santa Cruz and the Klamath Bird Observatory. They studied 60 birds from various California habitats, including oak woodlands, conifer forests, grasslands, riparian and coastal scrub.
The research team used models designed to predict changes in the snowpack, rainfall, plant and tree distribution between now and 2070 and compared that to the bird populations in California.
The study predicts that some groupings of bird species will move together while others will shift separately. Many birds will move north out of the hot, dry Central Valley or shift their ranges closer to the coast. Others will move to higher elevations in the mountains, searching out lower temperatures, moisture and prey, Stralberg said.
Altered ecosystem
"They'll be trying to adapt," Stralberg said. "The problem is they may or may not adapt."
Scientists have long predicted major changes in the ecosystem as a result of climate change. Reduced snowmelt is expected to change the types of trees and vegetation and have lasting impacts on birds, animals, insects and even the microscopic pathogens that infect them.
The study is part of a modeling effort that will eventually include analysis of up to 300 bird species in California. Stralberg said she hopes the work inspires a more collaborative effort to protect ecosystems instead of just individual species.
"It's not a fair playing field, so we should try to intervene," she said. "There may be things that we can do to help more species survive."
Species maps
-- Species maps can be viewed online at www.prbo.org/cadc. Click on the "Where will the birds be" banner on the front page.
-- To review the report, go to links.sfgate.com/ZIBP
Indybay
Steinberg, Bass Pick Conference Committee to Push Peripheral Canal...Dan Bacher
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/09/02/18620463.php
Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass yesterday named the conferees to a politically stacked conference committee to “reform” California’s water system in what appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to build the multi-billion dollar Peripheral Canal.
Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass yesterday (September 1) named the conferees to a politically stacked conference committee to “reform” California’s water system in what appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to build the multi-billion dollar Peripheral Canal.
The conference committee will vote on a package of five water bills that Delta advocates believe will serve as a “road map” to the canal. Conspicuously missing from the 14 member committee are Delta Legislators critical of the canal and water package including Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis), Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Davis), Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), and Assemblymember Alyson Huber (D-El Dorado Hills). The vast majority of committee members are from southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
The Senate conferees are Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Bakersfield), Senator Alex Padilla (D- Pacoima), Senator Fran Pavley (D- Agoura Hills), Senator Dave Cogdill (R- Modesto), Senator Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) and Senator Bob Huff (R- Diamond Bar). Steinberg will chair the committee.
The Assembly conferees are Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas), Assemblymember Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), Assemblymember Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore), Assemblymember Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber), Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim).
“I’m confident the Assembly’s conference committee members will attack the decades-old challenge before us with gusto and with the goal of producing a responsible and comprehensive plan that ensures a safe, clean and sufficient water supply for California that meets the needs of our environment and our economy,” Karen Bass said. “It’s a difficult challenge but do-able -- and do-able in the right way.”
However, opponents of the canal were outraged that the committee appears to be stacked to produce a pre-determined outcome – the peripheral canal and increased water diversions to corporate agribusiness and southern California at the expense of Delta farms and collapsing Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations. Sacramento River chinook salmon, green sturgeon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, striped bass, Sacramento splittail, American shad and striped bass have declined to record low population levels in recent years, due to massive increases in Delta water exports and declining water quality.
“There are no legislators from the Delta region on the committee other than Steinberg," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta (http://www.restorethedelta.org). “It also appears that the majority of the Senate appointments are not only pro-canal, but they support making large expenditures for water infrastructure at a time when the state is in a great economic crisis.”
“The omission of Legislators from the Delta is a grievous oversight,” said Bill Jennings, excecutive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Allianch (http://www.calsport.org).
Steinberg yesterday announced that the first conference committee meeting Tuesday would take place at 3 p.m. Tueday, but that hearing was cancelled. The committee was rescheduled to meet today September 2, at 9:00 a.m. in State Capitol room 4203. It will also meet Wednesday, Thursday and Friday upon call of the chair in the same room, room 4203.
“The conference has until Tuesday, September 8 to bring a final conference report to the floor of both houses,” according to a news release from Steinberg's office. “A conference report can only be brought to the floor if eight conferees (four from the Senate and four from the Assembly) sign the conference report.”
A broad coalition of recreational fishing groups, commercial fishing organizations, environmental groups, Delta farmers and California Indian Tribes is opposing the Legislature's attempt to push through a water package that they say would reshape California water policy and support the construction of a peripheral canal, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Big Ditch.” They characterize the water deal as “backdoor attack” on 130 years of California water law and legal precedent and the Public Trust Doctrine.
“The similarities between this backroom water deal, which has left Delta communities and fishing representatives out of the process, and energy deregulation are startling,” said Barrigan-Parrilla. “The proposed package would allow the legislature to give up their authority on oversight and costs regarding future decision regarding the Delta (including new conveyance) to a seven member appointed council, with six of the appointees coming from outside the Delta.”
The Council would have the authority to authorize the construction of the peripheral canal. A draft economic report by Steven Kasower of the Strategic Economic Applications Company, released to the California Legislature last Tuesday, reveals that the costs for the construction of a peripheral canal around the California Delta or a tunnel under the estuary would be much higher than previously estimated, ranging from $23 billion to $53.8 billion depending upon the conveyance facility. “The canal, a 48-mile long ditch comparable in size to the Panama Canal, won't make more water for California,” Barrigan-Parrilla stated. “It will just ship water from the north to Western Central Valley Agribusiness - at the expense of Delta fisheries and Delta family farmers.”
Jennings slammed Steinberg's cynical attempt to ram the water bills through the Legislature for political gain. "Steinberg seems to believe that, given the Legislature's current 9-11% approval rating, a water package is essential in order to improve the public's perception of the Legislature - regardless of merits of the bills - regardless of their effects on one of the great estuarine treasures of the world," he said.
Jennings also said the push for the canal is "sadly reminiscent" of the "mad rush" to the $50 billion energy deregulation fiasco. "If Steinberg wishes to avoid becoming the Senator Peace, of energy deregulation fame, perhaps he should consider that a vast majority of his constituents are opposed to a peripheral canal,” he concluded.
A poll of 800 registered voters throughout California released Monday indicates all segments of voters are strongly opposed to a Peripheral Canal and nearly half oppose a bond for new dams, reservoirs or other water infrastructure projects. The poll also disclosed that voters believe that ensuring a long-term reliable water supply is a "very high priority."
Ruth Bernstein and Tom Patras of EMC Research in Oakland, CA conducted the statewide voter survey on water issues on behalf of Restore the Delta from August 23-27, 2009. For a full copy of the report, go to http://www.calsport.org/DeltaWaterPollMemo.pdf
“There are better ways in terms of cost and environmental effectiveness to make more water for California, such as water recycling, floodplain restoration, groundwater cleanup and desalinization, stormwater capture and reuse,” stated Barrigan-Parrilla. “This needs to be the center of California's water policy, especially in an era of excessive deficits.”
Barrigan-Parrilla and Jennings urged everybody concerned about the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its imperiled fish populations, farms and people to immediately contact Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to make clear their displeasure with his promotion of this water package. His Capitol office number is (916) 651-4006.
To sign an on line petition against the peripheral canal and to send a quick email to committee chairs, go to http://www.calsport.org.
The San Bernardino County Sun
Delta 'bypass' a cure for its ills
Douglas Headrick. Douglas Headrick, deputy general manager of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, was a panelist at the San Bernardino County Water Conference.
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_13249315?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
Southern California Water Committee Chairman Charles Wilson caught everyone's attention at the third annual San Bernardino Water Conference when he likened California's water delivery system to a sick patient in desperate need of a coronary bypass operation.
"The heart of this patient needs a bypass surgery in the worst possible way," Wilson said during the Aug. 20 conference. He was talking about the need for a peripheral canal around the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The analogy couldn't be more on target.
More than 25 million people, or two-thirds of California's population, depend to varying degrees on the water that flows through the Delta. Its waters also provide the lifeblood for much of the state's agribusiness and countless other industries that make California the eighth-largest economy in the world. In San Bernardino County, we depend on Delta water because our local water needs far outstrip the runoff we receive from our local mountains. In fact, without Delta water, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District would be hard pressed to satisfy the needs of 13 local water agencies from Rialto to Yucaipa and their 700,000 business and residential customers, let alone maintain the integrity of local groundwater basins.
So when a federal judge ordered a 30 percent cutback in Delta water deliveries two years ago to protect the delta smelt, a small fish, many water agencies in San Bernardino County and throughout Central and Southern California had no choice but to impose immediate water restrictions.
The problems involving the Delta are complex. While some argue that water exports threaten the delta smelt and other endangered fish, others assert that these fish are equally threatened by contaminated runoff from agriculture, wastewater treatment plant discharges and invasive non-native species, which compete with smelt and other fish species for food. Another problem involves the Delta's antiquated system of levees, which could easily fail during an earthquake or flood, resulting in ocean water rushing into vast areas of the Delta, leaving large parts of California without an adequate water supply for months or years.
Given the magnitude of these problems, many argue that the best way to maintain the Delta's viability as an ecological and water resource is simply to bypass the existing network of canals with a new canal or perhaps even a tunnel, which would enable the state to better control water flows in and around the Delta for the benefit of both fish and people.
Unfortunately, every plan to re-route water supplies around the Delta is met with some level of opposition from sports fishermen, environmental groups or local interests who seem to be more interested in doing nothing rather than taking concrete steps to address the biggest single threat facing Californians and the state's economy, which is continued cutbacks in Delta water deliveries.
To make matters worse, the courts are clogged with lawsuits that have been filed by state, federal and local agencies as well as environmental organizations, further complicating efforts to restore the flow of Delta water throughout the state.
But while it may be tempting for some to simply give up on the idea of waging a political battle to ensure that an alternative conveyance system is put in place to protect the long-term viability of the Delta, water agencies in Southern California and throughout the state know this is one battle we cannot afford to lose.
"We cannot give up on our imported water supply," said Brian Thomas, assistant general manager and chief financial officer of Metropolitan Water District, in his remarks to water conference attendees.
Kirby Brill, general manager of Mojave Water Agency, made a similar call to action. "I challenge everybody not to give up on the Delta," he said, adding, "We really need to step up and make sure our voice is heard in this `fixing the Delta' discussion."
As the largest provider of imported water in San Bernardino County, we at San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District also believe that it is critical that our elected representatives act now to ensure that an alternative conveyance or "bypass" system is built to ensure the long-term viability of Delta water supplies.
Press Enterprise
Delta half-steps won't fill water needs...THOMAS P. EVANS and RANDY RECORD. Thomas P. Evans and Randy Record represent Western Municipal Water District and Eastern Municipal Water District, respectively, on the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  
http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/localviews/stories/PE_OpEd_
Opinion_S_op_02_mwd_dp_loc_new.3d3e907.html#
This was supposed to be the year of some big water decisions in the California Legislature. The impact of these decisions could determine the quality, cost and reliability of water supplies for residents throughout western Riverside County.
The plan was to put together a historic legislative package to address serious state water supply shortfalls caused by worsening environmental conditions in Northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a key water supply source for the Inland Empire and 25 million Californians throughout the state. Western and Eastern Municipal water districts, as member agencies of Metropolitan Water District, import significant amounts of water through the delta for local use. With legislators scheduled to leave Sacramento for the year on Sept. 11, deliberations have yet to begin on a formal proposal to fix problems impacting the delta.
Little time
Time is running out for making long-overdue decisions on water supply reliability for our state. There are many challenges facing the Legislature and all of California these days, but if the economy doesn't have a reliable water supply for the future, we're all in trouble.
The good news is that there is a solid foundation for a lasting solution -- the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. This is a broadly supported master plan to improve the ecosystem and water system in the delta through the cooperative efforts of state and federal water and wildlife agencies, along with Metropolitan, other water districts and some environmental groups.
The ecosystem proposal initially calls for tens of thousands of acres of habitat restoration. Water system reliability requires a new conveyance system to move water supplies around or under the delta.
Water districts that would draw supplies from this canal stand ready to invest billions of dollars to make the conservation plan a reality. The Legislature, however, needs to find public funds to match these investments for the entire restoration program to happen.
Few fixes
The Democratic leadership in the state Assembly and Senate released a draft delta legislative package Aug. 4. Among its problems and omissions, the package does not provide public funding for habitat restoration in the estuary. It also contains other obstacles to successful implementation of the conservation plan. The result would be no fix to the water system or ecosystem. This is unacceptable. Water districts, business leaders and other stakeholders are beginning to advise the Legislature on how to do this right. Your voice could help. Fixing the delta is essential to our community's future.
The goal is to make our traditional supply reliable once again, along with restoring this vital estuary. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is good for the environment and the state economy. A delta legislative package that embraces this plan and identifies a finance strategy is what we need, and now.
Rocky Mountain Independent
Triple threat imperils Colorado’s water supply...Joe Hanel
http://www.rockymountainindependent.com/2009/09/triple-threat-imperils-colorados-water-supply/
ESTES PARK — Colorado is melting, drying up and blowing away right in front of our eyes.
Treasured icons such as snow-capped peaks and alpine forests don’t quite match the scenes on the postcards anymore. Dust storms have converted the white snowpack into a muddy flood in early spring, while pine beetles continue their unchallenged march across the state’s northern forests.
Arizona Sen. John McCain was shocked Aug. 24 when he toured the pine beetle infestation in Rocky Mountain National Park.
“It’s unbelievable. Every citizen should see what’s happening here,” McCain said.
But the complex, slow-moving disaster that is befalling Colorado’s environment remains hidden to most city-dwellers.
At least three major environmental problems are unfolding: the pine beetle plague, rising temperatures and intensifying winter dust storms. Scientists say human activity is at least partially to blame for all three, and each will have an effect on Colorado’s water supply.
As is typical with water politics, Colorado’s leaders appear to be far from a consensus on what they should do, when they should do it or even what the problem is in the first place.
The multiple threats have riveted the attention of the Colorado Water Congress, a potent force at the state Capitol, even though many citizens are unaware of it. Water experts now openly talk about topics that were taboo just two or three years ago: global warming, population growth and land use.
The Water Congress’ summer meeting in Steamboat Springs last month spotlighted some of the latest research on environmental risks to Colorado’s water supply, starting with the strange “Martian winter” of 2009.
A winter dust bowl
April 3 unfolded across Colorado like a scene out of The Grapes of Wrath. A dark brown dust cloud obscured the mountains from Durango to Crested Butte and beyond.
“This was an event people could taste, could see on their car, and really was an eye-opener,” said Chris Landry, director of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies in Silverton.
The storm’s punishment lasted far beyond April 3. Since 2002, Landry’s center has been studying the effect that winter dust storms have on the spring snowmelt. This year was especially profound.
The April 3 dust storm was just one of 12, compared with seven last year. The constant dust storms led Landry to dub the 2008-09 season as Colorado’s Martian winter.
On May 12, Landry snapped a photo on Red Mountain Pass near Silverton, where the snow was so dirty it looked like it had been scraped off the shoulder of Interstate 25.
“We’d never seen anything like this,” he said.
It’s more than an eyesore. Dust storms have the potential to advance snowmelt by a full month, Landry said.
“Snow, of course, is a highly reflective material when it’s clean. Matter of fact, it reflects 95 to 98 percent of the solar energy,” Landry said. “This is not rocket science. You know that dirty snow melts quickly.”
Early snowmelt can cut short the ski season and, more importantly, disrupt the seasonal cycle that makes agriculture possible in Colorado. In a normal year, the warm temperatures that cause snowmelt also bring the planting season. So just when farmers need water for their crops, it comes rushing down the mountains. Early snowmelt brings that water ahead of the planting season.
The problem is growing because more people are moving into the desert Southwest states, stirring up dust with construction and dirt roads. But it’s not just a regional problem. Scientists have tracked dust clouds that settle on Colorado mountains all the way back to China.
Warming and water
The question of global warming is far less straightforward.
“You hear about climate change and how it’s all bad news, but it may not be,” said Mark Waage, Denver Water’s manager of water resources planning.
Half of the computer simulations that try to predict what global warming will do to Colorado’s weather show increased precipitation, Waage said at the Colorado Water Congress meeting.
Other studies have predicted doom for the Colorado River and its tributaries, which supply water to Denver and the Front Range, parts of New Mexico and Utah, Las Vegas, Arizona and Southern California. One study last year predicted a 50 percent chance that the river’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, would be dry by 2021.
That alarming study has been debunked, said Joe Barsugli of the University of Colorado. The latest work is predicting a 10 percent to 20 percent reduction in the Colorado River’s flow in the coming decades. That’s enough for Barsugli to call for action now to curb global warming and prepare for its effects.
“We need to make the best decisions with what we know. There’s a large consensus that we’re going to see widespread warming by the middle of the century” in the Western United States, Barsugli said.
One Western Slope water expert doubts such action is possible because of the political divide over global warming.
“(The divide) is real. It’s partisan. It very likely will prevent us from making good decisions on the water side,” said Eric Kuhn, general manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District.
A Mason-Dixon poll of Westerners last year showed that roughly three-quarters of Democrats believed global warming was real, while less than a quarter thought it was unproven. For Republicans, the numbers were essentially reversed, Kuhn said.
Anti Corruption Republican
Kevin Ring Exhibits: GREG ORLANDO
http://anticorruptionrepublican.blogspot.com/2009/08/kevin-ring-exhibits-greg-orlando.html
We continue our examination of the Kevin Ring Exhibit List. Last week, we looked at exhibits that related to Peter Evich, a Legislative Director (LD) who worked for former Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.). As we noted, Mr. Evich left Doolittle's office in January 2003. A Doolittle Legislative Assistant (LA), Greg Orlando, was promoted to fill the vacancy. Mr. Orlando appears in a number of the exhibits in USA v. Kevin A. Ring. We mentioned two (GX-352 and GX-381) in the "Kevin Ring Exhibits: PETER EVICH" post. Today, we look at many more:
EXHIBIT 351: 06/20/2001 Orioles vs. Toronto Camden Yards event Roster
The ACR Blog believes Mr. Ring provided tickets to this event to Mr. Orlando. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 366: 12/02/2001 Redskins vs. Dallas FedEx Field event roster
The ACR Blog believes Mr. Ring provided tickets to this event to Mr. Orlando. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
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EXHIBIT 369: 01/01/2002 Caps vs. NY Islanders MCI Center event roster
The ACR Blog believes Mr. Ring provided tickets to this event to Mr. Orlando. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 389: 02/19/2003 Email from Orlando to Ring, "RE: second notice, sir"
The ACR Blog believes that, in this email chain, Mr. Ring wanted to discuss a client's project with Mr. Orlando. Mr. Ring wrote, "[I] also think we should discuss a [municipal client's] post office soon. [T]hey didn't do what they said they would." The ACR Blog can only speculate what the client didn't do, but we are of the opinion that it has to do with making sure lobbying fees arrived at Greenberg Traurig. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 393: 03/07/2003 Email from Abramoff to Ring and Bowers, "RE:"
The ACR Blog believes that in this email chain, Mr. Orlando asked Mr. Ring for tickets to the first NFL game of the season. Apparently, Mr. Orlando had previously promised not to ask for anything ever again. Mr. Ring forwarded this email to Mr. Abramoff saying, "So much for not asking for tix .... [Doolittle]'s LD is looking for 2 tix for the Skins-Jets game." The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 394: 03/13/2003 Email from Orlando to Ring, "Lincoln TEA-21" and attachment
The ACR Blog believes that in this email chain, Mr. Ring discussed an earmark request for an "interchange project" for a client, likely Lincoln (Calif.) bypass-State Route 65 Ferrari Interchange. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 399: 04/21/2003 Email from Ring to Orlando, "VA-HUD answers for form" and attachment
The ACR Blog doesn't know with certainty what this email is about, but we do know that on this day, Mr. Ring asked Mr. Orlando for a $1 million appropriation for a municipal client's cultural and business center. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 400: 04/21/2003 Email from Ring to Lopez, Orlando and Robinson, "Ellen Valentino"
The snippets of this email that the ACR Blog knows about are simply bizarre. Mr. Ring describes himself to the three male Doolittle staffers as a "sugar daddy so people can use and abuse me". The defense objected to this email due to hearsay, relevance and the fact that the email "contains a remark that could be perceived as in poor taste." Ring's attorney, Andrew Wise successfully argued in court that a reference to Bobby Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan should be redacted, but not the "sugar daddy" comment. RESULT: Admissible with redaction
::
EXHIBIT 402: 05/01/2003 Email from Ring to Rounsaville, "RE: Gold Medal bill"
The ACR Blog believes that in this email, Mr. Ring told a LA for Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) that Rep. Doolittle would support a Congressional Gold Medal for the Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a Greenberg Traurig client. Mr. Ring told Pickering's LA that Mr. Orlando would be the point of contact, "but you don't need to call him." The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 406: 06/12/2003 Email from Ring to Orlando, "follow-up" and attachments
Mr. Ring sent an email to Mr. Orlando that included a draft letter for Mr. Doolittle to sign and send to the Department of Interior that supported Ring's tribal client, the Sac and Fox, in a tribal governance dispute and the reopening of the Sac and Fox tribal casino in Iowa. Later on June 12, 2003, Mr. Doolittle did send a letter to the Department of Interior asking the Bureau of Indian Affairs to intervene in the tribal-governance dispute. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 410: 07/08/2003 Email from Ring to Orlando, "RE:"
The ACR Blog believes that in this email chain, Mr. Orlando asked Mr. Ring if he could "score" "that box for ozzfest at merriweather post". Mr. Ring said he'd check into it and asked Mr. Orlando if he had heard anything more on an appropriations request they had been working on. As we hinted in our examination of exhibits related to Peter Evich, not everyone in this scandal has good taste in music. (Mrs. Anti-Corruption would disagree with us, though.) The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 412: 07/14/2003 Email from Orlando to Ring, "thanks"
Mr. Orlando thanked Mr. Ring for tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert for staffers for two other Representatives. One of those staffers eventually emailed Mr. Ring and stated, "Please don't hesitate to contact me if the [Representative's] office can ever be of assistance. Also, my girlfriend ... is a counsel to [another Representative]. I'm sure she would be happy to be of assistance[ ]in the future as well." The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 415: 07/22/2003 Email from Ring to Doolittle, "Greg"
Mr. Ring sent this email to Mr. Doolittle praising Mr. Orlando as an incredible asset to Doolittle's office. Mr. Ring wrote that Mr. Orlando had been "tenacious on the appropriations front to the benefit of the [Ring's municipal client]" and concluding, "It was good to see you today and I hope we can get together soon." The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 416: 09/05/2003 Email from Ring to Orlando, "Re: THANK YOU"
The ACR Blog has no information about the content of this email. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
::
EXHIBIT 420: 07/22/2003 Email from Ring to Orlando, "Mashpee follow-up" and attachment
Mr. Ring wanted Mr. Orlando to get his boss to sign a letter benefiting the Mashpee Wampanoag, one of Ring's clients.
Text of Email
Assuming [Mr. Doolittle] never called [a high level DOI official] after our meeting last week, I thought the attached letter would be okay to send to [Interior Secretary Gale Norton]. Pretty non-controversial -- says he doesn't take position on their [the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe's] petition for recognition, but thinks they deserve an answer. Assuming this is fine, please fax signed copy to me at [deleted]. Thanks. You the man.
Mr. Doolittle signed the letter asking Secretary Norton to respond to the Mashpee Wampanoag's recognition request expeditiously. The defense did not object to this exhibit. RESULT: Admissible
======
We know that many Doolittle staffers have been subpoenaed or otherwise questioned by the Justice Department. (The tenure of some of these staffers did not overlap):
Chief of Staff David Lopez
Chief of Staff Ron Rogers
Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Blankenburg
Legislative Director Peter Evich
Scheduler Alisha Perkins (wife of Tom DeLay employee Chris Perkins)
The ACR Blog does not know if Mr. Orlando has been responsive to the Justice Department. Given how involved he is in this case, it seems to us that the DoJ would be interested in what Mr. Orlando has to say.
The ACR Blog is not sure where Mr. Orlando works now. In the second half of 2008, Mr. Orlando worked for FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. Ms. Tate resigned in January 2009, and President Obama nominated Mignon Clyburn to take her place. It seems unlikely to us that Mr. Orlando remained in his position at the FCC.
If anyone could tell us about Mr. Orlando's whereabouts today, we'd be deeply grateful.