Novato
VEOLIA, Novato Sanitary 'End-Run' Around Voters
Described as 'illegal'
May 11, 2010
NOVATO - The embattled
Novato Sanitary District - already faced with a
voter-inspired referendum to overturn its decision
to hire a foreign company to run its wastewater
operations - has been notified that a recent
decision to make an "end-run" around the voters is
patently "illegal."
Click here for the rest of the story
NOVATO FLOW PRESS
RELEASE
Wednesday, April
28, 2010
Contact: Dennis Welsh 415-497-1577
Current and former elected officials join fight
to stop SF Bay polluter from taking reins of
sanitary district plant, urge Novato voters to
reject Measure F June 8
NOVATO –
Former and current Novato and Marin County elected
officials are endorsing a “No” vote on Measure F on
the Novato ballot June 8, expressing major concerns
about turning over a new water treatment plant to a
private company with a poor environmental record,
and a history of raising rates for consumers.
In fact, one Bay Area mayor whose city is stuck in a
contract with Veolia Water – which wants to run
Novato Sanitary District plant – is warning Novato
voters to not privatize their current public-owned
facilities.
"There are three wastewater treatment plants in
Richmond and those ratepayers served by the plant
operated by Veolia are charged three to four times
as much. I caution other cities of going down this
same path,” Richmond mayor Gayle McLaughlin said,
endorsing a “No” vote on Measure F. Veolia has an 8
percent rate increase on the table this year in
Richmond.
Others opposed to Measure F include former Novato
mayor Jim Leland, Novato Planning Commissioner Peter
Tiernan, Fairfax vice-mayor Lawrence Bragman, San
Rafael city councilperson Greg Brockbank and Fairfax
city councilperson Pam Hartwell-Herrero.
“Clean water and sanitation are basic human rights
that should not be corporatized...Novato is ground
zero for the anti- privatization movement in Marin
County,” said Bragman, a former Novato
businessperson and resident.
The Sierra Club of California has endorsed a “NO”
vote on Measure F, which was placed on the ballot by
outraged citizens – 4,000 voters, twice the number
needed, signed a referendum to put the decision on
the ballot after only two weeks of
signature-gathering.
Veolia is expected to spend freely in the election
to claim a $15.6 million contract. It spent $38,000
last November to try to re-elect the same board that
awarded it a contract.
Environmentalists note that Veolia has a terrible
record. The Veolia-operated plant in Richmond has
the 4th worst record for sewage spills in
California, according to the State Water Board.
Burlingame was sued after a Veolia-operated plant
reportedly dumped more than 10 million gallons of
wastewater and untreated sewage into San Francisco
Bay. –
Novato Flow.Org Press Release, Wednesday, April 28,
2010
KPFA interview about disenfranchised
voters in Novato Sanitary District
2-24-10
The section starts at 49:57 of the news.
Click here to hear the interview
Upfront: Witness for the prosecution?
Newest board member has
Novato Sanitary District in another fine mess...
by Peter Seidman, Pacific
Sun
1-22-10
It didn't take long. Just days after the lone opposition candidate
to win a spot on the Novato Sanitary District took
his seat, the first confrontation erupted in a
district that has been wracked with dissension.
Click here for the rest of the story
Novato Water Treatment Fight a Sign of the Times
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
December 4, 2009, 12:36 am
Novato is a key local battleground in a regional war
over how to manage its sewage treatment facilities
to maximize economic and environmental benefits. No
sooner had it signed a contract this fall with
Veolia Water North America, a subsidiary of a
French-based international firm, than a local
resident spearheaded an effort to nullify it.
It is a timely subject of debate in the Bay Area, where communities
have been wrestling with the broader question of
whether private-public partnerships in municipal
services make financial and environmental sense
during tough economic times.
Click here for the rest of the story
Novato Sanitary referendum heads to ballot June 8,
2010
Jim Welte
Posted: 11/24/2009
Nearly one year after the Novato Sanitary District
board voted to privatize a
new $90 million wastewater treatment plant, its
customers will get a chance to
affirm or reject that decision.
The board voted unanimously Monday to put the matter
on the ballot for the June
8, 2010, primary election, setting the stage for an
encore of what has already
been a turbulent battle over the issue.
"We look forward to the June 2010 election when all
the voters in the district
will hopefully be allowed to vote," said Phil
Tucker, project director for
Martinez-based California Healthy Communities
Network, which spearheaded the
referendum along with a trio of opposition
candidates in the Nov. 3 board election.
The group collected more than the necessary 2,178
signatures needed to get the
issue on the ballot, and Marin County Registrar of
Voters Elaine Ginnold
certified the petition drive's success late last
month. June 8 is the next
regular election scheduled in California. It could
cost the district up to about
$77,000. Getting it on the ballot sooner could have
cost the district as much as
$307,000.
Click here for the rest of the story
Bay Area Water Plan Referendum Election Set for June Next Year
November 25, 2009 - Novato voters
to decide in June if embattled Bay Area water
district - facing federal probe - can outsource
local jobs and control to French-owned firm
NOVATO - An embattled Bay Area sanitation
district - under investigation by the
EPA for allegedly dumping millions of gallons of
untreated waste into the Bay -
decided Monday night it would reluctantly place a
citizen-initiated referendum
on the ballot June 8 that could reverse the
district's plan to outsource much of
its operation and control to a French-owed
corporation.
Click here for the rest of the story
Novato Sanitary referendum gets green light
Jim Welte, Marin IJ
Posted: 10/30/2009 12:04:32 AM PDT
Privatization of the Novato Sanitary District's $90 million sewage
treatment plant will go to voters next year. The
Marin County registrar of voters said Thursday that
critics of the privatization plan garnered enough
signatures of registered voters to put the issue on
a 2010 ballot. The announcement came just five days
before Tuesday's hotly contested election that will
determine the majority of the five-member district
board, which approved the privatization deal earlier
this year.
Registrar Elaine Ginnold said organizers of the referendum obtained
the necessary 2,178 signatures, or 10 percent of the
votes cast in the district in the November 2006
gubernatorial election. The campaign, which was
spearheaded by an opposition slate of three
candidates for the board and the California Healthy
Communities Network in Martinez, had turned in more
than 4,000 petition signatures.
Click here for the rest of the story
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (See also KPFA Radio News Clip at bottom or
release)
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
Contact: Cres Vellucci, Cal-HCN media relations,
916/996 9170
Ballot measure to prevent Bay Area water agency from outsourcing
jobs to foreign company qualifies for vote;
referendum will save millions for ratepayers
NOVATO
– Environmental and taxpayer groups Thursday
confirmed that a ballot measure designed to reverse
a highly controversial decision by a Bay Area water
agency to turn over control and operations to a
foreign company has qualified for election in Marin
County.
Phil Tucker, project director for California Healthy Communities
Network/Tides, said the citizen referendum to block
a multi-million contract between Novato Sanitary
District and Veolia Water was surprisingly easy.
"We gathered the signatures in about two weeks, and we collected
nearly double the number needed. We are very happy
this has succeeded," said Tucker. Nearly 4,100
signatures were submitted to the Marin County
Election Dept., and only 2,178 were needed.
Tucker said the NSD Board erred in calculating supposed savings,
and that hidden deals would cost ratepayers millions
of dollars more under privatization. "We have
uncovered millions of dollars in unreported costs
that will be borne by the ratepayers," he said
Tucker.
In fact, Petaluma – with an operation similar to Novato's –
recently severed a deal with Veolia Water when it
was found going back to a public operation was less
expensive to taxpayers. Fairfield-Suisun has also
returned to public operations.
Tucker said the board – under investigation by the EPA after an FBI
raid looking into illegal dumping into the Bay of
millions of gallons of sewage – is being unduly
influenced by Veolia, which has kicked in tens of
thousands of dollars to influence the board's
re-election Nov. 3.
Tucker urged NSD to rescind the current contract with Veolia Water
to stop an election, and save ratepayers even more
money. Or NSD could fight the election, and the
right of ratepayers to vote, using, ironically, the
ratepayer own monies to disenfranchise them," he
explained;
"We would prefer the NSD board be reasonable, realize that there an
overwhelming ratepayer concern about this bad
contract and vote to end their relationship with
Veolia Water," said Tucker.
Click here for KPFA radio news clip
http://kpfa.org/archive/id/55689
(50:13 starts, through 53.34)
Novato Sanitary District board race heats up
By Jim Welte
Posted: 10/15/2009 06:34:26 PM PDT
The already testy Novato Sanitary District board race got even
feistier this week, as candidates engaged in heated
exchanges at two board meetings and a coalition
submitted petitions Thursday to put the district's
privatization plans up for a public vote.
"We all just need to cool off a bit," said board
member Bill Long on Tuesday, a day after multiple
shouting matches broke out at the board's Monday
meeting and a day before Long himself responded
angrily to one of the opposition group's leaders.
Click here for the rest of the story
Bay Taxpayer Revolt; FBI Raid Leads to Ballot Measure in Novato
October 15, 2009
Thousands of petition signatures will be submitted here by voters
Thursday to qualify a ballot measure to stop a Bay
Area wastewater agency - already under federal
investigation - which plans to outsource jobs and
local control to a French company with a poor
environmental record.
Click here for the rest of the story
URGENT NEWS ADVISORY
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Contact: Cres Vellucci 916/996 9170
‘Hidden costs,' outsourcing jobs and local control cause Bay Area
ratepayers to announce a ballot measure; EPA
continues probe after FBI raid
SAN RAFAEL – More than 4,000 petition signatures were submitted
here by voters Thursday in an effort to qualify a
ballot measure to stop a Bay Area wastewater agency
– already under federal investigation after a major
spill into the Bay – from near-secret plans to
outsource jobs and local control to a French company
with a poor environmental record.
At a news conference Thursday at the Marin County Civic Center,
Novato ratepayers and environmental and tax
organizations carried in the signatures - each
"book" had more than 100 pages of documents and
signatures - to election officials.
The coalition turned in 4,084. The county requires 2,178 to qualify
for an election.
"Our staff and consultants have...uncovered millions of dollars in
unreported costs that will be borne by the
ratepayers. The race to off load operational
responsibility was rushed through that has not been
transparent," said Phil Tucker of the California
Healthy Communities Network/Tide Center.
Ratepayers are upset about recent increases in rates, the loss of
local control over their own sanitary district and
millions of dollars in hidden costs in the contract
to outsource operations.
The Board – already facing criminal investigation by the EPA after
a daytime raid by the FBI earlier this year over
alleged illegal discharges into the Bay – is being
challenged for re-election Nov. 3 in what has become
one of the hottest election races in the Bay Area.
The board's unpopular action to give up local control comes after a
probe by the FBI and EPA, accusations that NSD
dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage in the bay,
$500,000 missing from the NSD bank account and the
death of a contract worker.
PRESS STATEMENT PHIL TUCKER, PROJECT DIRECTOR CALIFORNIA HEALTHY
COMMUNITIES NETWORK/TIDES CENTER
OCTOBER 15, 2009
On behalf of California Healthy Communities Network, a project of
non-profit Tides Center, I am pleased to join our
Novato community citizens committee in presenting
4,084 signatures of voters of the Novato Sanitary
District to the Marin County Registrar of Voters
today.
Over 25 community activists have joined in the signature gathering
effort to qualify a referendum of Novato Sanitary
District’s September 21, 2009, action approving a
contract for services outsourcing the operation,
maintenance and management for the new $90 million
Waste Processing Plant to Veolia Water North
America, a subsidiary of French-owned Veolia
Environmental.
After more than 80 years of providing local waste water treatment
services, Novato Sanitary District turned over local
control of essential waste water treatment to a
third party operator of questionable reputation.
This race to off load this operational
responsibility was rushed through an approval
process that has not been transparent and has
questionable and contested cost savings produced by
NSD consultants.
Responding to this action, over 4,000 voters and ratepayers of
Novato Sanitary District are seeking a referendum
ballot measure that would allow a vote to determine
whether or not this contract outsourcing of
essential water treatment services will stand.
Our staff and consultants have reviewed the contract Exhibit
attached to the referendum petition and have
uncovered millions of dollars in unreported costs
that will be borne by the ratepayers of NSD. The
exaggerated savings being publicized by the NSD
Board and administrative staff do not take into
consideration hidden costs and subsidies to Veolia
that undermine the claimed savings.
By letting the voters and ratepayers of NSD decide
this measure through the democratic, public process
of a referendum election, the ambiguities of this
111-page contract will see sunlight and the citizens
and voters of Novato Sanitary District will have a
voice in this important decision that will impact
every NSD ratepayer.
Upfront: Novato flushed with controversy Can a sanitary district
get a little privacy around here?
by Peter Seidman
Thursday August 13, 2009
How did an organization known for its opposition to Walmart become
involved in the debate over whether the Novato
Sanitary District should turn over operations of a
new wastewater treatment plant to a company started
during the rule of Napoleon III? And how did that
question get wrapped in a charge of union busting?
The Novato Sanitary District has been a generally quiet spot on the
Marin scene--but not without its share of
controversy. In May, federal agents entered the
district's offices and carried out a search warrant.
Exactly what they were looking for wasn't clear.
Speculation ran through the district that the
agents, who were with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's criminal investigation unit,
were looking for information regarding possible
environmental violations that occurred in 2006 and
2007.
Even the district's manager-engineer, Beverley
James, said she was unsure what the agents really
were after in their search. The district still
doesn't have a definitive answer; the case is
remains an active investigation. The district "has
not received any information" about the raid or any
action that may come in its aftermath, says James.
Bay groups urge delay of outsourcing plan to EPA plagued French
water company
July 27, 2009
NOVATO
- A controversial plan to outsource jobs of a Bay
Area water agency under investigation by the EPA to
an international French water company - which has a
record of environmental violations around the U.S. -
should be delayed, according to a report to be
released Monday by a prominent land use non-profit
organization.
A NEWS CONFERENCE will be held Monday (July 27) at 5:30 p.m. behind
the Margaret Todd Senior Center, 1560 Hill Road,
Novato. to unveil the report and increasing
opposition to the plan.
The Novato Sanitary District - meeting at the same location at 6:30
p.m. - is expected to finalize contract negotiations
Monday with Veolia Water - only a week after
announcing details to ratepayers and the public.
More than 100 people opposed to the plan attended a hearing last
week at a NSD meeting where loud voices of
opposition pointed to the lack of transparency by
the district, and concerns the outsourcing would
cost jobs, lead to sewage spills and rate increases.
Click here for the rest of the story
Novato Sanitary forges ahead on privatization plans
Jim Welte
07/27/2009
In front of a packed house that included two on-duty Novato police
officers, the Novato Sanitary District board voted
unanimously Monday night to proceed with plans to
privatize the operations of its $90 million
wastewater treatment plant. While the meeting
highlighted broad opposition to the proposal to turn
over plant operations to Veolia Water North America,
it stood in stark contrast to the board's
acrimonious, messy meeting on the same subject a
week earlier. The move gives the district the green
light to begin contract negotiations with Veolia.
The board cited the $7.148 million the district says
it would save by handing over the reins of the plant
to Veolia, saying it was simply too significant to
outweigh the opposition's concerns. Much of the
criticism centered on the plan's long-term impact on
the job security of the plant's nine current
employees.
Click here for the rest of the story
Bay Area Water Agency, Faced With Critics and FBI/EPA Raid
July 18,2009
NOVATO
- The Novato Sanitary District has kept details of
plans to outsource control over a new, $90 million
wastewater plant largely secret from the public, and
is now only holding a "public" meeting in response
to intense and increasing criticism from the
community, a citizens group charged today.
Click here for the rest of the story
