On March 22 the Proclamation Declaration to a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment was delivered to SLO County Board of Supervisors on behalf of over 89,000 signatories painfully concerned about their safety and health. Board Response time due on or before April 19.
Follow-up request was made to the Board on April 4 and 12. Acknowledgement of our request was met with deafening silence. No Board members motioned to respond. Common courtesy absent.
Natalie Beller and Natalie Risner met with Adam Hill to reiterate the dire water concerns and the Proposed Arroyo Grande Oil Field Aquifer Exemption. And although Adam declined to make a motion to vote on the Proclamation he did send a letter to David Albright U.S. EPA Region 9 Manager of the Drinking Water Protection Section, WTR-9 on behalf of those in his district concerned with the ongoing drought and regulations that can ensure greater safety of drinking water. He concluded with a request for a public meeting in SLO so that his constituents could interact with the USEPA decision makers on the issue.
Mr. Hill’s efforts are noted and appreciated.
I met with Mr. Mecham to request he sponsor the Proclamation by simply calling for a motion to vote on it. He declined.
And just to be fair the EPA and DOGGR right now are having more problems than a blind juggler in a hail storm. Feds: EPA Fails to Protect Water From Oilfield Contamination
And to be honest it is a mystery if our Board of Supervisors is just unaware that until THEY say our aquifer can be used as a toxic waste dumping ground by approving the conditional use permit whatever DOGGR or the EPA says is of NO consequence OR if our Board is just using the EPA’s exemption ruling as a way of promoting some private agenda we are not privy to. We really don’t know. We want to know. And feel very confident we have a right to know.
What is very obvious is that there is a fair amount of conflicting and confusing information surrounding intent and purposes on this issue. And in the interest of clarity and to give the Board an opportunity to clear the air and set the record straight we have put forth the Proclamation Declaration.
It is a very simple straight forward document that puts everything out on the table without any bells or whistles. It is everything each Board member promised to do when they took their oath of office.
The Board has a lot on its plate and so do each and every one of us. Life can get jammed and jumbled. So, it is not an unreasonable request to insist we just take a time-out to reconnect with our basic fundamental principles. It is not unreasonable to insist for our own peace of mind and well being that we all take a deep breathe, ground ourselves, and move on from there.
I have no doubt other communities across this State at some point in time have also experienced this very same dilemma. It is not unusual. And how we are choosing to resolve this common dilemma is with a Proclamation and Declaration of our basic principles.
Come to the April 19 Board of Supervisors meeting at 9 am and avail the Board the opportunity to clear the air and set the record straight by bearing witness to their response to the Proclamation Declaration for a Safe, Clean, Healthy Environment.
If, in the event, the Board declines to acknowledge the request, then we will take that to mean they regard the request to be of no importance or consequence and an unnecessary waste of their time.
For most that response would raise serious doubts about the ability of a Board to be able to effectively and efficiently do their job and serve as leaders of a community they have formally dismissed as an inconvenience and waste of their time. The vote would take 30 seconds. They have had a month to talk about it. No further delays would be appropriate.
But we cannot be sure what the Board will do until we put the offer before them for the last time on April 19.
A packed chamber will be hard to ignore. So, please let that reassure you that your presence is always vitally important, always makes a difference and always counts.
Just show up, support the speakers, be a speaker, fill out a request to speak #24, tell the Board you are there to hear their vote on the Proclamation or whatever is on your mind.
Tuesday April 19, 2016
Time: 9 am
Place: Board of Supervisors
Chambers 1055 Monterey SLO
Agenda Item: #24 Public comment. http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Meeting.html?single=1&mid=58
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