Corruption in Water District APPROVED by Board of Directors

We all know that by definition government is incompetent, mismanaged and/or corrupt.  Every once in a while we need to be reminded that government can not be trusted with our money and policies.  In the case of Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Board of Directors gave a contract for $5 million and looking to give further contracts valued at over $100 million to a firm under investigation.  Guess I should note this:

“This is the same company the board wanted to audit late last year—and still has yet to do—after Metro’s reporting brought to light several conflicts of interest, a district manager accusing RMC of theft and the district’s former CEO, Beau Goldie, breaking agency bylaws to give away more taxpayer money.

The district’s interim chief operating officer, Melanie Richardson, also happens to be married to one of RMC’s principal owners, so any big contract for the company—recently acquired by Woodard & Curran—personally benefits one of the district’s top executives.”

Open corruption and the Board of Directors looks the other way.  If we had a free press the local newspaper and TV stations would be on a crusade to fir Richardson and open an investigation on her conflict of interest.  Trust government?  Remember this water district.

Water District Staff Gets Testy, Defends RMC Deal that Will Cost $103 Million, Offer Little Benefit

By The Fly, San Jose Inside,  11/30/16

In light of the presidential recount in three states, Fly decided to take a look back at a multimillion-dollar decision that zipped under the radar on Election Night. While many people were tracking returns and drinking bleach, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors signed off on a $5 million deal for RMC Water and Environment. This is the same company the board wanted to audit late last year—and still has yet to do—after Metro’s reporting brought to light several conflicts of interest, a district manager accusing RMC of theft and the district’s former CEO, Beau Goldie, breaking agency bylaws to give away more taxpayer money.

The district’s interim chief operating officer, Melanie Richardson, also happens to be married to one of RMC’s principal owners, so any big contract for the company—recently acquired by Woodard & Curran—personally benefits one of the district’s top executives.

At the Nov. 8 meeting, directors were urged by staff to let RMC oversee a $103 million flood control project in South County, which will benefit just a few thousand residents. Directors Gary Kremen and Barbara Keegan questioned the timing in approving the contract, leading to a bizarre defense by Stephen Ferranti, the district’s capital engineering manager. Citing his three-year relationship with RMC, Ferranti noted, “I don’t have 33,000 emails with them, but I’d be glad to share all my emails,” which, we guess, was some kind of shot at Hillary Clinton. Ferranti then made a peculiar vow that he wouldn’t “acid wash” his communications with the company.

Keegan seemed to realize things were getting off track, but Ferranti cut off the board chair by persisting that RMC wants “to do a good job” while also noting that the company was recently embroiled in a bribery scandal after paying a Monterey County water board member $160,000. If all of that wasn’t enough to give the board pause—and it wasn’t, as the RMC deal was approved on a 5-2 vote after several procedural miscues—the proposed project for Upper LLagas Creek flood protection has a benefit/cost ratio of 23 cents to every $1 spent, which is horrendous.

The industry standard is to avert $1 of flood damage for every $1 spent. Additionally, because the project doesn’t meet the benefit/cost ratio required for federal assistance or matching funds, local taxpayers are 100 percent on the hook for a project that benefits only a few thousand people.

Here are the benefit/cost ratios for several of the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s active flood protection projects: