"Marina Coast Files $20 Million Claim Against the County" by News Blog

News Blog

Marina Coast Files $20 Million Claim Against the County

June 29, 2012

Marina Coast Water District isn't going away without a fight. The district filed a claim Friday against the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the Water Resources Agency, alleging their former Regional Water Project Partners may owe them more than $20 million.

The claim tells a story not unlike the one former MCWRA board member Steve Collins tells in his own $25 million lawsuit against the county for defamation; County Counsel and supervisors Dave Potter and Lou Calcagno along with former MCWRA General Manager Curtis Weeks hatched a plan to make sure Collins could get paid for his time pushing the project.

Those alleged agreements led to a $160,000 deal for Collins, who was being paid by project contractor RMC while he was repping the county. This ultimately led to a slew of criminal charges, and an ongoing conflict-of-interest investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Now Marina Coast alleges the county owes them for breach of contract for its failure to follow through on the water purchase agreements that formed the basis of the desal project.

"To the extent that the [regional desal project] is not implemented, Marina Coast Water District has been deprived of the benefit of its bargain under the [project] agreements. Upon request, Marina Coast will provide a good faith estimate of its damages," the claim states.

The claim also accuses the county and California American Water of ditching the project too quickly and of backroom negotiations over repealing the county's ordinance prohibiting privately owned desal facilities.

Marina Coast's claim, prepared by the San Francisco-based law firm Friedman Dumas & Springwater, also calls out Weeks for forming CollinsWeeks Consulting, LLC, in early 2010 with Collins and alleges they planned to have a major role in managing the water project.

So Collins claim and the Marina Coast Water District claim contain much the same information; is it possible they are telling the truth? Both claims are on line and available for the public to read, perhaps you should do so, they are chilling. There is a much deeper story here and I sincerely hope it comes out. As an example, both claims include the fact that the negative references to the financing of the project came from the Wedbush report, and yet the Wedbush report was written by a partner in the Deep Water DeSal project in Moss Landing. Where is the BOS outrage at such an obvious conflict of interest?

You are so right....You nailed it....Now the obvious question is why did they find acceptance of the Wedbush Report? Why not ask Supervisor Calcagno???

 Good idea on Calcagno. I am an old retired guy with time on my hands, at least until football season, and this case intrigues me. I have read both claims and the responses from County Counsel and the Supervisors and they are polar opposites. As we seniors commonly say we have CRS (can't remember ....) but this seems to be a mantra for the County staff.
 This afternoon I went on-line and read the Remcho report (yes, I have time on my hands) and based on the responses from all parties, seems Collins and Heitzman were completely on their own, with no imput from the County on a $400M project. Does this sound right? So I dug a little deeper and found two interesting things that support both Collins and MCWD claims.
 I went to the FPPC website, typed in Calcagno and Potter and guess who pops up as their counsel on Conflict of Interest issues, Remcho, specifically the attorneys that investigated Collins. Are you telling me this was the only firm in the State of California that could perform this work, and per the claims these facts were not pointed out to anyone interviewed?
 I then went to the Marina Coast Water District website and looked up Agenda's and Minutes for January and February, 2010. A specific action item was the contract of RMC with the Collins contract attached and approved on a vote by the Board. I looked at the distribution list for all mailings from Marina Coast, and County Counsel and Curtis Weeks are included. I have no idea if they opened their mail but they were certainly included, as was the press.
 I was raised in the country, and manure has a specific odor, my question is this, if an old guy witha reading glass needed to see a 13 inch screen can find this stuff on a Saturday afternoon, why can't the investigators? I have heard Collins speak twice and have never met Heitzman but there is something here that my old nose does not like.

You have done such a wonderful job of research...I'm impressed by your effort..So take it one step further and figure out who benefits from the demise of the Regional Project....Follow the money....

 Very tall order, Granny, not even sure who all the players are, but I am now officially intrigued and love a challenge. My only interest in this case is seeing that I can continue to live on the Peninsula with enough water to shave and have coffee, without paying through the nose. I would also like to think that somebody involved in this process gives a hoot about the working person and retired folks living on a fixed pension.
 After once again perusing the Collins and MCWD claims I went to two websites, the PUC, and used the project code 04-09-019 and the Monterey County Regional Desalination Project website.
 Again, very valuable information, according to the County one of the reasons the project was suspended was the lack of a finance plan. Wrong, it is dated June 28, 2011 and was prepared by the San Francisco firm of Piper Jaffrey who confirms the existence of the low interest loan funds on Page 9. MCWD filled out their portion of the application, the one addressed to Curtis Weeks was never returned, why?
 I looked at all of the meeting notes for all of the different committees, which included Mayors, staff and Collins. He was also a member of the finance committee until April, 2011 and the only committee he did not attend was Project Management. Maybe the guy actually did some work for his $160K.
 Which brings me to the PUC, if the public wants a shock, go to the website, type in the code above and go to the fees section. I was appalled at the fees approved for payment to individuals for their meeting attendance and work on this project. There are a lot of people getting fat suckling at the public teat on this one. Single attorneys being paid $360K for six months of work? 
 Enough for now, thought I would take a look at Cal Am, they want to sue the County, emminent domain farmers in the Salinas Valley (good luck with that), build without a public partner, charge the project an 8-10% return on investment instead of 2-3% State money, dismiss MCWD and further sully their fine and outstanding public image to build a project by 2016? They will not even be out of their first Court proceeding by then.

Hey, old guy49..I'm an old gal on a fixed income, too..Welcome to the club..You're on to something.. The County paid $86.,000 to Piper Jaffery for a good finance plan that was scuttled by the Wedbush Report. And the County maintains there was never a finance plan...It's on line.....As you so succinctly put it, it doesn't pass the smell test... In regard to "tall order", you might take a look at alternative projects in terms of monied interests....

 I am lost, I have written several comments which end up in my comments box, but not on here, help????

I give up, click the box next to here and you will find my other comments, Giants are behind.

Hi, oldguy49, it may just be you and me, but I did click on your box and after trying to read around that big blob in the middle I am dumbfounded by how, in the short period of time you have been researching this whole mess, you are, in my opinion, absolutely prescient in your assessment of everything...Spot on...I just wish everyone, the public, press, and elected officials had your gumption to ferret out the truth....Good for you !!!

24 comments on a beer Haiku contest and only 9 on this (not counting the 2 I somehow screwed up and are not on this page), and all from you and me, very sad.

By the way, Granny, I have several more interesting (I think anyway) comments coming regarding Moss Landing and "following the money"; I think I found something.

 Well, I am going to try again, hopefully I do not push the wrong button. I took your advice and looked at Moss Landing. I looked at it from two aspects, one I will address here and the other in a subsequent note, maybe my posts are too big. I went to the PUC again and looked at environmental stuff (ESHA), I believe it was called and did a topo overlay of the region on Google Earth. I am an old artillery guy, which means I am not very subtle, am deaf, but I can read a map with the best of them. I did an overlay with latitute and longitude markings, did a three mile spread array and have a nice color presentation. I will address the issues of running pipes through sanctuary, estuary, sensitive habitat and other issues later, damn near as complex as the Counties Zone billing scheme.
 Once I had my map, I went to the County Assessor's office website and using my bearings, marked the property lines by parcel designation and some very interesting things displayed, I will only give facts, I have no idea if most of this is relevant, but it does bother me.
 I focused my energies on lands east and south of the two proposed Moss Landing sites, assuming one might want to pipe water to Prunedale as well as the Peninsula (the Prunedale water crisis is a shame). The majority of this land is owned by a County Supervisor, Lou Calcagno. I am sure this is absolutely legal, and in fact, he includes all of these lands in his annual Form 700. Nothing unusual here, what is unusual are the individuals and corporations that are co-owners of some of these lands. Parcel 133-181-003 is co-owned by D'Arrigo Bros., have they ever presented if front of the Board? Has Calcagno disclosed, not on his Form 700? For $8 you can get a detailed analysis of the property, by parcel from the Assessor, one of Calcagno's parcels shows a co-ownership of the Del Piero's. I have no idea if it is the same Del Piero family, probably not, but if so, interesting question? Many of these properties are in Trust and filings were done by a Tony Lombardo, the same Tony Lombardo doing the Cal Am work in front of the County BOS trying to change the public ownership ordinance? Again, I am just an inquisitive old guy who thinks this stuff is important, maybe Granny and I are the only ones, but I will report on the environmental stuff and then shut up.
 I can only imagine the value to one's property if miles of pipeline need easements, but perhaps Supervisor Calcagno has already agreed to donate all of the land, perhaps his partners will agree???

You hit a home run on this one. I think the Herald, Pine Cone and Weekly ought to hire you for research..Keep up the good work..There's lots more out there. Keep digging!!! Your causing a few people to reach for the Prilosec.. Hot dog....

Oldguy49 and Granny, Man are you two the only citizens in this neck of the woods who did not drink the Kool-Aid? Oldguy us so spot on with his research. I would like to point out that the AgLand Trust lawsuit against Marina Coast also has a Del Piero connection as Marc sits on the Board of Ag Land Trust. Moreover, back when the public meetings were being held putting the Regional Project together (they called it REPOG back then) we had a lot a lot of resistance from the attorney for Pajaro Sunny Mesa Water District to support their project instead. And whose project was that? Why it was Nader Agha's project now called the People's Desal Project. And who was the attorney for PSMWD? It was none other than Marc Del Piero! How do I know this? I was the convener of the REPOG while I worked at UC Santa Cruz. At that time, the County was not a financial contributor. It was only Marina Coast who got on board early. We needed them to be on board because of their unique geographic location in the Salinas Basin.

This whole mess not only smells, but it really looks a lot like a RICO or conspiracy. I suspect that most of the key players are just dupes without the smarts of Oldguy. Never the less, they are working in concert against truth and facts. This should be an interesting court room drama when it get litigated. I think it will be worth a trip to San Francisco to watch it play out.

Still, working folks, fixed income folks, in fact all Peninsula residents are going to be hurt by these maliciously incompetent avaricious and power-hungry miscreants.

Hey, oldguy49...want to know what i discovered about RICO that skasower referred to??? I discovered that if it is believed that all parties such as the County Council, Board of Supervisors, DA's Office or whomever are in bed together, the State, (Attorney General's Office), can come in and examine the whole Monterey County "conspiracy" as skasower calls it... Do you think it's about time???.....WOW !!!

 Welcome, skasower, to the discussion, you have knowledge of the events, your imput welcome. Two quick points, I am in way over my head on the environmental stuff, my objective is to provide facts, not opinion, and I do not have a clue as the difference between "open ocean intake" and "deep water intake", they sound the same to me and the Coastal Commission does not seem keen on either. I will let people a whole lot smarter than me write about the scientific stuff.
 I also want to be clear that my sole purpose herein is WATER, for me, my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Most do not live here on the Peninsula because they can afford to do so, but I hope I can leave them a legacy, in my home, when I am gone.
 I could not care less who the next Supervisor is, I voted for Garcia in the primary and will vote for Del Piero in the general election, met him when he was a young pup and Supervisor the first time around, a bit bombastic but smart as heck. I would not vote for Potter because I think he is complicit in a conspiracy of insanity.
 I have one or two more posts in me, I was amazed at the PUC process which led to the Water Purchase Agreement and Settlement Agreement and the role our own Monterey Peninsula Management District played therein. Has anyone in the reading audience ever taken the time to read the Water Purchase Agreement? I will report on that next post but why did our own Agency challenge the process and cost we ratepayers millions of dollars for nothing????

 Happy 4th, all, may be my last post for a bit, son in law is coming to pick me up to go to Bay area for holiday, and minor ankle surgery Friday. I will try to check computer at my daughters but I have an old phone that only makes phone calls.
 Glutton for punishment that I am, I went to the Regional Project website and read the Water Purchase Agreement (92 pages), written by attorneys obviously, so very cumbersome, but also very clear. Its sole purpose was the replacement of Carmel River water, a depleted source in overdraft, with ocean water, a drought resistant source, desalinated. Paragraph 9.3e, on page 48 shows that the Peninsula has senior rights to water during summer (heavier demand) and an allocation once Fort Ord is built out.
 Again, if some wise water attorney can point out where governance plays any part in this Agreement, I would love to have you do so. What is the governance of water now? This Agreement made no attempt to change that, at least that I could find, why spend millions of dollars fighting over a non-issue? Per the Agreement MCWD sells the water to Cal Am at a set  rate, Cal Am turns off the pumps in the river and the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District still decides who gets a second bathroom or shower. 
 Who could make this stuff up? Cal Am decided to go their own way (far more profitable) because the County decided to back out of the Water Purchase Agreement. Allegedly a member of an appointed advisory board, with no decision making authority, was paid for his efforts on a contract approved in an agendized public session and lauded by the BOS for his efforts (look at the published minutes of April 6, 2010). The entire County now claims to have senior dementia and CRS, so this now brings the Cease and Desist Order fully into play because the State is surely going to cut us some slack since we have proven so responsible in finding a replacement water source in the past. I hate to be a cynic but I think we are screwed!!!!!!

Hey, oldguy49, in regard to your last statement...as Sarah Palin would have said, " You betcham !!"....

 I have been gone for a few days and see that the sole reference to research is the suggestion in "Squid" that this is a rom-com, I can only guess, and that I am in the mood for love. If com equals comedy, is there anything humerous about the current situation?
 A brief reference to myself, I was born in 1924, second child to immigrant parents, married the only woman I have ever loved in 1946, buried her in 2009 and mourn her daily. I have three children, one of whom is a retired jurist, so yes, I have had some help on research. Romance is the farthest thing from my mind.
 Regarding the inference that I am a "Collins fan", any interest I had in him arose from your own article authored by Sara Rubin on June 29, 2012, wherein she refers to the Marina Coast claim and draws a reference to the Collins claim. That piqued my interest; that, and the fact that this paper has been so negative in their references to him. My son did some brief research and discovered that Collins was charged in November, 2011 and has yet to have a Preliminary Hearing. The Courts have not yet even deemed there is sufficient evidence to hold a trial, how is this possible? The County suggests that no one on the Board or senior staff had any knowledge of Collins activities and yet there is data on-line to suggest otherwise? Several other papers have reported that Calcagno has retained criminal legal counsel and will refuse to participate in Collins Preliminary Hearing, if he ever has one. How is none of this relevant to the press or worthy of investigation? I did not start out a Collins fan, but frankly, if I am going to be accused of being one, then what the heck, might as well jump in, I believe the guy is being framed and a scapegoat for a County conspiracy. More importantly, it looks that way to my son as well.
 I did some checking and skasower, is Steve Kasower and does indeed have intimate knowledge of these projects and is who he claims to be, at least on paper. He works with multiple clients, per his CV, on economics and water related topics and appears regularly in front of both the Public Utilities Commission and the State Water Resources Control Board. His opinion matters, at least, to me.
 Our water situation is at a cross roads and if we do not come together as a community on a sane and reasonable solution we will rue this. My son has been busy and helped me uncover additional data which I will be forwarding soon, want to check the references myself; I am now officially engaged, best not to pi.. off senior citizens.

Hey, oldguy49,..Welcome back..And I hope your ankle surgery was successful..I'm a month away from 81 and lost the love of my life almost 16 years ago..I've observed the Peninsula's water woes and "battles" and millions of dollars wasted for dozens of years...Here was a Regional Project, passed by all responsible parties, with really low interest loans lined up, and the only remaining hurdle was the Coastal Commission..Then along comes a whole bunch of the things you have uncovered to put the squash on everything...It's all factual, with merit..Thank you for uncovering the truth of it...No, it doesn't pay to pi.. off Seniors....

This is all very interesting to read. All of you who have been commenting on this would be interested to know (if you don't already) that Monterey County water rate changes are anticipated to raise water cost for people in various Cities & the County, not Cal-Am exclusively and that this rate-setting business in relation to the "Water Project" is on the agenda of California Public Utilities Commission for July 12. Report is at http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/EFILE/PD/168681.pdf - touches on various of the issues you've described in your comments. You can comment before July 12 by email to: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov Include "Comment on CPUC July 12 Agenda Item 15 [11410]" in your subject.

 Been gone for a few days, bad reaction to pain meds. Regarding the previous comments, thanks for joining the group. A competing paper ran a article this morning regarding the CPUC and the intervenor fees certain groups wish to be paid; $1.3M in total. As I indicated in a prior mail, this is a drop in the bucket compared to what was paid the first time around, I even pointed out where to go find the information. Good job to the reporter, now take the next step, the rate payers (you and me) have been and continue to pay through the nose. Here are the latest requests:

Waterplus, $334,000, Coalition of Peninsula Business, $290,000, LandWatch, $186,000, Planning & Conservation League, $170,625, Surfrider, $170,000, Salinas Valley Water Coalition, $119,850, Citizens for Public Water (George Riley group) $40,970 and the Sierra Club $37,500. According the the article, WaterPlus is now backing Nader Agha's project while intervening in the CPUC process for the new Cal Am Project. Jan Brennen is included as a consultant for LandWatch, I am certain she has disclosed this fact whenever she appears in public. I thought all of these folks were community minded activists??????

 Probably not the right place but I attempted to post a comment on the DeSal Finance 101 in the Letters section to the Weekly today and nothing happended. Is the system slow or am I being censored?
 I will try to redo my comments herein and see if I make it. Sorry if it slightly different, not sure exactly what I wrote four hours ago to the word.
 I applaud the Wedbush fellow for his letter and publishing his name. Unfortunately his facts do not stand up to scrutiny. 
 The PUC, in their EIR did indeed look at the Moss Landing site as a project alternative and vetoed it because of environmental concerns, little things like Open Ocean Intake and Once Through Cooling (whatever that is) and it was a single project headed by Nadar Agha. Apparently the groups internally had a parting of the ways because there are now two projects and Wedbush affiliated with Deep Water versus Agha. That does change the fact pattern that Wedbush was advising a competing project two years ago.
 The writer also asserts that the report is a public document, that is actually incorrect. The law mandates (yes, I am receiving some help from my son) that only the finalists in a contracting situation names be made public and the documents available for review. Wedbush, by their own admission was not a finalist.
 If this was not a public document why was Calagno referencing it from the dais and quoting it as a negative source to delay the financing of the project? I can only assume that the Supervisors are entitled to different rules and laws than the private citizen? 
 How is it that the author ,on the one hand, states that he had no conflict and then in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph says he informed the County of a possible conflict? If the County was aware of the possible conflict why did Calcagno not disclose this information from the dais? Conflict laws are written to protect the public as well as the County.
 We as a citizenry had better wake up, the Moss Landing projects will never make it through environmental review (look at the letters from National Marine Fisheries and the Coastal Commission in the EIR) and the Salinas Valley Ag industry is already lodging objections to the Cal Am plan over water rights for both groundwater and recycled water. Folks, the Salinas Valley owns this water (see the Agreements at County records Reel 3404, Page 750 starting) and the 2016 clock is ticking as we play these games.

Hey oldguy49, I was going to reply on the other one , too, but my keyboard went haywire. So now I can, and I told everyone to look here because your reply to Mr. George is spot on...I really don't care who is helping you with your research...It is ferreting out the truth with facts and driving a whole bunch of people nuts..You're 100% correct, again.....

I sense this story will gain steam again once the data from Collins starts to roll out, and I just can not let a Beer Haiku story have the same number of posts as a real story.