What had been known as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of hostilities in WWI, is now recognized as Veterans Day. November 11 was chosen for this important holiday because the armistice caused the fighting to end on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. The unprecedented human slaughter of that world conflict was to be followed by WW2, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and several other conflicts all over the world.

What we celebrate and solemnly commemorate on Veterans Day is not the Armistice, or the several treaties. We celebrate and honor the strength and bravery of our men and women who have fought and died defending our nation as millions of soldiers, sailors, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guardsmen.

Today it is particularly important to remember these sacrifices because a powerful, radical Leftist influence is eating away at America, its Constitutional foundation and most treasured traditions. Let’s all remember the price our military heroes paid to preserve America, and remain ready to fight and defeat our enemies, foreign and domestic.

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I want to thank Don Johnson, publisher of the Santa Paula Times, for permitting the Gazette to run a story by that paper’s distinguished reporter, Peggy Kelly (see article here http://www.fillmoregazette.com/community/reprint-santa-paula-times-regar...). The story reveals the serious problems Santa Paula is having with its new water treatment plant, constructed by PERC, the company our Katzenjammers fought so hard to have build Fillmore’s plant.

I invite readers to compare the consequences of the PERC contract with the outcome under Fillmore’s contract with American Water. Kennedy Jenks designed our new plant (as well as the original 1955 plant), and W.M. Liles did the construction (which is exceptional). Be proud – our plant has received 8 awards for design and function. It is the state-of-the-art standard in the industry.

Fillmore vs. Santa Paula sewer costs. Here are some facts regarding the Santa Paula sewer contract.

SANTA PAULA:
The Design, Build, Operate and Finance Agreement dated June 16, 2008 between the City of Santa Paula and Pacific Environmental Resources Corporation (PERC) contains the following:
Article IV of the Agreement gives the City the option to pay, at any time, a “Design/Build Buyout Fee”. Payment of this fee by the City eliminates the Design/Build Component of the Service Fees and also conveys title of the Facility to the City. In other words the City of Santa Paula and those that pay a sewer bill do not own the plant until they pay this fee.
The Design/Build Payout Fee is set forth in a Schedule found in Appendix 6 of the agreement. The Fee starts at $85,266,689 (Construction bid price was $57,307,351) upon final completion of the facility (August 2010) and reduces each year thereafter down to $0 on December 31, 2040. Provided, however, the definition of the Design/Build Payout Fee states that the Fee shall be the greater of (a) the Fair Market Value of the Facility, or (b) the applicable fee set forth in Appendix 6. So the buyout fee will be greater than the $85 million and greater at any time than the de-escalating scale shown in Appendix 6.
After, paying the Design/Build Payout Fee, the City is still obligated to pay the annual O&M Component of the Service Fees, paid on a monthly basis and adjusted annually in accordance with the Consumer Price Index – All Consumers (LA, Riverside, Orange County (All Items Less Energy). The City also has the option to terminate the O&M Component by paying the O&M Service Termination Fee set forth in a Schedule found in Appendix 6 of the agreement. The Termination Fee starts at $1,410,363. The Termination Fee reduces to $0 on December 21, 2040.
Payment by the City of Santa Paula for both the Design/Build Payout Fee and the O&M Service Termination Fee ($85,000,000 + $940,000) would give the City complete ownership and control of the Facility.

FILLMORE:
Fillmore’s construction bid price was $ 42,742,454 - $2,900,343 reimbursed by our neighbor KDF for 50% of the Sespe Creek levee and River Street = $39,842,111. Fillmore owns the plant outright. We also have a termination fee of $520,000 as of November 2010 that reduces by 1/20th every year.
FILLMORE / SANTA PAULA SEWER PROJECT COMPARISONS
FILLMORE: Construction Bid Price - $39,842,111
SANTA PAULA: Construction Bid Price - $57,30,351
FILLMORE: Buyout Price - $0
SANTA PAULA: Buyout Price - $85,000,000
FILLMORE: Operations Termination Price - $520,000
SANTA PAULA: Operations Termination Price - $1,410,363

The Santa Paula treatment plant should have provided significantly lower sewer fees than Fillmore’s due to efficiency of scale, Santa Paula having about twice the population of Fillmore. As you can see, this is not the case. In every way Fillmore’s plant is far superior in cost and efficiency. Our plant came in under cost and well ahead of schedule. And, Santa Paula doesn’t even own its plant!

This is proof that the Katzenjammers, with their cute tactics (remember the “Sewercide” antics?) phony technical data, and unending complaints and redundant demands for “answers”, were wrong all along. This cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in waste due to delay and obstruction. That they will never admit this is evidence of their fundamental duplicity, which characterizes the ethos of that organization, Klub Katz.

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Grad Night Live needs a new place to park the cars donated to it for re-sale as part of its fundraising activity. For 20 years Raelene Cheney has supervised this life-saving non-profit organization. I hope the city might provide space (perhaps at its maintenance yard) for a few cars. The need is great. The time is short.

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Untruthful, emotional statements from Katzenjammers at the council meeting podium are neither new nor surprising. They are tedious and sometimes humorous, but almost always false. Comments by Ken Creason, Gary Creagle, and their ilk are typical. Creason did not disappoint at Tuesday’s city council meeting. His complaints against the Gazette, me personally, and against former Mayor Roger Campbell were really childish this time around. He pouts about one candidate’s campaign signs being placed next to his favored candidate’s. He implied that Mr. Campbell or I may have stolen or damaged his candidate’s campaign signs.

Ken, time to grow up – and man-up. If you believe I had anything to do with such skullduggery say so, or stop wasting council time. Your childishness is other folk’s aggravation.

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I was also accused by Mrs. Westling, our city clerk’s spouse; I will not repeat the charges. I did explain to Mrs. Westling after the meeting, that I had nothing to do with her complaint. She graciously accepted my word.