Our family has lived in Montecito since 1972, and I have been deeply involved in our water issues since the 1980s. California is experiencing an historic drought. We are in a water crisis that is so unprecedented that it has never been considered in any long-range plan before.
It is very clear to me that the two businessmen challengers, Floyd Wicks and Tobe Plough, want to privatize our water district. I think adding a profit layer is the last thing we need to do here. Ask the folks in Ojai and the City of Claremont where Wick’s private water company, Golden State, profited from selling these communities water, why they have sued to take back their water districts and make them public again.
In the recent Ojai decision that made the water district public again, the 2nd District Court of Appeal had harsh criticism for Wick’s water company, citing price gouging that went on for over 20 years. The three-judge panel wrote, “Golden State charges its customers rates that are more than double those charged by Casitas, and the disparity is growing. Over a 20-year period, Golden State’s average rates increased at nearly twice that of Casitas.”