Jerri Argonda sent me this clip. Our good buddies Granite Construction from Watsonville (who actually read this blog occasionally, ain't technology wonderful?) along with the A.J. Diani Co. of Santa Maria, CA, might have gilded the lily a tad after the San Diego infernos. I'm surprised they're not in Iraq, where there's lots of ripe government plums for the picking. Of course, Granite is attempting to site two massive granite quarries near Fallbrook and Temecula (Liberty and Rosemary's Mountain), and wreak all sorts of havoc with our lives but that is a story for another day.
Allegedly the City of San Diego was massively and fraudulently overcharged by Granite and Diani in the cleanup of the 2007 Wildfires. Read about it here in an excellent in depth article and investigation by the San Diego Union Tribune's Brooke Williams and Danielle Cervantes. The City paid Granite over 9 million dollars in the cleanup but that was evidently not enough. They were charged for removing items that didn't exist and providing non existent material as well. Granite charged the city over $46,000.00 in late fees in one instance where the payment was actually sent in early. City auditors expect to release results of their examination of the debris removal program at the end of the month or early next month.
Lee Haven, business development manager for Granite, said the company was cooperating with the city's auditors and it was not prepared to answer questions about individual properties until the audit was finished. Officials with Diani did not return phone messages.
Investigators in City Attorney Michael Aguirre's office have examined records and interviewed residents as part of a separate inquiry into the program. Aguirre said they found overcharges and are preparing false-claim cases.
“No one should be taking advantage of an emergency,” he said. “I'm sorry to see that our system didn't catch it.”
5 comments:
thank you Counselor - I've been purposefully out of the loop but appreciate the update. I spent two years of my life, 60 hours a week, fighting a landfill in the late eighties and told myself that I had shot my public service wad. I salute you that are on the front lines!
A.J. Diani is no Mr. Slate! I shudder to think what Bedrock would look like if Granite Construction had a hand in that project. Wilma!!!!!
NOTE: THIS IS BEING PRINTED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE - I WOULD ASK ALL READERS OF THIS BLOG WHO RESIDE IN OUR AREAS OF NORTH SAN DIEGO COUNTY AND SOUTHWEST RIVERSIDE COUNTIES TO SHARE THIS INFORMATION.
Dear Blue Heron:
I have been deeply involved for several years, on a "pro bono publico" basis, in the City of Temecula's annexation plans for the 4,600 acres located adjacent to its southwestern borders - which proposed annexation, if approved by the Riverside County Local Area Formation Commission (a/k/a "LAFCO") will transfer and place all land use planning and permitting authority concerning this land under the control of the City Council of the City of Temecula (and its Department of Planning) rather than where such planning and permitting authority is presently located, i.e., in the hands of the County of Riverside's Board of Supervisors (and its own Department of Planning and Land Use). This proposed annexation by the City of Temecula, if successful, will effectively end all chances for the installation of the proposed "Liberty Quarry" Project, provide for the orderly growth of the City of Temecula in accordance with its existing General Plan, and preserve and protect both The Santa Margarita River and the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (overseen by San Diego State University, and a major ecological and ecosystem research facility).
Accordingly, your readers should be made aware of two "hard-calendared" upcoming dates. These represent the culmination of several years of work by (i) our local environmental "watchdog" groups in Fallbrook, Rainbow, Temecula, Bonsall and De Luz, and (ii) the City of Temecula itself. Their importance cannot be overemphasized. I directly discussed and confirmed them with the head of The City of Temecula's Department of Planning just two days ago.
1. NOVEMBER 5, 2008. On that date the latest, and last, "45 day public comment period" will end with regard to the proposed (and now publicly circulating) final version of the City of Temecula's Environmental Impact Report (the "EIR") setting forth and addressing all salient issues and facts regarding the need for the proposed annexation.
At that time the EIR will return within the "four walls" of the City of Temecula, where it will undergo its last revisions (should any be required), and be administratively prepared for formal presentation to the City Council of the City of Temecula.
2. DECEMBER 9, 2008. THIS IS THE DAY THAT ALL PERSONS INVOLVED IN THIS EFFORT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.
On this day a public hearing meeting of the City Council of the City of Temecula will be held in its main meeting chambers, and the Temecula Department of Planning will formally present to the Temecula City Council the finalized "Proposed Annexation EIR" for its approval and, as the exact term is used, its "Certification." After public discussion and comments, the Temecula City Council will vote and, for a certainty, will so "Certify" the "Proposed Annexation EIR".
Immediately following that "Certification" of the "Proposed Annexation EIR" by the Temecula City Council, the Temecula City Council will then immediately proceed to put forward the proposed "Resolution of Annexation" for comments, and, following any comments and discussion, will immediately proceed to vote upon the "Adoption" of the proposed "Resolution of Annexation." To a certainty, the vote will be in favor of such "Adoption."
With these two steps (and votes) taken, the Temecula City Council will then - and at the same meeting - "hand back" the now "Certified" "Proposed Annexation EIR" and the duly "Adopted" "Resolution of Annexation" to the Temecula Department of Planning, with instructions to them to immediately take them for filing with the Riverside County Local Area Formation Commission (again, the "LAFCO").
That filing with the Riverside County LAFCO will take place within a few days of the December 9, 2008 public hearing meeting.
The general consensus among all attorneys who have been working upon this matter is that at that time - i.e., immediately after the filing with the Riverside County LAFCO of the "Certified" "Proposed Annexation EIR" and the "Adopted"
"Resolution of Annexation" - Granite Construction Company's attorneys (currently, the San Diego Office of Latham & Watkins, LLP, a major "national top-tier" law firm) will attack both the "Proposed Annexation EIR" and the "Adopted" "Resolution of Annexation" with multiple procedural challenges in the Superior Court.
At that point, and on a truly large-scale, "make or break" basis, the "battle will be on."
It is important, therefore, as we enter into this phase, for everyone to be aware of the upcoming sequence of events, of the dates involved, and of the size of the stakes at issue.
Let us all remember the old Roman maxim: "SE VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM." (Tr. "If you wish to live in peace, strenuously prepare for war.")
Respectfully,
JRB
(editor's note - in discussions with Judge Roy Bean, the caveat has been made that the above discussed timeline for the City of Temecula remains open to modification. The definitive word will be announced by the City, November 19, 2008, after a special meeting.)
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