BY KATHERINE KELLY

1st Meeting

A group of seven people gathered for an hour at my home Thursday, August 22nd, all with one question on their minds: how can we help? This meeting was the first of many with the goal of stopping the City from adding more financial burden to its citizens in the form of another rate increase on their sewer bills. As if doubling our sewer bill since 2007 wasn’t enough, we believe that the City has mismanaged the former 50% rate hike and is going to come at us again with its hand out.
The purpose of this first meeting was to familiarize the attendees with the rules of prop 218 (that allows citizens an opportunity to vote no to sewer rate increases), formulate a plan for collecting the 2000 signatures needed to stop the increase, and brainstorm ideas of effective public outreach. Everyone left with a clear goal, a purpose in this fight, and a job to do.
Since this rate hike will affect every person with a sewer connection living in the area, our hope is that everyone will do their part to make this rate protest a success. It isn’t hard to do: just sign a letter to the City that says “NO” to another rate increase. Volunteers will be knocking on every door in the service area with pre-written forms. Simply sign and fill in a few lines of information. This is your chance to have a say in how your City is doing business.  Silence means consent.
Many more volunteers are needed to expedite the signature collection, so if you care that the City is coming for more of your money, just call and you will be assigned a section of the service area. We don’t know when the rates will be increased  We do know that the City’s Sewer Fund is running a deficit (in the red). Once the City announces their intention to raise rates, we have 45 days to protest.

PROTEST:  We can start with you and your neighbors. Call me: Katherine Kelly @ 707-954-3318. Let’s make this easy and not put the entire burden on a handful of caring citizens. Let’s ALL care! Let’s ALL do our part!