Questions Edison’s ethics

Back in late April my family was happy to have our PV solar panels go online. Our electric consumption went down to about zero or even less sometimes. When our next Edison bill arrived I discovered that they still wanted about $1.90/month from us to keep connected to the grid. I thought why don’t they just take that from the credit we have from making more electricity than we used. According to the fine print, no. They still want that fee every month or else there is a .9% penalty, credit or not. Well the penalty on $1.90 is a few pennies and since the postage is 44 cents I’m going to let it go a few months (I don’t want to pay online). Then I also discovered that if at the end of each 12 month period that the system runs I have a credit (having created more electricity than we used) the credit is forfeited, gone, toast. It probably wouldn’t amount to a lot of cash but it just seems wrong, lousy, cheesy for Edison to get my extra power for free. PV panels are not cheap as you know and I’m not a wealthy man. Part of my motivation was to do the right thing and to encourage others to go solar, but the utilities still try to nickel and dime us.

Tim Jones

La Crescenta

Chastises those who “follow misguided leaders”

The people, and Fr. Bryan Jones of the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church cannot conceive the damage that has occurred to this unique, wonderful community. The gloom that has passed over the righteous, dedicated followers of the Scriptures is immeasurable. It has been a retracted struggle of obedience to the Christian faith, not adherence to an ecclestical tradition of a denomination maintaining ownership of the church property. In Leviticus 18, 20 and Romans 1, one will read of God’s condemnation of the homosexual ‘life style.’ The congregants of the Anglican diocese chose to obey the Holy Bible in 2006. Their holy determination might have been recognized by the other members of the original church. As is so common in many churches, they chose to unwisely follow the misguided leaders of the diocese. Thus, it remains to be seen if the present church

at Foothill and Rosemont make the sacrosanct decision to adhere to the clear teaching of the Christian faith.

Kenneth Grissom

La Crescenta

Who I’m voting for and why

The Crescenta Valley Water District is finally having an election. Sure, we had one recently, but it had been a while before that one. Although it is costly for the District to have an election, I am glad that they are as it allows the board to know they do answer to – the voters. It’s what the process is all about.

I had an opportunity to hear the candidates this past Thursday at the Town Council meeting. There are two incumbents running for re-election, one appointed member running for election the first time, and three new comers.

I don’t usually write in this venue who I am voting for, but this time it is just too important.  The water board affects all of us. So we all need to know who is running, what their qualifications are, and why we should (or should not) vote for them.

The two incumbents, Richard Atwater and Vasken Yardemian, are great. I like both of them for board candidates. I most impressed with Rich Atwater who has outstanding credentials. He is rich in experience and has served our valley well. He has my vote for sure.

Of the three newcomers, I was very impressed with James Bodnar. I had not met him previously but it was obvious that he is intelligent, has been an engineer working with water for many years, and would make the right decisions for our community.

I also like Kerry Erickson, and in fact, I encouraged him on more than one occasion to run. He is also an engineer, very knowledgeable about our water district and community.  His long history in our town would serve us well on the board.

These are my three candidates: Rich Atwater, James Bodnar, and Kerry Erickson! I hope they will be yours, too.

Grace Andrus

La Crescenta

Forward thinking takes back seat at CVWD

Where is the forward thinking at the Crescenta Valley Water District board of directors? The CVWD focus is on conservation and about raising our rates. We are told the rate increase isn’t really an increase – it’s just a pass-through cost from Foothill Municipal Water District. In the past months never once has the CVWD board said they would consider lowering rates.

Instead they avoid it by saying, “Conserve your usage to reduce your bill.” It’s time they start working for the community and find alternatives to stop the runaway increases. They should be establishing goals with an action plan for making our district less reliant on imported water.

Everyone agrees conserving water is very important. Using less will result in buying less of the expensive FMWD water and will result in lower water costs to you. But the district needs to look beyond the simple “put an egg timer” in your shower approach to remind you to take a shorter shower. There are several paths the district could be more proactive in pursuing; a simple one is putting an ultra-low-flush toilet in every household bathroom, since toilets are the biggest consumer of household water.

The district should aggressively be pursuing additional methods including recycling water, working with state and county agencies and our legislators to obtain more favorable rates and allowing us to draw more groundwater from our basin especially if we put more water into our basin.

Does the district recall that Pinecrest had its own wastewater collection and recycle plant with spreading in the local hills? Granted the process of 40 years ago was crude by today’s standard, but it showed creativity. Or how about instituting homeowner gray water recycling or rainwater collection such as L.A. city is doing with its rain barrels, or stormwater capture for groundwater replenishment? Let’s think out-of-the bureaucratic box and get moving.

Perhaps it’s time for the CVWD to get some new blood on-board. The election on Nov. 3 for the board of directors brings the opportunity for the community to decide whether to continue the status quo or decide upon a new direction.

For the first time these three incumbents are being challenged. I strongly encourage you to consider each candidate individually and vote on Nov. 3 to show you care about what is happening in our valley.

Kerry Erickson

La Crescenta

Drought is here to stay – we need to use less water

If we want our water bills to go down, we must use less water. The Foothill Municipal Water District and the Crescenta Valley Water District are not going to lower their costs of water. There is no “after” the drought. We live in a desert. The drought is permanent.

It’s the Crescenta Valley Water board of directors’ responsibility to help the community change our relationship with water. What lowers water bills is less water usage. No matter how many times I say this obvious answer, people want to skip it and find a complicated, ineffective and expensive answer. Yes, we can water two days a week, but if we remove our thirsty grass from our yards and plant drought resistant landscapes at every house, we would not use as much water. 70% of our water usage is wasted on our lawns.

We all must take conservation actions now. Small steps done by large groups of people equals giant steps. We must put in permeable driveways and patios, tear out grass and put in drought resistant plants, buy low flush toilets, install drip irrigation, buy rainwater catch systems. When you do this I will work tirelessly to create rebates for you. I am fighting for our community, for our future. I will fight to keep our water usage low so we have enough water to go around for our children.

No one has the right to have a yard filled with grass that drinks our potable water at the expense of the entire community. You want sprawling yards then we must make it legal to re-use your gray water and water your lawns! It’s inappropriate given the times and the dire water situation to use community drinking water to do it. This must stop.

I co-own a construction company that spends 60% of the time designing low drip irrigation systems, building rainwater catch systems, installing low flow everything, and speaking with consumers on a daily basis about these issues. This experience makes me highly qualified to take on this important position as director for the Crescenta Valley Water District. I know we can make the changes we need to preserve our way of life in La Crescenta.

Thank you for your vote Nov 3.

Wendy Alane Smith

La Crescenta