June 14, 2011 (Transcript) RE: Wallace Road Show

Caren Ray:
“I wanna refocus a little bit. When I read the Grand Jury report I spoke to a county supervisor to
understand the process. For members of the public and people reading the Tribune, and our
constituents, when you hear the word ‘jury’ it makes it sound final. The Grand Jury makes a series of
recommendations and then there is a response and it’s a process. The exercise of patience is important.
The Grand Jury report is step one and not the final. The Grand Jury is not a court process and a finding
and the truth.

There’s not a one of us here on this (Arroyo Grande City) Council who has more integrity than any I can
think of. We all come up here with the utmost integrity. The purpose and findings of the Grand Jury are
whether there is a perception. It is counterproductive to argue about it. The [Sanitation District] rates
are good evidence [because they are so low].

In order to move forward, what are we going to do from today to make sure this public perception is
being taken care of? Notices of Violation are being taken care of at other levels. From my point of view, I
would like to offer that the recommendations in the Grand Jury report are based on the worst case
scenario. If we were to accept the Grand Jury report, which I do not do, the recommendations are telling
us to go back and do what has already been put in process. The process is going forward properly. The
board made good faith moves before the report came out.

The Grand Jury report was written colloquially, with unprofessional finger pointing. The budget process
should be modified to give information – easy fix. It will be addressed. It’s all being taken care of. In the
worst case scenario they’re all being taken care of assuming the Grand Jury report is correct. I’m sure
when we see the Sanitation District responses there will be some middle ground. This is pointing us
toward how to fix the perception problem. This report was in error in many places and this will restore
public confidence. The essential problem is perception. I hope I’ve helped to give people some vision as
to the breadth of this process.

(Mayor)Tony (Ferrara) suggested taking contracts and Grand Jury reports back to the councils for a
second opinion. I want to assure customers that the plant is working just fine (the new team discovered
that the plant was not being properly run. It was built to operate using a biological process and instead
was being operated incorrectly with mechanical, chemical and biological processes at great cost) and so
is the sampling process. The America in Bloom judges took a tour of the sanitation district. They went
out there and visited the plant because one of the categories we were judged in was environmental.
They commented that the cogen plant (it only worked for a few months and has been the subject of an
ongoing lawsuit for several years) had cut utility costs in half. They were amazed that 5 people could run
that plant.”