It’s not a tax increase by Edgar
December 28, 2012 in 2012 Issues, 2013 Issues, Troy Edgar By: jmivler
(Los Alamitos, 12/28/12, by JM Ivler) It’s a fee.
Over the next eight years you will see regular fee increases for flushing your toilet. And with each flush you can thank Troy Edgar.
The Orange County Sanitation District is raising its annual ”fees” by $70 over the next eight years. It’s going to cost more for the 2.5 million residents served by the Orange County Sanitation District.
So the big question is why? and of course what has this got to do with Troy Edgar?
“I don’t think any increase at this time is appropriate,” said Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who sits on the district’s 25-member board. “I’m going to be voting against it. I don’t think we should place more burden on families.”
Supervisor Nguyen is a proud member of the GOP and clearly didn’t get the message. What message you may ask?
[OC Sanitation District spokesperson Jennifer] Cabral said board chairman Troy Edgar, a councilman from Los Alamitos, was unavailable during the holidays to discuss the proposed rate increase. But Edgar had enough time to write an email blast to board members, directing them not to talk to the Watchdog.
“If you are contacted by a reporter, please refer the request to me for response, so that we can maintain a consistent message,” Edgar wrote.
The message is that Troy Edgar wants to control the message that we the people get to hear.
In Los Alamitos we know what that means. It means that there is a hidden agenda, something us “little people” aren’t supposed to know about. And in order to make sure that the press isn’t told anything by mistake Troy Edgar want’s to control the message we get to ensure that transparency is not the order of the day. 
The hubris that Troy Edgar must think he has in that he has the audacity to tell others that they can’t talk to the press, and the people. Clearly he still thinks he is King Edgar from Los Alamitos. Did not even winning his home voting precinct against a total unknown give him the idea that the people are sick and tired of this kind of abuse of power? I guess not.
We are fortunate that the City Council is about to give out assignments next month. Maybe it’s time to assign someone on the Sanitation District from Los Alamitos that actually believes in transparency and the right of the people to have all the facts, not just the “message” that some high and mighty appointed leader wants us to know.
As for us serfs in Edgar’s world, the system still allows for us to watch what the people we elect are doing, even if Troy Edgar successfully muzzles the San District people from speaking to the press.
Notices are being mailed to ratepayers and the item will be considered by the board on Feb. 27. A public hearing is scheduled for March 27. Maybe by then the representative to the San District from Los Alamitos will be someone who wants the little people to know what’s going on without having to “maintain a constant message” like Troy Edgar wants to do.
Troy, you do know that if you tell the truth about things then there is no need to manage the message. Oh, tell the truth about things, that would be a change for Mr. Edgar.
Update: 2013/12/28 15:12
Picked up on another OC Blog: http://ocpoliticsblog.com/troy-edgars-still-not-clear-on-taxes-vs-fees/
and another: http://ocpolitical.com/2012/12/28/orange-county-sanitation-district-set-to-raise-rates/
Dave,
You need to be a little more accurate in your writing. Troy did not refer to the citizens of Los Alamitos as “little people” he used the words, “common people”.
The graphic with the photo of Troy in the toilet bowl gives new meaning to what the common people call, “getting s***t faced”
Little people or common people, it is all the same. We are his majesty’s serfs. There is a class divide and he is on one side and all the rest of us should just shut the heck up and do as our betters tell us. And yes, he clearly believes he on “the betters” side since he isn’t one of the common/little people.
I wonder if I can get him to manage that message a bit better.
Actually, Art this article was written by JM, but I don’t think you would have known that when it first ran. We’re still adjusting to our new “theme,” where the author isn’t as visible as in the old theme. For the time being, we’ll add the author’s name at the beginning of the post.
We currently have three regular contributors, and would love to have more, representing a variety of perspectives. Any reader can use the “contact us” button near the top of each page to submit their own post on any subject of interest to the people of Los Alamitos.
[...] is passing off a $70 annual increase as a fee instead of a tax per the Let’s Fix Los Al blog: It’s not a tax increase by Edgar. Edgar used a similar tactic when trying to fool his city electorate into increasing their TUT [...]
This is typical Edgar. Not a surprise, just funny. One more pound of the nails in his political coffin. Does he not think that maybe, just maybe someone on the board at the OCSD has a brain and an honest bone in their body?
Hey Edgar, you’re just the chair, not God. It sounds like somebody on the board can think and speak for themselves.