Petaluma Don’t Go There

#234, September 25, 2008

“Don’t go there!” That’s good advice when tempted to pursue a foolish course, especially some manner of shortcut… like avoiding a few leisurely starlit walks to the lake for water so you may properly extinguish your backcountry campfire, choosing instead to use your convenient but low capacity “built-in” fire extinguisher. The next morning, you pay the price: the fire has spread to the juniper log you had been sitting on, flames licking at the trees, requiring a few *dozen* panic-filled runs to the lake.

Every weekday evening I climb out of my commuter van and into the freeway fresh air of the Lakeville Park and Ride lot. As I pedal off there’s usually a brisk headwind, seasoned first with a whiff of In ‘n Out Burger’s grills and deep fryers. Right behind those mouth-watering aromas comes the soapy anaerobic scent of Petaluma’s ancient wastewater treatment plant. It’s a relief to get upwind. Replacing this plant is long overdue.

After the foolhardy attempt to privatize the plant’s replacement in the early 1990’s, a new City Council launched a project to create a City-owned state-of-the-art wastewater treatment/recycling facility. They adopted a farsighted approach which recognizes the value of using natural water treatment and recycling methods. The plant, now roughly 90% complete and scheduled to be operational next year, uses a hybrid system of mechanical and biological methods. Perhaps the most notable element of the plant is its use of wetlands for the final “polishing” of the treated water. This has several benefits. It provides some convenient wetlands habitat for outdoor classrooms, but more important, it returns water to the Petaluma River at a quality that is essentially future-proof. Alternative technologies would have cost less in the short term, but they would only shift the risks and costs “downstream”, to future residents and the natural systems that support them.

Cleaning up after ourselves takes time and money. In the case of wastewater, it raises Petaluma’s water rates up from an artificially low level to among the highest in the County. The increases are not easy to stomach; something will need to be done to mitigate the impact on people who cannot afford to make increased payments or reduce their consumption.

Enter Measure K, that Krazy proposal on the November 4th ballot. Measure K is simple. It protects ratepayers from higher water bills by strictly limiting increases in the current rates. What it doesn’t do is provide a way for the City to repay the $126 million the State loaned us, at 2.4%, to build the plant. Never has there been an easier decision put before Petaluma voters, because if they *approve* K, it gives Petaluma the stark choice between bankruptcy and cutting 20% from its General Fund (i.e. police, parks, potholes) for the next 19 years, a General Fund already reeling from the impact of the Bush-McCain recession. Though perhaps we could tap another lender for the cash to pay the state… anyone have the phone number for Lehman Brothers?

Let me share a true story that might help explain how this Kooky proposal ended up on the ballot. Many years ago I led a group of City Parks Commissioners on a late afternoon tour of Lafferty Ranch. Since we all carpooled in my minivan, we had to stay together. But one of the hikers – some call him BM -- seemed bent on pioneering new routes. He repeatedly wandered off from the group, and had to be called back while the others waited. As sunset drew near, this fellow started down a deer path. Lucky for everyone, he fast discovered his “shortcut” ended at the top of an impassible brush-choked slope. Again he rejoined the group, and we made it back before dark.

This wayward chap happens to be the driving force behind Measure K. His trail behavior that day mirrored his political MO. He’s full of ideas, and fights fiercely for them. Some of his ideas have been good, and I supported them. Measure B, regrettably, is not one of the good ideas. My advice to voters: let him go where he wants to go. But don’t be foolish enough to follow.