What's My Opinion? -- A Poem in the Verse of SewerWatch
(Quick note: Over at Ann Calhoun's great blog, we kinda-sorta got into a discussion on what is opinion and what is not. So, I got all smart-assy and started saying things like, "It's not my opinion that (insert fact here)." And that gave me the idea for the following post.... errrr... poem. Enjoy!)
- - - - - -
What's my opinion?
It's my opinion that one must follow a very specific chain of events that began in 1997 to fully understand how Los Osos got to where it is today.
It's not my opinion that, in 1997, Pandora Nash-Karner was the marketing director of the Solution Group.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner produced a professional looking newsletter in 1998 promoting a sewer project (aka: the Community Plan) that she, her husband, Gary Karner, and some friends (aka: the Solution Group) whipped up over cocktails in a living room in 1997.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner thoroughly broadcasted that newsletter all over Los Osos throughout 1998, along with a bunch of other shaky marketing material.
It's not my opinion that in that newsletter it said, "maximum monthly payment $38.75."
It's not my opinion that in that newsletter it also showed an elaborate diagram of the Community Plan at Tri-W.
It's not my opinion that, in 1998, the Solution Group, along with soon-to-be-supervisor, Shirley Bianchi, begged the Board of Supervisors to fund an independent, side-by-side comparison between the Solution Group's "Community Plan," and the county's proposed sewer project.
It's not my opinion that they got the funding for that study on a 4-1 vote, with the dissenter being supervisor, Harry Ovitt, because he was sick of the county funding frivolous studies in Los Osos, and he knew his constituents in the north county would likely end up paying for those frivolous studies, along with the rest of the county's taxpayers.
It's not my opinion that Ovitt ended up being 100-percent right.
It's not my opinion that that study, known as the Questa Study, said:
"It would be very risky and inappropriate to utilize the proposed (Community Plan's technology) for the Los Osos project - especially given the limited resources of the community."
and
"The County Plan provides far more assurance of the ability to correct the existing groundwater nitrate problem than is offered under the Community Plan."
It's not my opinion that, upon hearing the results, the Solution Group instantly began bashing the Questa Study that they begged for.
It's not my opinion that Gary Karner, in a 2005 editorial in the Bay News, said the Questa Study took place in 1999, when, in reality, it took place in the summer of 1998, five months before the election that formed the CSD and made the Solution Group's marketing director, Nash-Karner, the number one vote-getter on the initial Board. That's not my opinion.
It's not my opinion that two previous attempts to form a CSD in Los Osos failed.
It's also not my opinion that on March 4, 1999, just two months after the official start of the LOCSD, the initial Board voted unanimously to dump the county's viable project and began their futile, two-year chase of the Community Plan.
It's not my opinion that local water board director, Roger Briggs, said at the time that the figures used by the early CSD to compare the cost of the Community Plan with the county’s project were "incorrect and very misleading." He added, "the County's project remains the most feasible and timely project."
It's not my opinion that in 1998, before the election, Coastal Commission staff member, Steve Monowitz said, "Pursuit of the Solution Group alternative also has the potential to result in significant delays to the implementation of a wastewater treatment project for the Los Osos area."
It's not my opinion that the initial CSD Board, after they finally shelved the Community Plan in late 2000 for many of the same reasons mentioned in the Questa Study, didn't go back to their community and say, "What should we do now?"
It's not my opinion that the Tribune did not do one fucking story on the incredibly newsworthy demise of the Community Plan in 2000, even though I wrote a New Times cover story at the time that showed the Community Plan was going down the toilet. (Nice follow-up, Trib.)
It's not my opinion that long-time editorial page editor at the Trib, and prohibition zone resident, Bill Morem, has had a long-time relationship with Nash-Karner.
It's not my opinion that local radio talk show host, Dave Congalton, during a 2005 broadcast, called Nash-Karner a "wonderful person." (Which she may be, I do not know, because I do not know her.)
It's not my opinion that Congalton revealed on that same broadcast that he nicknamed the Community Plan, "Pandoraland."
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner, on her web site for her marketing business, refers to the media as "tools."
"We provide expertise in corporate identity packages, branding, and logo development; in advertising; in marketing research; and in public information programs. We use a wide range of tools, including advertising campaigns, newsletters, annual reports, meetings, focus groups, special events, direct mailings, and the media. Through the power of behavior-based marketing strategies, award-winning graphic design, compelling language, and sometimes a touch of the outrageous, we create communication that is out of the ordinary, attention-grabbing, and highly effective."
It is my opinion that I find phrases like "behavior-based marketing strategies" disgusting.
It is my opinion that Nash-Karner's "behavior-based marketing strategies," "compelling language," and "tools," are the reasons that the community fabric in Los Osos is so totally shredded apart today. That is my opinion.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner handled the marketing for "Save the Dream," a well funded citizens' group established in 2005 in a bizarre attempt to keep the project at Tri-W.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner produced a newsletter for STD that said, "The California Coastal Commission required Public Amenities be added to the wastewater site."
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commission staff member, Steve Monowitz, told SewerWatch shortly after the publication of that newsletter, "It galls me when they say we required the amenities."
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner is the current chairperson of the County Parks Commission.
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commissioner, Dave Potter, called the Los Osos CSD "bait-and-switchy" in 2004 because the District had been telling him for years that there was a "strongly held community value" to include a multi-million dollar park in the sewer plant and then have that park dictate the expensive, environmentally sensitive, downtown, Tri-W location, yet, when the District showed up in 2004 to get their development permit, the park was no longer in the plan because they didn't have any money to pay for it, and because that "community value," obviously, never existed in the first place.
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commissioner, Dave Potter, was understandably pissed off. (O.K., maybe that one is a little opinionated.)
It's not my opinion that Measures D-97 and E-97, two 1997 ballot measures that would have added a minuscule tax on property owners for public recreation stuff in Los Osos, failed. That's not my opinion.
It's not my opinion that news reports show Nash-Karner lobbied hard for both measures.
It's not my opinion that the District paid $28,000 to a marketing firm in 2001 for a public opinion survey to see how Los Osos residents felt about the CSD's second project (the ill-fated Community Plan was their first).
It's not my opinion that in that study it says:
What is the most important issue that you would like to see local governments in the Los Osos area do something about?
From a list of answers, respondents answered:
Open space/park protections -- 1%
Wastewater treatment/septic tanks -- 64%
Another question from that same study asks:
No matter which way you might be leaning on the wastewater treatment vote, of the statements I just read which one stands out as the best reason why someone should vote FOR this measure?
From a list of answers, respondents answered:
Will create park -- 7%
It's not my opinion that one year after that study was published, a Coastal Commission document reads: "The Los Osos CSD has evaluated numerous project alternatives and determined that construction of a treatment facility and public park on the Tri-W site would best meet the project's and the community's needs."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz wrote in 2004, "other alternatives (to the Tri-W site) were rejected on the basis that they did not accomplish project objectives for centrally located community amenities."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz told me just last week, that the CSD never told him about Measures E-97 and D-97 and the results of their own 2001 Public Opinion survey that showed almost zero support for those "community amenities."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz never replied to my next e-mail when I asked him if he still would have recommended in 2002 that the Commission adopt the Local Coastal Plan Amendment that made the Tri-W site possible if he had been aware of that evidence.
It's not my opinion that the multi-million dollar park Los Osos didn't want to pay for in the first place just happened to lock in the same location that the Solution Group told voters in 1998 was going to be the location of the ill-fated Community Plan, with a "maximum monthly payment $38.75" -- a project that required much, much more land than the second project.
It's not my opinion that until the 2004 election that put current directors Lisa Schicker and Julie Tacker into office, former Solution Group members made up five of the first eight directors on the CSD Board, including recently recalled directors Gordon Hensley and Stan Gustafson. That's not my opinion.
It is my opinion that if this country were to take a tenth of its military budget for a year and use it to develop low-cost, viable, solar powered cars, then we wouldn't need half of our military forever.
That's my opinion.
###
- - - - - -
What's my opinion?
It's my opinion that one must follow a very specific chain of events that began in 1997 to fully understand how Los Osos got to where it is today.
It's not my opinion that, in 1997, Pandora Nash-Karner was the marketing director of the Solution Group.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner produced a professional looking newsletter in 1998 promoting a sewer project (aka: the Community Plan) that she, her husband, Gary Karner, and some friends (aka: the Solution Group) whipped up over cocktails in a living room in 1997.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner thoroughly broadcasted that newsletter all over Los Osos throughout 1998, along with a bunch of other shaky marketing material.
It's not my opinion that in that newsletter it said, "maximum monthly payment $38.75."
It's not my opinion that in that newsletter it also showed an elaborate diagram of the Community Plan at Tri-W.
It's not my opinion that, in 1998, the Solution Group, along with soon-to-be-supervisor, Shirley Bianchi, begged the Board of Supervisors to fund an independent, side-by-side comparison between the Solution Group's "Community Plan," and the county's proposed sewer project.
It's not my opinion that they got the funding for that study on a 4-1 vote, with the dissenter being supervisor, Harry Ovitt, because he was sick of the county funding frivolous studies in Los Osos, and he knew his constituents in the north county would likely end up paying for those frivolous studies, along with the rest of the county's taxpayers.
It's not my opinion that Ovitt ended up being 100-percent right.
It's not my opinion that that study, known as the Questa Study, said:
"It would be very risky and inappropriate to utilize the proposed (Community Plan's technology) for the Los Osos project - especially given the limited resources of the community."
and
"The County Plan provides far more assurance of the ability to correct the existing groundwater nitrate problem than is offered under the Community Plan."
It's not my opinion that, upon hearing the results, the Solution Group instantly began bashing the Questa Study that they begged for.
It's not my opinion that Gary Karner, in a 2005 editorial in the Bay News, said the Questa Study took place in 1999, when, in reality, it took place in the summer of 1998, five months before the election that formed the CSD and made the Solution Group's marketing director, Nash-Karner, the number one vote-getter on the initial Board. That's not my opinion.
It's not my opinion that two previous attempts to form a CSD in Los Osos failed.
It's also not my opinion that on March 4, 1999, just two months after the official start of the LOCSD, the initial Board voted unanimously to dump the county's viable project and began their futile, two-year chase of the Community Plan.
It's not my opinion that local water board director, Roger Briggs, said at the time that the figures used by the early CSD to compare the cost of the Community Plan with the county’s project were "incorrect and very misleading." He added, "the County's project remains the most feasible and timely project."
It's not my opinion that in 1998, before the election, Coastal Commission staff member, Steve Monowitz said, "Pursuit of the Solution Group alternative also has the potential to result in significant delays to the implementation of a wastewater treatment project for the Los Osos area."
It's not my opinion that the initial CSD Board, after they finally shelved the Community Plan in late 2000 for many of the same reasons mentioned in the Questa Study, didn't go back to their community and say, "What should we do now?"
It's not my opinion that the Tribune did not do one fucking story on the incredibly newsworthy demise of the Community Plan in 2000, even though I wrote a New Times cover story at the time that showed the Community Plan was going down the toilet. (Nice follow-up, Trib.)
It's not my opinion that long-time editorial page editor at the Trib, and prohibition zone resident, Bill Morem, has had a long-time relationship with Nash-Karner.
It's not my opinion that local radio talk show host, Dave Congalton, during a 2005 broadcast, called Nash-Karner a "wonderful person." (Which she may be, I do not know, because I do not know her.)
It's not my opinion that Congalton revealed on that same broadcast that he nicknamed the Community Plan, "Pandoraland."
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner, on her web site for her marketing business, refers to the media as "tools."
"We provide expertise in corporate identity packages, branding, and logo development; in advertising; in marketing research; and in public information programs. We use a wide range of tools, including advertising campaigns, newsletters, annual reports, meetings, focus groups, special events, direct mailings, and the media. Through the power of behavior-based marketing strategies, award-winning graphic design, compelling language, and sometimes a touch of the outrageous, we create communication that is out of the ordinary, attention-grabbing, and highly effective."
It is my opinion that I find phrases like "behavior-based marketing strategies" disgusting.
It is my opinion that Nash-Karner's "behavior-based marketing strategies," "compelling language," and "tools," are the reasons that the community fabric in Los Osos is so totally shredded apart today. That is my opinion.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner handled the marketing for "Save the Dream," a well funded citizens' group established in 2005 in a bizarre attempt to keep the project at Tri-W.
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner produced a newsletter for STD that said, "The California Coastal Commission required Public Amenities be added to the wastewater site."
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commission staff member, Steve Monowitz, told SewerWatch shortly after the publication of that newsletter, "It galls me when they say we required the amenities."
It's not my opinion that Nash-Karner is the current chairperson of the County Parks Commission.
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commissioner, Dave Potter, called the Los Osos CSD "bait-and-switchy" in 2004 because the District had been telling him for years that there was a "strongly held community value" to include a multi-million dollar park in the sewer plant and then have that park dictate the expensive, environmentally sensitive, downtown, Tri-W location, yet, when the District showed up in 2004 to get their development permit, the park was no longer in the plan because they didn't have any money to pay for it, and because that "community value," obviously, never existed in the first place.
It's not my opinion that Coastal Commissioner, Dave Potter, was understandably pissed off. (O.K., maybe that one is a little opinionated.)
It's not my opinion that Measures D-97 and E-97, two 1997 ballot measures that would have added a minuscule tax on property owners for public recreation stuff in Los Osos, failed. That's not my opinion.
It's not my opinion that news reports show Nash-Karner lobbied hard for both measures.
It's not my opinion that the District paid $28,000 to a marketing firm in 2001 for a public opinion survey to see how Los Osos residents felt about the CSD's second project (the ill-fated Community Plan was their first).
It's not my opinion that in that study it says:
What is the most important issue that you would like to see local governments in the Los Osos area do something about?
From a list of answers, respondents answered:
Open space/park protections -- 1%
Wastewater treatment/septic tanks -- 64%
Another question from that same study asks:
No matter which way you might be leaning on the wastewater treatment vote, of the statements I just read which one stands out as the best reason why someone should vote FOR this measure?
From a list of answers, respondents answered:
Will create park -- 7%
It's not my opinion that one year after that study was published, a Coastal Commission document reads: "The Los Osos CSD has evaluated numerous project alternatives and determined that construction of a treatment facility and public park on the Tri-W site would best meet the project's and the community's needs."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz wrote in 2004, "other alternatives (to the Tri-W site) were rejected on the basis that they did not accomplish project objectives for centrally located community amenities."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz told me just last week, that the CSD never told him about Measures E-97 and D-97 and the results of their own 2001 Public Opinion survey that showed almost zero support for those "community amenities."
It's not my opinion that Monowitz never replied to my next e-mail when I asked him if he still would have recommended in 2002 that the Commission adopt the Local Coastal Plan Amendment that made the Tri-W site possible if he had been aware of that evidence.
It's not my opinion that the multi-million dollar park Los Osos didn't want to pay for in the first place just happened to lock in the same location that the Solution Group told voters in 1998 was going to be the location of the ill-fated Community Plan, with a "maximum monthly payment $38.75" -- a project that required much, much more land than the second project.
It's not my opinion that until the 2004 election that put current directors Lisa Schicker and Julie Tacker into office, former Solution Group members made up five of the first eight directors on the CSD Board, including recently recalled directors Gordon Hensley and Stan Gustafson. That's not my opinion.
It is my opinion that if this country were to take a tenth of its military budget for a year and use it to develop low-cost, viable, solar powered cars, then we wouldn't need half of our military forever.
That's my opinion.
###
posted by Ron at
12:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home