The End: Celebrate Pandora Nash-Karner!
Celebrate Hard
"The Los Osos sewer story is simply a side-bar of the blow-your-hair-back amazing, Pandora Nash-Karner story."
-- SewerWatch
As those that follow SewerWatch know, I'm in the process of writing a book about my 20-year involvement with the "blow-your-hair-back amazing Pandora Nash-Karner story" in Los Osos, dating back to when I was first hired as a reporter in Los Osos/Baywood Park, in 1990.
And, I think I may have (finally) found the perfect ending to my book.
As I first reported, next January (2011), Pandora Nash-Karner will have "served" on the SLO County Parks Commission for 20 years. She was first appointed to the Commission in 1991 by then-newly elected 2nd District Supervisor, Bud Laurent, after working as his "campaign materials manager" throughout 1990, Laurent told SewerWatch.
In that election, Laurent defeated then-Supervisor, Bill Coy.
As a local reporter in Los Osos at the time, I covered that election extensively.
In 1990 (1990!) Coy was a "yes" vote to continue with the county's process of developing a sewer system for Los Osos.
Laurent, and Nash-Karner, both opposed that plan.
That 1990 election would lead directly to 20 years (and counting) of delay in building a sewer project for Los Osos.
About a month ago, after noticing on a Supervisors' meeting agenda, that they were honoring several 20-year county employees for their longtime service, I e-mailed, Tami Douglas-Schatz, human resources director for SLO County government, to find out if the county also recognizes its longtime (20-year) Commissioners (i.e. Parks Commissioners) like it does with its longtime (20-year) employees -- with a public ceremony, complete with an official Resolution, at a Board of Supervisors' meeting.
Douglas-Schatz never replied to my simple question. So, I then sent my question to Jim Grant, chief county administrator, but he also never replied. So, I then asked my simple question to my local County Supervisor, Jim Patterson, be he also never replied. So, then, I asked chief county counsel, Warren Jensen, my question, but he also never replied.
[NOTE: Someone at SLO County government might want to inform your IT department that, apparently, there's something very wrong with your e-mail server. It doesn't seem to work.])
Which brings me to my great ending.... yep, I'm going to give away the great ending to my book, right here:
From now, until next January, I will vigorously lobby County Supervisors (see example below) to "Celebrate Pandora Nash-Karner" early next year, for her 20 years of "service" on the Parks Commission.
And that celebration will be the perfect ending to my book, because...
I first reported how Nash-Karner used her over-the-top "behavior based marketing" to get Laurent elected in 1990, and how that immediately led to eight years (two Laurent terms) of sewer delay.
Then, after those eight years of delay, I then first reported how Nash-Karner used her over-the-top "behavior based marketing" techniques to trick the voters of Los Osos into killing the County's "ready to go" project in 1998 -- the same project that Coy was a "yes" vote for in 1990 -- and starting the Los Osos CSD.
Then, I first reported how Nash-Karner and her husband, after fabricating a dead-on-arrival "better, cheaper, faster" sewer project that was the sole basis for forming the CSD in the first place in 1998, yet never worked, as predicted, would go on to cash checks off of their fake project, for several years, because she was able to trick Los Osos voters in 1998.
Then I was the first to report how Nash-Karner, after the town's voters finally woke up in 2005, and killed her (and her husband's) money machine (a nonsensical, and disastrous, sewer plant in the middle of Los Osos), how she actually contacted Roger Briggs, executive officer of the local Water Quality Control Board, and lobbied him, through a "strategy" (her word) that she developed, to have the entire town of Los Osos, including many elderly residents, "fined out of existence" (also her words).
Then, I was the first to report how Nash-Karner, today, right now, is running the exact same scam as a director for the SLO Botanical Garden AND a SLO County Parks Commissioner (where the SLO Botanical Garden is discussed extensively at Parks Commission meetings, yet Commissioner Nash-Karner [always, of course] fails to disclose that she's on the Garden's Board of Directors) that she, and her husband, ran in Los Osos in 1998, when they founded the Los Osos CSD for no reason whatsoever... other than to cash checks, apparently.
So, look how great this is!
Over the years, I've shown ALL County Supervisors ALL of that excellent (time-stamped) primary-source-only reporting (which means, it's all officially documented in county government files), and this January, with a bit of luck (and strong lobbying on my part), those same Supervisors will now HONOR Nash-Karner, with a public ceremony (complete with LOTS of public comment, preferably from LOTS of those same people that Nash-Karner, beginning in 2005, had "fined out of existence"... if they're still around by January.
(By the way, her little "strategy" appears to be working [present tense]... I hear that more and more of those people that she had "fined," are going "out of existence"... literally.)
I'd always hoped that the ending of my book would be along the lines of Federal agents, after reading my reporting, would ask Nash-Karner, and her husband, questions like:
"Beginning in 1997, when you and your husband first fabricated your "better, cheaper, faster," scam, and you two wrote in your fake documents:
'The Solution Group is deeply indebted to the following firms and individuals who have contributed their services in developing this Plan at pro-bono or reduced rates... We recommend (these) firms be retained for professional design services when this (Better, Cheaper, Faster) Plan is accepted... SWA Group, of Sausal¡to, California'
.. why didn't you disclose in your scam's fake documents that the SWA Group was your husband's own landscaping firm?"
and;
"Why did you, as the 2000 Los Osos CSD vice-president lie to California Coastal Commission planner, Steve Monowitz, about the siting of the Tri-W sewer plant, and then that lie led to a lot of money going to you and your husband, and your friends?"
... and then, of course, immediately arresting them (and their friends) for their obvious fraud... and possible terrorism charges for what they put Los Osos through for the past 12 years.
That would have been a sweet ending.
But, considering that the embarrassing local media, the State of California and SLO County governments are ALL tangled up in this beautiful mess, because they all believed Nash-Karner's "behavior based marketing," unfortunately, my preferred ending to my book doesn't look like it's going to happen. (As Los Osos writer, Ann Calhoun, like to points out, "It's Chinatown, Jake." She, apparently, is right. There will be no accountability. None.)
So, it looks like I'll have to turn to my alternate (excellent) ending.
Sure, officially celebrating Nash-Karner, after the utter devastation she's caused in Los Osos over the past 20 years, is kind of a bleak, Grapes of Wrath-y type ending, but, much like that book's great ending, it's the unimaginable bleakness that makes it great.
Finally, something we can all agree on: Celebrate Pandora Nash-Karner!... celebrate hard.
- - -
TO: SLO County Supervisors
DATE: 9//14/10
Dear Supervisors,
Recently, I e-mailed Tami Douglas-Schatz... then Jim Grant... then Supervisor Patterson... then Warren Jensen, a very simple question:
Does the County recognize its longtime (20-year) Commissioners (i.e. Parks Commissioners) like it does with its longtime (20-year) employees, with a ceremony at a Board of Supervisors' meeting?
I never received an answer to my simple question, so now, since I don't know the answer to my (very simple) question, I'm actually going to lobby your Board, and ask that you do -- that you "honor" 2nd District Parks Commissioner, Pandora Nash-Karner, at a Supervisors' meeting early next year -- complete with an official Resolution and photo op -- for her 20 years of "service" on the Parks Commission.
As I recently showed all of you, she was first appointed to the Commission in January 1991, by then newly elected Supervisor, Bud Laurent, after working as his "campaign materials manager" throughout 1990.
So, please, I'm now asking that you formally recognize her 20 years on the Commission with a Resolution and public ceremony next January.
Finally, just in case I (again) don't hear back from a county official that your are (or are not) going to recognize Nash-Karner for her 20 years of "service" early next year, I will continue to (strongly) lobby for that agenda item.
However, if a county official were to simply tell me something like, "Yes, we're going to officially honor Nash-Karner's 20 years next January," then I would immediately stop lobbying you on this issue.
As always, much thanks,
Ron
###
[37 weeks down... 15 to go.]
-- SewerWatch
As those that follow SewerWatch know, I'm in the process of writing a book about my 20-year involvement with the "blow-your-hair-back amazing Pandora Nash-Karner story" in Los Osos, dating back to when I was first hired as a reporter in Los Osos/Baywood Park, in 1990.
And, I think I may have (finally) found the perfect ending to my book.
As I first reported, next January (2011), Pandora Nash-Karner will have "served" on the SLO County Parks Commission for 20 years. She was first appointed to the Commission in 1991 by then-newly elected 2nd District Supervisor, Bud Laurent, after working as his "campaign materials manager" throughout 1990, Laurent told SewerWatch.
In that election, Laurent defeated then-Supervisor, Bill Coy.
As a local reporter in Los Osos at the time, I covered that election extensively.
In 1990 (1990!) Coy was a "yes" vote to continue with the county's process of developing a sewer system for Los Osos.
Laurent, and Nash-Karner, both opposed that plan.
That 1990 election would lead directly to 20 years (and counting) of delay in building a sewer project for Los Osos.
About a month ago, after noticing on a Supervisors' meeting agenda, that they were honoring several 20-year county employees for their longtime service, I e-mailed, Tami Douglas-Schatz, human resources director for SLO County government, to find out if the county also recognizes its longtime (20-year) Commissioners (i.e. Parks Commissioners) like it does with its longtime (20-year) employees -- with a public ceremony, complete with an official Resolution, at a Board of Supervisors' meeting.
Douglas-Schatz never replied to my simple question. So, I then sent my question to Jim Grant, chief county administrator, but he also never replied. So, I then asked my simple question to my local County Supervisor, Jim Patterson, be he also never replied. So, then, I asked chief county counsel, Warren Jensen, my question, but he also never replied.
[NOTE: Someone at SLO County government might want to inform your IT department that, apparently, there's something very wrong with your e-mail server. It doesn't seem to work.])
Which brings me to my great ending.... yep, I'm going to give away the great ending to my book, right here:
From now, until next January, I will vigorously lobby County Supervisors (see example below) to "Celebrate Pandora Nash-Karner" early next year, for her 20 years of "service" on the Parks Commission.
And that celebration will be the perfect ending to my book, because...
I first reported how Nash-Karner used her over-the-top "behavior based marketing" to get Laurent elected in 1990, and how that immediately led to eight years (two Laurent terms) of sewer delay.
Then, after those eight years of delay, I then first reported how Nash-Karner used her over-the-top "behavior based marketing" techniques to trick the voters of Los Osos into killing the County's "ready to go" project in 1998 -- the same project that Coy was a "yes" vote for in 1990 -- and starting the Los Osos CSD.
Then, I first reported how Nash-Karner and her husband, after fabricating a dead-on-arrival "better, cheaper, faster" sewer project that was the sole basis for forming the CSD in the first place in 1998, yet never worked, as predicted, would go on to cash checks off of their fake project, for several years, because she was able to trick Los Osos voters in 1998.
Then I was the first to report how Nash-Karner, after the town's voters finally woke up in 2005, and killed her (and her husband's) money machine (a nonsensical, and disastrous, sewer plant in the middle of Los Osos), how she actually contacted Roger Briggs, executive officer of the local Water Quality Control Board, and lobbied him, through a "strategy" (her word) that she developed, to have the entire town of Los Osos, including many elderly residents, "fined out of existence" (also her words).
Then, I was the first to report how Nash-Karner, today, right now, is running the exact same scam as a director for the SLO Botanical Garden AND a SLO County Parks Commissioner (where the SLO Botanical Garden is discussed extensively at Parks Commission meetings, yet Commissioner Nash-Karner [always, of course] fails to disclose that she's on the Garden's Board of Directors) that she, and her husband, ran in Los Osos in 1998, when they founded the Los Osos CSD for no reason whatsoever... other than to cash checks, apparently.
So, look how great this is!
Over the years, I've shown ALL County Supervisors ALL of that excellent (time-stamped) primary-source-only reporting (which means, it's all officially documented in county government files), and this January, with a bit of luck (and strong lobbying on my part), those same Supervisors will now HONOR Nash-Karner, with a public ceremony (complete with LOTS of public comment, preferably from LOTS of those same people that Nash-Karner, beginning in 2005, had "fined out of existence"... if they're still around by January.
(By the way, her little "strategy" appears to be working [present tense]... I hear that more and more of those people that she had "fined," are going "out of existence"... literally.)
I'd always hoped that the ending of my book would be along the lines of Federal agents, after reading my reporting, would ask Nash-Karner, and her husband, questions like:
"Beginning in 1997, when you and your husband first fabricated your "better, cheaper, faster," scam, and you two wrote in your fake documents:
'The Solution Group is deeply indebted to the following firms and individuals who have contributed their services in developing this Plan at pro-bono or reduced rates... We recommend (these) firms be retained for professional design services when this (Better, Cheaper, Faster) Plan is accepted... SWA Group, of Sausal¡to, California'
.. why didn't you disclose in your scam's fake documents that the SWA Group was your husband's own landscaping firm?"
and;
"Why did you, as the 2000 Los Osos CSD vice-president lie to California Coastal Commission planner, Steve Monowitz, about the siting of the Tri-W sewer plant, and then that lie led to a lot of money going to you and your husband, and your friends?"
... and then, of course, immediately arresting them (and their friends) for their obvious fraud... and possible terrorism charges for what they put Los Osos through for the past 12 years.
That would have been a sweet ending.
But, considering that the embarrassing local media, the State of California and SLO County governments are ALL tangled up in this beautiful mess, because they all believed Nash-Karner's "behavior based marketing," unfortunately, my preferred ending to my book doesn't look like it's going to happen. (As Los Osos writer, Ann Calhoun, like to points out, "It's Chinatown, Jake." She, apparently, is right. There will be no accountability. None.)
So, it looks like I'll have to turn to my alternate (excellent) ending.
Sure, officially celebrating Nash-Karner, after the utter devastation she's caused in Los Osos over the past 20 years, is kind of a bleak, Grapes of Wrath-y type ending, but, much like that book's great ending, it's the unimaginable bleakness that makes it great.
Finally, something we can all agree on: Celebrate Pandora Nash-Karner!... celebrate hard.
- - -
TO: SLO County Supervisors
DATE: 9//14/10
Dear Supervisors,
Recently, I e-mailed Tami Douglas-Schatz... then Jim Grant... then Supervisor Patterson... then Warren Jensen, a very simple question:
Does the County recognize its longtime (20-year) Commissioners (i.e. Parks Commissioners) like it does with its longtime (20-year) employees, with a ceremony at a Board of Supervisors' meeting?
I never received an answer to my simple question, so now, since I don't know the answer to my (very simple) question, I'm actually going to lobby your Board, and ask that you do -- that you "honor" 2nd District Parks Commissioner, Pandora Nash-Karner, at a Supervisors' meeting early next year -- complete with an official Resolution and photo op -- for her 20 years of "service" on the Parks Commission.
As I recently showed all of you, she was first appointed to the Commission in January 1991, by then newly elected Supervisor, Bud Laurent, after working as his "campaign materials manager" throughout 1990.
So, please, I'm now asking that you formally recognize her 20 years on the Commission with a Resolution and public ceremony next January.
Finally, just in case I (again) don't hear back from a county official that your are (or are not) going to recognize Nash-Karner for her 20 years of "service" early next year, I will continue to (strongly) lobby for that agenda item.
However, if a county official were to simply tell me something like, "Yes, we're going to officially honor Nash-Karner's 20 years next January," then I would immediately stop lobbying you on this issue.
As always, much thanks,
Ron
###
[37 weeks down... 15 to go.]
posted by Ron at
1:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home