Who can forget the water pollution crisis in Flint, Michigan a few years ago? After Flint was forced to switch its drinking water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, a research team led by Professor Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech discovered that Flint residents were being poisoned by lead in the water Government agency misbehavior and malaise can’t get any worse, right?
Yes, you can. Pleasanton (Balch disagrees) just authorized PFAS-contaminated water from the city’s Wells 5 and 6 to be turned on this summer. While kids traditionally have lemonade and Kool-Aid stands this summer, drinks and ice will have a few extra ingredients, bioaccumulative PFAS compounds, courtesy of Mayor Brown and Councilmen Arkin, Testa and Nibert.
Unlike cash-strapped Flint, whose economy has been devastated by the collapse of the auto industry, Pleasanton is a little different. Last month, the City Council’s consent agenda showed nearly $27 million ($26,934,251 to be exact) was spent in the previous month.
In addition, another $250,000 was approved to equip not one, not two, but three conference rooms at city offices with technology to facilitate “satellite locations for public meetings.” And where are these new distant satellite locations in relation to the existing City Halls? They are located a short distance next door at 157 Main St.
On the one hand, the majority of the City Council acts as the upper crust of “Gilligan’s Island” characters Thurston Howell III and his wife. Owners of a diamond mine, oil well, coconut plantation and downtown Denver, they had more money than imaginable.
With a Century House HGTV-style makeover and a third skate park in the works, in a seemingly never-ending quest to turn Pleasanton into a giant amusement park, the four sure act like the Howells could easily afford finance these extravagances, which of course, these two projects certainly are.
And the absurd extra public meeting rooms? Well, it’s more conference rooms for “special meetings” to bring Alderman Balch to City Hall to arrange some kind of intervention, scold him like a subordinate, scold him into silence, and adopt his sunny persona of ” Everything’s Coming Up Roses” as they did. two weeks ago?
I want the leaders of Pleasanton to act as individuals and be individual, not strong to join a herd. And now, when we have a major water toxin crisis, we need strong leaders like him to let the public know not just the good, but the good, the bad and the ugly.
And what happened two weeks ago was really ugly. I am not only angry, but livid that four elected officials would dare try to take away Vice Mayor Balch’s First Amendment rights. I am outraged that the mayor, who seems to have forgotten Pleasanton is a democracy, even called the meeting.
Zone 7 just delivered ion exchange (IX) pressure vessels with PFAS filtering to Stoneridge Drive, postponing three other capital projects to do so. And if North Carolina cities like Wilmington can remove PFAS from their water supply, why won’t Pleasanton? I want the unfiltered truth, and these days, like clean, safe water, it’s in short supply.
Common decency also seems to be in short supply. Trying to silence Jack Balch was not only irresponsible, it was simply inexcusable. And I want to hear what he has to say.
