Calm Reigns at Perchlorate Meeting (SB Sun) About 50 Poeple attended the meeting that was given less then 12 hours notice to attend!!

Calm Reigns at Perchlorate Meeting
Jason Pesick SB Sun Staff Writer

RIALTO - About 50 residents and local officials showed up to a meeting at City Hall on Friday night to hear about the city's perchlorate contamination problem and what is being done to clean it up.

Perchlorate is a chemical that can interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland, causing development and metabolic problems. Perchlorate is used in the production of explosives, such as fireworks, flares and rocket fuel.

Despite fears that the meeting would turn into a political slugfest in which city officials would attack San Bernardino County officials, the meeting remained calm.

Although one of the city's attorney's, Christian Carrigan, complained about the county's role in a lawsuit the city has filed against it, the U.S. Department of Defense and 40 corporations, city officials remained collegial.

Gerard Thibeault, the executive officer of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the board will hold hearings at the end of the year to determine what role a number of corporations played in the water contamination and what those corporations should do to clean up the contamination.

City leaders called the meeting earlier this week and drew complaints from local officials and perchlorate experts because of the last-minute notice.

Councilmen Ed Scott (cmcq) and Joe Sampson (cmcq) released a letter to the community that listed local officials as invited guest speakers at the meeting. However, the invited guest speakers did not receive an invitation prior to receiving the letter, which was addressed to Rialto residents.

Some officials had plans to be out of town for the holiday weekend and said they wondered why a meeting about a serious topic would be scheduled for the Friday night before Labor Day.

City and county officials scheduled a meeting for this past Tuesday to discuss the city's lawsuit. The meeting lasted only minutes before dissolving into bickering.

On Thursday, county Supervisor Josie Gonzales (cmcq), who was at Friday's meeting, sent a letter addressed to Rialto Mayor Grace Vargas and to the City Council asking for the city's cooperation in dealing with the perchlorate contamination.

In the letter, Gonzales lays out two conditions for having another meeting. The first is that city and county officials agree on the meeting's format. At the last meeting, there was a dispute as to whether it was a public or private meeting.

Gonzales also writes that the city must sign a memorandum of understanding relating to the use of federal funds to clean up the contamination.

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I must say this about this whole thing. Why fight the County over this Perchlorate. Lets work together and get the problem out of the drinking water. It would be a whole lot cheaper then fighting each other for blame and who will pay for what. If everyone pays for their part in the clean up then there would not be a problem with the clean up or who is going to pay for what.

Fighting the system like this or bucking the system costs a lot of money, and the county has more money then the City of Rialto does to fight this issue then we do. There Insurance will stay and fight the whole way! While Rialto will fight and then Rialto city will not have any money left of the Utility Tax that they were able to get so comfortably priced ahead. Then they will try to fight the Cable company for switching from Adelphia to Time Warner Cable Company, and we will keep our channel 13. Who knows.

I say, lets stop the fighting of the whole thing!! I have said this before I am saying it again. do not fight the County over the Perchlorate Contamination Clean Up in the Water table, we will loose and loose lots of money in the process. Because the County will sue for their court fees and chances are with our lawyer they will win!! and we will be paying for their lawyer fees, just like the City did for the Voice United People, when the City reimbursed the Lawyer for the Law Firm in Riverside for just under $120,000.00.

If you think that is expensive just think and wait on how much the counties Bill will be for the repayment for their lawyers. Just think, if the city of Rialto's Lawyer makes Oh, about $750K then the counties must make at least a million or more. guessing maybe they make less like the guy in Riverside because Rialto is the one that is dumb enough to be over priced for a lawyer and continue to pay for it.

BSRanch

Rialto City Stop Fighting the County of San Bernardino, and work Together!! to clean up the counties Water Table!! BSR