BALL IN COUNCIL’S COURT … now that the referendum to overturn the recent dramatic water rate hikes has been declared good to go, the Davis City Council is faced with several courses of action … none of them, however, will be particularly pleasant for a council that has been throwing us head fakes all along, trying in vain with smoke and mirrors to convince us the rate hikes were only half what they actually are … such deception does not play well with the average citizen in the Second Most Educated City in America …

Despite the fact that signature gatherers were poorly funded, loosely organized and woefully short on time, they managed to gather enough valid signatures to force the council’s decision to a vote of the people … the council, of course, can simply rescind the offending rate hike and render an election moot, but given this council’s penchant for digging in its heels in the face of public opposition, I wouldn’t count on them to admit defeat …

Back when nearly 5,000 Davis ratepayers filed formal written protests with the city over the new rates, the mayor and others said they heard us “loud and clear.” … despite that, however, the council went ahead with rate increases as high as 64 percent in the first year and a tripling of rates for many over five years, then tried to discredit those who dared to point out just how faulty the city’s math truly was …

VOTING: A CHERISHED TRADITION … the reasonable thing for the council to do is to acknowledge the warning shot fired by many frustrated citizens of this town and let the people vote … no, this will not lead to direct democracy … but when you’re entering into a quarter-of-a-billion dollar project with another city and propose letting a private firm run our water system, I think it’s a big enough undertaking to poll the citizenry …

And to those who say elections are “too expensive,” this one isn’t likely to cost anywhere near the $300,000 the “Clean Water Project” folks are paying a PR firm to spin this thing in their favor … if there’s money for that, there’s money for an election … it’s always suspect when those in charge cite dollars and cents as a reason to keep the unwashed masses from participating in our democracy …

THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE … my friend Curt, who knows a thing or two about water, has had a change of heart on the water issue … writes Curt: “A week ago I would have voted against the referendum. Today I’d vote for it. The degree of ineptitude of city staff is breathtaking. Worse yet, the City Council members aren’t smart enough or well educated enough to check the math and monitor what they are putting on the city website.” …

You mean claiming that a 27 percent to 64 percent increase is really only 14 percent? … our fourth-grader pointed that one out … “Rochelle and Joe should initiate a council mea culpa on this mess, admit they screwed up, and start over with real data and realistic rates.” … amen, Brother Curt, amen …

EVEN MORE READERS WRITING … Glen at netscape.net, in an open letter to those in charge, writes “Would you have us all believe that the project has overwhelming support? Let’s test your claim. This will afford you a golden opportunity to affirm your commitment to the democratic process. Are you afraid of the outcome if this gets on the ballot?” … I think they’ve already answered that one, Glen …

AND FINALLY … K.K. at yahoo.com fears what the town will look like if the proposed water rates ever come into being … “We’ll not only be the most educated city in America, but also the smelliest.” … hey, we can still shower when it rains … “Due to a scorched earth policy, gardeners will be living in the streets. Davis will have more dirty cars per capita than any city in America. And tumbleweed will be declared the new Davis city plant.” …

I’m sorry, K.K., but nothing will ever replace star thistle, no matter how dry it gets in these parts …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected] Comment on this column at www.davisenterprise.com

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