One of the most important functions of government is to act as a mediator between people. Private Citizens are inevitably going to have disputes every once in a while, or the public at large will have a compelling need to supervise the activities of a private entity whose actions stand to impact the entire community. When these cases arise, it’s important that the official governing body be fully transparent in its operations and edicts, and that it be completely impartial, without unfair bias to any side in a potential argument. It’s a rank conflict of interest, for example, to allow this arbitrator to be compromised by a party concerned with its decisions.
Unfortunately, the California Public Utilities Commission doesn’t seem to understand that. Charged with overseeing the activities of utilities companies (which obviously has a tremendous impact on the quality of life of the community at large), the CPUC has nevertheless been repeatedly seen cozying up to top executives in the industry, such as by sharing talking points and having dinner together on several occasions. In one incident, they met at a luxury hotel to map out the details of an important nuclear power plant’s closure, a move that cost jobs and involved multiple billions of dollars.
After eight people died in a gas pipe explosion a little over half a decade ago, the subsequent investigation discovered that CPUC leaders had had a very friendly relationship with executives from Pacific Gas & Electric, with e-mails describing those sharing bottles of wine as they chatted about the industry. One time, PG&E suits even asked their friends at CPUC to delay an official visit to their control room because of “problems” they were experiencing.
It’s gotten so bad that Governor Jerry Brown of California has been working with legislators to craft a law requiring CPUC leaders and industry executives to be more transparent about their meetings, such as their frequency and content, and provide harsher punishments for colluding with State and local governments and politicians if this information is not forthcoming to the people. The measure is currently under discussion, but many critics are already worrying that it even if it passes, it doesn’t do enough to curb the chummy relationship between parties with an interest in the energy industry and those who are supposed to be supervising them.
Part of the problem with this collusion is the enormity of what’s at stake. The energy industry is big money. Robert McCullough, one of the investigators of the state’s energy system during the 2001 Enron scandal, has spoken on the potential impact of backroom dealings between CPUC and the industry:
“The amounts of money are so huge and the potential for abuse is so great that even just a pinkie on the scale can mean millions or tens of 
millions [of dollars].”
With so much at stake, McCullough has reasonably argued that CPUC leaders should have no contact at all with industry executives and political parties.
Frankly, it’s outrageous that interested parties can gain access to official decision makers while those decisions are being made. Irvine new substation, referred to as the Safari Substation, The substation will be built on a 2.4-acre lot along Wald adjacent to four buildings. This lot the Spectrum 5 is zoned for industrial uses and the city’s zoning ordinance states that operating “utility buildings and facilities” there requires a conditional use permit, which must be reviewed by city staff and approved by the Planning Commission.
However, Southern California Edison said California Public Utilities Commission rules preempt the city from imposing land use restraints on the project, and Edison had met with city officials some years back and the planning commission approved the Substation without and notice to landowners and the lack of transparency on the Council’s decision to move forward has put many homeowners at risk of losing property value.
What NoSubstation.com uncovered is that the “Safari” Substation is a much larger problem that affects all of Irvine because SCE isn’t modernizing the grid… they are just extending the old archaic grid system. This is significant because UCI served as a research center and hosted a study for modern power systems & distribution a few years ago which SCE took part in. Additionally, SCE’s “Safari” Substation Project didn’t use current Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs)… and the one they used is a decade old.
The result of further investigation was that the current traffic, housing, power consumption and other major environmental impacts weren’t even factored in to the 2006 EIR they used. This was the same EIR The Irvine Company used for their Los Olivos Project (which also didn’t mention those significant environmental impacts).
One of Irvine’s Mayoral candidate’s Don Wagner has received thousands of dollars from Edison in campaign donations, as well as Mr. Wagner’s City Council candidates. These candidates received donations from the home and small business owners that are in the law suit against Edison. May I suggest that the two Council candidates Ms. Shea and Mr. Kuo return the campaign donations unless this is a pay to play political favor viewed by the residents of Irvine.
Giving contracts to donors such as the Waste Management contract where Council candidates were paid in contributions – the Council voted to give Waste Management the contract was on a NO BID contract.
Today’s OC Register: Don Wagner, Christina Shea & Anthony Kuo receive 1.1 million: Irvine Political action committees had
A political sign in support of Irvine Mayoral candidate Don Wagner and City Council candidates Anthony Kuo and Christina Shea is posted along University Drive near Culver Drive. The sign is paid for by California Homeowners Association, a political action committee making expenditures independent of candidates.
funneled $1.1 million into the Irvine mayoral and City Council races as of Tuesday, according to a Register analysis, dwarfing my campaign and any other contributions candidates are raising. California Homeowners Association committee has spent over $255,305 & $172,140 supporting mayoral candidate Don Wagner and council candidates Christina Shea and Anthony Kuo. The PAC received $49,000 from developer Patrick Strader, Lobbyist – Starpointe Ventures, which has stakes in Irvine Five Point projects.
Moving Orange County Forward – funded by such entities as the Building Industry Association of Southern California PAC, Orange County Business Council PAC and Disney Worldwide Services – has spent over $93,000 supporting Wagner and incumbent Shea, Building Industry Association of Southern California PAC received $100,000 from FivePoint, which is overseeing the development of thousands of homes near the Orange County Great Park, $75,000 from the Irvine Co. and $50,000 from Starpointe Ventures. Starpointe and Five-Point officials said they had no comments for this story.
Now, we pay these government officials to be impartial and represent the interests of the community at large, not buddy up to corporate big wigs and chat over expensive wine about how best to help out certain companies. Many of our residents, especially small business owners, have said that they feel as if they’ve been put in danger by this reckless, irresponsible behavior. It’s time for us to demand transparency and accountability from our public servants, because we can no longer afford to let them so blatantly disregard their duties and their jobs on our dime.
Who, exactly, is sticking up for the people, where is the accountability ?
VOTE , Katherine Daigle for your Mayor
