To the Editor:
Re. Martin Farrell’s Realities:
I don’t think the Mayor “repeatedly asked” the Council to investigate his trip to Washington D.C. but made only one formal request and only after the Code of Ethics was repealed. If I’m “ignorant” on this point show me the minutes when it occurred and I’ll apologize.
Recently released documents by the City show:
- Email from American Water to Boyle Engineering asked if the Mayor or Mayor Pro-Tem would be attending the U.S. Mayor’s conference and making a presentation at the Mayor’s Water Council.
- From Boyle to the City Manager and Bert Rapp asking if the Mayor had confirmed.
- From Rapp to Steve Conaway asking if he could go and assured all expenses would be paid by the conference.
- American Water arranged for the Mayor to stay at their hotel.
We already know that:
- The Mayor sat with the CEO of American Water at the conference speakers’ table.
- American Water is an advisor to the Mayor’s Water Council.
- American Water and Boyle Engineering have multi-million dollar contracts with the City that Fillmore citizens are having to dig deep to pay for.
- The Mayor is an ardent supporter of American Water.
As I see it, the purpose for the Mayor’s trip was to sell American Water to Mayor’s throughout the country.
My concern isn’t a legal one, but one that questions who my elected representatives really represent. It seems some council members have been cheerleaders for developers and corporations instead of providing dogged oversight for the citizens. So, Mr. Farrell, in that respect my criticism is “political”.
Bob Stroh,
Fillmore

To the Editor:
In response to your April 23rd article:
“During oral communications, Gayle Washburn criticized the Council for not choosing PERC for the construction and operation of our new water treatment plant.”
I did not criticize the Council. My statement was that… “I wanted to respond to Bert’s numbers.”
There were other speakers commenting on the subject so perhaps you have the commenters mixed up.
There were various other incorrect and misleading statements in the article but there is not enough room or time to address each one.
I pointed out that we are paying $26 million for the reuse portion of our plant. Mr. Rapp states that Santa Paula has better percolation capacity than Fillmore. While that may be, Boyle reports indicate that we could percolate 1.4MGD at the existing site, C St site and E St. site - enough for our current needs with room to spare.
But the bottom line is we are paying $80 million for our 1.8 MGD plant and Santa Paula is paying $57 million for a 4.3 MGD plant. Do the math.
The contract is not finalized in Santa Paula, so at some point in the near future a proper analysis can be made. Check the cost per gallon treated in capital costs and operating and maintenance costs. This will produce a true level playing field and is the industry standard measurement.
At that time, if the paper is interested in providing a balanced and unbiased article, I will be happy to provide information.
Gayle Washburn,
Fillmore