At the Saratoga City Council meeting on Oct. 19, 2016 the SJWC Rate Issues were discussed. The City Attorney, Richard Taylor, presented his findings. After listening to the Attorney and citizens speak about SJWC and the CPUC, City Council member, Howard Miller, proposed the following 6 part motion, which was approved by all council members. Although these motions may not seem like enough action, they are steps in the right direction and we need to build our case against CPUC and SJWC. These issues are not going to be resolved overnight and we need to continue the fight. At the Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 Mayors and Managers meeting, (Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga) the mayors agreed to write a joint letter to the CPUC. That letter is being drafted now and will be sent to the CPUC commissioners. In conjunction with that letter, the CPUC needs to hear from EACH and EVERY one of us in the form of FILING A COMPLAINT with the CPUC against SJWC. Please take 15-20 minutes to file a complaint with the CPUC against SJWC. The more complaints they get, the more we will be heard. It is very important that you file a complaint! File a complaint at this link https://appsssl.cpuc.ca.gov/cpucapplication/ You can write your own complaint or you can copy and paste the complaint posted at http://sjwfacts.weebly.com/file-complaint.html. Please attach the PDF below in your complaint. It is the 2013-2016 Comparison Model that illustrates the 71% rate increase for a “typical” SJW customer and higher increases for those going over the allocations since 2013. You will need to save the PDF to your computer first and then select CHOOSE FILE and then select ATTACH FILE at the bottom of the complaint form https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/31540/2016_10_19_Memo_-_Water_item_supp_attch.pdf I encourage each and every one of you to contact your local and state elected officials. Phone numbers and email addresses can be found at http://sjwfacts.weebly.com/contactsemails.html You can watch the Oct. 19, 2016 Saratoga City Council Meeting here. Click on Item 4.1 for the water rates discussion. http://saratoga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=965 6 Part Motion: #1 – Agree that we need joint regional support. The council agrees that we need to be in a position to have enough data to challenge future rate increases. Reach out to the following groups to find out where we have common cause: Mayors & Managers Cities Associations Water Commissions (SCVWD) Staff level with the other SJW customer cities #2 – Reach out to Representatives in Sacramento. Mayor Cappello said they already have a meeting scheduled with Assemblymember Evan Low and Senator Jim Beall and they will add water to the agenda to brainstorm ideas. #3 – Reach out to SCVWD at a staff level and board member level. Council will reach out to Nai Hsueh as she is a Saratoga elected representative. #4 – Task for Saratoga Council – Look into hiring a Rate Consultant and Advocate to do deeper analysis to help us with CPUC and SJWC. #5 –City Managers will explore short term joint activities such as hire rate analyst and request rate modifications from the CPUC. Council agrees that the long term view is that we no longer live in a world where we can let the CPUC do their thing. We need a regional approach to address these issues. CPUC is going to have an ever encroaching role on our rates within our cities so we need to work as a region to band together in common cause. #6 – Meet with SJWC to definitively and accurately explain every line item on the water bill. All of this information and links are also posted on www.sjwfacts.weebly.com 2 upcoming events: *Thursday, Oct. 27 2:00pm Community Coffee with Mayor Manny Cappello and Assemblymember Evan Low at Sue’s Gallery Café, 14665 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070 Bring your questions, ideas and solutions regarding state legislative issues that affect our community. Discuss our Water Rates. * John Tang with the SJWC has agreed to participate in a meeting with Town residents to discuss recent water bills. Staff from the SCVWD will also join us. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Los Gatos Town Council Chambers. 110 E. Main Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030. Meetings are broadcast live on KCAT Channel 15