Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

From left, Plymouth City Council = incumbents Pat=20 Shackleton, Greg Baldwin and Jon Colburn were sworn into office = Thursday=20 night. Their election victories have been overshadowed by a = hot-button=20 campaign flier and impending water rate increases.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson
Thursday's Plymouth City Council = meeting=20 started with some good news when local developer Tony Zieter announced = he would=20 buy 100 turkeys for struggling families in the Plymouth area. However, = the=20 positive declarations stopped there.

Amidst revelations that the = city is=20 projecting a $29,000 shortfall in its final budget and is also planning = on=20 raising water and sewer rates again in January, talk quickly turned to = whether=20 the re-elected incumbents who were being sworn in that night had misled = voters=20 near the eve of the election.

The Plymouth City Council race that = ended=20 on Nov. 4, in which community volunteer Maria Nunez fell a mere three = votes=20 short of unseating incumbent Greg Baldwin, was largely about water. In = the weeks=20 leading up to Election Day, Baldwin and fellow incumbents Jon Colburn = and Pat=20 Shackleton admitted to feeling politically vulnerable. The reason was = that the=20 Amador Water Agency had said that, in order to launch bids for the new = Plymouth=20 pipeline, the council would have to send out notices to ratepayers about = the=20 possibility of a significant hike in their utility bills. The public = would get=20 to voice their opinion at a meeting scheduled for Nov. 17.

With = little=20 more than a week to go before Super Tuesday, the council and city staff = learned=20 that the lowest bid on the pipeline came in $2.5 million less than = expected. At=20 the Oct. 30 city council meeting, Finance Director Jeff Gardener = cautioned=20 council members that the bid had not been "vetted by AWA." He added that = a=20 number of other cost figures weren't finalized. "These are just rough = numbers,"=20 Gardner had warned the council. "It could still end up being=20 more."

Nevertheless, with three days to go before the election, = Baldwin,=20 Colburn and Shackleton released a joint mailer that read, "Great news = for=20 Plymouth: The Pipe line project bid came in approximately 2.5 million = under the=20 estimated. ... Now with this low bid ... the council can lower and make = more=20 equitable your water rates." This flier has now become known as the = "Pat, Greg=20 & Jon" flyer - the three names that appear above the P.O. Box of its = return=20 address.

At the same time, City Manager Dixon Flynn sent out a = statement=20 of his own, which read, "Based on bids received Thursday, the pipeline = is now=20 estimated to cost 10.2 million. Horay!" Flynn went on to suggest that = the=20 council was in a good position to keep "the cost of water at a = reasonable=20 level." Flynn also supported the council members noticing a Nov. 3 = emergency=20 meeting - the eve of the election - to call off the Nov. 17 public = hearing that=20 could raise water rates. That meeting never took place.

After the = election was over and all three incumbents had won back their seats, = Gardner's=20 warning came to fruition. The numbers on the bid changed just as all = seven=20 developers backed out of their overtures to help pay for a portion of = the=20 pipeline upfront. In light of this, Colburn refused to vote for the = final=20 resolution to build the pipeline, saying publicly that he, Shackleton = and=20 Baldwin "looked like fools."

At Thursday's meeting, Colburn was = still=20 seething with frustration. "Come January, the ratepayers of Plymouth are = going=20 to have a $20 hike in their utility bills between water and sewer," he = said as=20 his fellow council members prepared to implement the rates. "I don't = think=20 that's right. Especially when some of us told the voters this wouldn't=20 happen."

As with the pipeline itself, Colburn refused to vote for = the new=20 rates. Shackleton and Baldwin did vote for the rate = increases.

One person=20 at the meeting who hadn't forgotten the now-infamous flier was Colburn's = brother, Gary, who had run against the three incumbents in the city = council=20 race. "That flier was a blatant act of dishonesty and deceit," Gary = vented at=20 the council before challenging them to hold a new election.

"That = race=20 didn't decide anything," he went on. "Why don't you show some true = integrity and=20 put it to a vote now that the people know the truth. The fact that we're = here=20 tonight watching you vote to raise our rates after you said you wouldn't = is=20 sickening."

On Saturday afternoon, Baldwin discussed the = controversy with=20 the Ledger Dispatch, arguing that the AWA was largely to blame for the=20 confusion. "The process of sending the bid out should have happened long = before=20 the election ever came up," he said. "But each time we got ready, the = AWA would=20 put up another road block. The whole thing kept dragging until we were = suddenly=20 between a rock and hard spot."

Baldwin went on to explain that he = hoped=20 the developers of a Shenandoah Springs development project would sign an = agreement that would allow the council to bring water rates back down = within=20 three to four months.

"One way or the other, we're determined to = bring=20 those rates back down soon," Baldwin pledged. "We know there are a lot = of=20 seniors on fixed incomes who can't take this hit. We've told our city = manager=20 that doing something about this is our top priority."

Scott Thomas = Anderson