Monday, May 20, 2013

Joe Nation Report To Mesa Water Monday

 JOE NATION'S NUMBERS FOR MESA WATER
At the meeting at the Mesa Water District Tuesday afternoon, consultant Joe Nation was supposed to present some pension numbers to the Mesa Board that look very favorable.  You can find the graphics from his presentation HERE.  I did not attend the meeting, nor have I had any first person reports from the site, but I can share with you my observations of the information Nation was going to use.

APPLES AND ORANGES
 (click to enlarge)
The chart shown here is only one of several used to present his material.  As you can see, this study really doesn't compare apples and apples... it compares Mesa Water District - a small, special district - to several local municipalities, including Costa Mesa.  While these numbers are interesting, a more representative presentation would compare Mesa to other special districts in Orange County - like the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, for example.  To make this presentation all Nation had to do was plug the Mesa Water numbers into his spreadsheet used for his presentation to Costa Mesa.

GOOD NUMBERS - NOT A GOOD COMPARISON
Don't interpret my comments as a denigration of the position Mesa Water finds itself in.. the numbers are good, especially when compared to municipalities that can't simply vote to raise rates to cover budget shortfalls, including pension payments.

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10 Comments:

Anonymous ks said...

yes,keep in mind mesa water budget is only 1/3 to 1/4the size of city of cm budget and does not have the onerous public safety pensions. still, looks like they have been taking care of business. I would think the san district is doing as well since they are sitting on a huge pile of cash, compared to water district, while raising rates and have only around 15 employees.

5/21/2013 07:10:00 AM  
Anonymous artist said...

nice logo at least. very cool.

5/21/2013 08:31:00 AM  
Anonymous Team Water said...

Like Geoff said it would have been nice to see Mesa Water compared to other water districts in Orange County. That way you get a real glimpse into how they're doing.

5/21/2013 09:08:00 AM  
Anonymous connect the dots said...

another propaganda report by the water company. before it was their supposed AAA bond rating. Before that, the lowest expenditures per capita of any water district in OC. before that, the only 100 per cent locally supplied water district with their new plant. geez, enough already! now pensions under control? quit bragging and take care of real business, not logos. I say boycott this place as long as fisler is there. very suspicious bragging points, what is the real reason for doing good? something is going on.

5/21/2013 09:28:00 AM  
Anonymous wrocky balboa said...

i think it would be nice to see mesa compared to other water districts too- (I am interested because my city runs my water department and costs are hidden) but that report would probably have cost many times more dollars and then they would be criticized for spending on it. it is a no win situation with the 5 "gotcha" people obsessing over everything from consultants to press badges for bloggers. good to see they are doing well on their own pension situation and spend less per capita than any water district in OC. AAA is nice also. Good job! Here in NB, they raised our rates 40 per cent over 5 years, you guys got a deal, probably because our water guys are not elected, just staff. And we still have a huge unfunded pension mess even though we can raise rates. wonder if we can outsource our water supply needs to Costa Mesa?

5/21/2013 10:26:00 AM  
Anonymous terri aqua said...

time to start some trouble, let's not let up on these guys.
well said "team water".

5/21/2013 10:29:00 AM  
Anonymous time for trouble said...

Terri, I am all in for trouble. where the heck is Litvak? he got a good amount of trouble started and it fizzled out when facts came out. We need to think and litvak needs to think up some more stuff like:
"IS MESA WATER STILL BEATING WIVES OF CONTRACTORS?", etc. the old question mark headline. absolves you of any lawsuit but denigrates the district. all good that way. words like corruption, secret, illegal, etc. are always good too. obsessive and amusing good also. let's mix em up and get: "Mesa waters' obsessive corruption exposed. Illegal and secretive meetings being held. district explanation amusing."
how can they fight that? must be true, it is in print and we are press. they won't even respond to such nonsense and we win. we can ruin lives with this, why wait? karma is a B**** but that is down the road and we are already in pretty deep anyway. what could go wrong?

5/21/2013 07:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Public needs to know. said...

Busy day, Troll licker? Somebody hit a nerve? Why do you feel the need to defend your buddies at Mesa Water? Something going on we should be concerned about?

Sure sounds like it, and you jumping on here with all the inane defensive comments makes it sound more suspect.

5/21/2013 08:06:00 PM  
Anonymous May I have your attention please? said...

Really Geoff? When you let Fitzy hijack this blog with all of his stupid comments, it’s ridiculous. Have more respect for your readers. We can’t stand the guy or his disconnected way of thinking. We know he amuses himself by composing all this crap. It makes him feel like a big shot. But seriously, it bugs the crap out of me to waste my valuable time reading it.

Get a life Fitz and for goodness sake, let go of the San District already. You’re done there. It’s time for you to get the help you need. I’m talking real help with a trained psychiatrist, not the kind you get at Monahan’s.

5/22/2013 06:53:00 AM  
Anonymous public's gullible, take advan said...

I'm with Public needs to know.

Let's start some trouble. He made a good start, no facts, but a subtle accusation. planted a seed so to speak. well said public needs to know. got a lot out of nothing! keep planting doubt, cast dispersions on the people there. how can u beat that for a day's work, eh? feel better? I do. Happy.

5/22/2013 07:34:00 AM  

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