But the Neighbors Shouldn’t Have Had to Fight in the First Place

Earlier this month I asked the public to show up for the neighbors of 18955 Industry Way in Sonora, a site that county and state records identify as an unpermitted solid waste disposal site. Many of you showed up – thank you!
 
Here is what came of it:

On October 26, the Tuolumne County Local Enforcement Agency Independent Hearing Panel issued its decision on the neighbors’ petition. The three members ruled unanimously:

• Material the LEA’s own letter said “may pose a respirable asbestos concern” was never tested, and material slated for testing left the site.
• No evidence supports classifying the material at the site as harmless “inert debris.”
• The record showed “more than 2 years of continued failures by the LEA to act.”
• The panel found no evidence of any inspection reports. State law requires monthly inspections of illegal sites. 
• The panel ordered the LEA to enforce, to preserve the site’s materials for testing, and to escalate enforcement up to and including cease-and-desist orders. Either side may still appeal to CalRecycle until November 5. 

Here is the part I most want you to hear.

Long before there was a petition or a lawyer, these neighbors in District 4 (Supervisor Griefer) did everything we tell people to do. They called. They wrote. For years they pleaded with their local elected leaders for help, and were told over and over that the operation was completely legal. If you have been to a Board of Supervisors meeting in the past two and a half years, you have probably heard some of them at the podium asking for someone to step in. It took a petition under state law and an independent panel to get an official finding that the law had required action all along.
 
There is a disconcerting pattern.

With Golden State Natural Resources, the County was aligned to green-light a massive wood pellet plant with little community education or engagement. It took residents reading the documents, asking hard questions, and showing up to stop it. Last month, three out of five County Supervisors voted against a 45-day moratorium on data centers while the County decides on whether to put specific protections in place. (Kirk, Griefer and Holland voted against the moratorium; Campbell and Brandon voted in favor.) Different projects, same pattern: decisions about our land and water get made, or quietly not made, out of public view, and residents end up doing the oversight our local institutions are supposed to do.
 
 Better local governance isn’t complicated.When residents report a problem, someone checks the law and gives them a straight, accurate answer. When an agency finds a violation, it follows through diligently and transparently. When constituents come to the podium again and again, their elected representatives treat it as important information, not noise. And when the grand jury tells our local leaders there are problems that need to be addressed, their recommendations aren’t ignored.

Thank you for paying attention. Whatever the problem, better community is almost always part of the solution.