Unbelievable! At the last Newberry CSD general Board
meeting on December 17th, it was expected that the Board would make a selection
of a CEQA attorney to file an appeal of the County's approval of the Daggett
solar project.
Shockingly, at that meeting, not even one attorney had yet
been identified as a candidate. The Board then decided to hold a Special
Meeting on Monday, December 23, 2019, to choose their lawyer.
Guess what? As of mid-day last Saturday, December 21st,
Director Jack Unger who had volunteered to run the show still had not found
an attorney, and with the Holidays, most attorneys are now not reachable.
Filing deadline is January 9, 2020.
This has got the makings of one of the biggest screw-ups
in the CSD's history. It is called dereliction of duty.
For the past two years, this blog site has repeatedly
requested that the CSD prepare itself to fight the Daggett solar project by
hiring a professional CEQA expert.
The attorney that the CSD hired to prepare a letter for the
appeal before the County's Supervisors has been found to be too pro-solar.
This blog site has been accused by a few community
members of being a fearmonger. Well, the sky is now falling
on Newberry.
Director Unger's ego had him jump at being in charge of
the solar legal battle. I do highly praise him for doing it because
if he hadn't, Clearway Energy would be now mowing the desert's soil in
Daggett. No one else on the Board took the first move.
Unger placed the matter as a CSD agenda item and the community's
attendance last September 24th insisted on action.
Unfortunately, with Unger, it is a power trip. If
you want to know what is happening, you must wait for the next Board
meeting so that Unger can be the absolute center of attention in giving
his report. It is his way or no way.
The CSD is not a rich district. Consequently, we
must all pull together to make this community work. That, however,
doesn't fit into Unger's methodology.
I do not like being on a sinking ship
with Unger as the Captain. I do not like losing a third-plus
of my investment in Newberry because a Board member won't exercise
common sense and collaborate with knowledgeable people.
Hopefully, Monday, Jack Unger will pull a CEQA
qualified attorney out of his hat-of-tricks. If not, the Board
will have a very short meeting.
