Terrie Gillen From: Chris Wheaton <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 10:50 AM To: Cynthia Koehler; Larry Bragman; Larry Russell; Jack Gibson; Ben Horenstein Subject: Rate increases and legal spending During a pandemic, private businesses, state and local governments and individuals are tighten their belts and trying to live within their means. Special districts like the Marin Municipal Water District are doing the opposite… raising rates and then spending ratepayers dollars to defend the rate increases. Austerity is happening everywhere and now is not the time to be raising rates and/or aggressively defending them. Now is the time to get money into the pockets of ratepayers. By proposing to fund up to $400,000 of legal expenses to defend large rate increases, you are forcing ratepayers to sue themselves and pay for both sides of the legislation. Come to your senses and scale back your spending and rates. Everyone else is and you should do the same. Chris Wheaton, CPA, CFP® Senior Advisor, Principal [email protected] Direct: 415‐464‐5802 | Client Line: 415‐526‐4380 Directions | https://link.edgepilot.com/s/f1eb4d5a/zh9YHIsz00CC3s_OL8HhsA?u=http://www.lgam.com/ Confidentiality Note: This e-mail is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or the information herein by anyone other than the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately (telephone 415-461-8999 or e-mail [email protected]) and destroy the original message and all copies. Litman Gregory monitors and reviews the content of all e-mail communications sent and/or received by its employees in conformance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 1 mmwd, i consider it highly unacceptable to hire outside council to defend this suit. the ratepayers of marin should not be considered a bottomless well of cash to support the stance of excessive rate hikes. it would seem that instead of a steady improvement of infrastructure the board has somehow just realized that there are major improvements needed to continue to deliver the supply of water to the homes and businesses of our county. get it together! james phelan fairfax On Dec 15, 2020, at 10:38 AM, Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers <[email protected]> wrote: Email MMWD Board Today! View this email in your browser EMAIL MMWD DIRECTORS TODAY! Tell MMWD: Stop Spending OUR Money Defending Rates that Are Unfair, Illegal and Wildly Unpopular. Remind Directors: They Represent YOU. The Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors has on its 12-15-20 Agenda approval for up to $400,000 to engage an outside law firm through 12/31/2021 to defend its current unpopular customer rates. Those rates have been widely protested as unfair, unrelated to customer water usage and conservation, and challenged by CO$T for these reasons and because they are illegal. CO$T initially filed suit against MMWD in August 2019. In July 2020, CO$T's expanded legal team advanced this to a Class Action suit that is now proceeding in Marin Superior Court. Adding insult to ratepayers’ bill injury, this legal expenditure that the MMWD Board proposes to approve will add to the District’s costs which ultimately are passed on to its ratepayers in our water rates. Please consider sending an e-Mail protest to the MMWD Board and to the District’s General Manager, Ben Horenstein protesting this expenditure, if possible, prior to the Board’s meeting 7:30PM Tuesday 12/15. CO$T urges you to send a letter to MMWD Directors and General Manager TODAY objecting to Spending $400,000 to Fight Ratepayers' Suit: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Please also cc us at: [email protected] Donate Today to CO$T to Support Our Legal and Other Activities ***********MORE INFO*********** You may also attend the MMWD Board meeting via Zoom (instructions below) and express your opinion during public comment on agenda item 8 (starts PDF page 74). MMWD's instructions for attending and commenting are as follows: MMWD Board Meeting Tuesday, December 15, 2020, Starts 7:30 PM To participate online, go to https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c1f4f8bb/ZaOv94yhl0SYhthMU4J5uQ?u=https://zoom.us/j/91866755311. You can also participate by phone by calling 1-669-900-6833 and entering the webinar ID#: 918 6675 5311. PARTICIPATION DURING MEETINGS: During the public comment periods, the public may comment by clicking the “raise hand” button on the bottom of the Zoom screen; if you are joining by phone and would like to comment, press *9 and we will call on you as appropriate. EMAILED PUBLIC COMMENTS: You may submit your comments in advance of the meeting by emailing them to [email protected]. All emailed comments received by 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting will be provided to the Board of Directors prior to the meeting. Those emailed comments on approval items received by 3 p.m. will also be summarized by the board secretary at the board meeting. All emails will be posted on our website. (Please do not include personal information in your comment that you do not want published on our website such as phone numbers and home addresses.) Forward this email to your friends. Share on Social Media. Sign up for free alerts or donate at COSTMarin.org Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list This email was sent to [email protected] why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers · PO Box 253 · Kentfield, CA 94914-0253 · USA Terrie Gillen From: Judi Schellenberg <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 12:14 PM To: Cynthia Koehler; Larry Bragman; Larry Russell; Jack Gibson; Ben Horenstein Cc: [email protected] Subject: YOU MUST BE KIDDING!! How you can even CONSIDER paying some Texas law firm $400,000 (for only 2 weeks work, no less) to defend the proposed increase in rates? Aren’t you aware of what’s been going on for the last nine months? People have lost jobs, are unemployed, businesses are closing down, food lines are longer than ever, unemployment is running out. And you want to raise our rates? Our last bill was close to $300. That’s for two old retired people with minimal water requirements. I can’t even imagine what a family, especially with young children and/or a baby has been charged. If you can’t run the water district with that sort of income you don’t deserve to be on the board. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, put it towards the upgrades you say are necessary. Or better yet, donate it to the food bank, or to a local charity, if you must spend it. Judi Schellenberg 1212 Idylberry Road San Rafael, CA 94903 1 Terrie Gillen From: Jan Stephens <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 11:26 AM To: Larry Bragman; Larry Russell; Jack Gibson; Ben Horenstein Cc: [email protected] Subject: : Are you crazy? From: Jan Stephens <[email protected]> Subject: Are you crazy? Date: December 15, 2020 at 11:06:48 AM PST To: [email protected] Spending $400,000 to defend your rate increase? No wonder the rates are going up. You want to get re elected? Stop this foolishness. Bob Stephens San Rafael MMWD rate payer since 1965. 1 Terrie Gillen From: Mike Popovich <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 11:04 AM To: Cynthia Koehler; lbragman@marin; Larry Russell; Jack Gibson Cc: Ben Horenstein; Mimi Willard Subject: Outside Law Firm??? Dear MMWD Directors, Engaging an outside law firm to defend YOU from the ratepayers that fund the operation and have questions about the fairness of your rate structure does not sound like a prudent or reasonable way to spend up to $400,000 of working capital. As Directors of our Marin Municipal Water District, you represent the ratepayers, correct? Mike Popovich Larkspur, CA 1 Terrie Gillen From: Chris Wheaton <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 10:50 AM To: Cynthia Koehler; Larry Bragman; Larry Russell; Jack Gibson; Ben Horenstein Subject: Rate increases and legal spending During a pandemic, private businesses, state and local governments and individuals are tighten their belts and trying to live within their means. Special districts like the Marin Municipal Water District are doing the opposite… raising rates and then spending ratepayers dollars to defend the rate increases. Austerity is happening everywhere and now is not the time to be raising rates and/or aggressively defending them. Now is the time to get money into the pockets of ratepayers. By proposing to fund up to $400,000 of legal expenses to defend large rate increases, you are forcing ratepayers to sue themselves and pay for both sides of the legislation. Come to your senses and scale back your spending and rates. Everyone else is and you should do the same. Chris Wheaton, CPA, CFP® Senior Advisor, Principal [email protected] Direct: 415‐464‐5802 | Client Line: 415‐526‐4380 Directions | https://link.edgepilot.com/s/f1eb4d5a/zh9YHIsz00CC3s_OL8HhsA?u=http://www.lgam.com/ Confidentiality Note: This e-mail is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure.