The day the circus came to town (FPUD's Dog & Pony Show)

On Dec. 11, the second meeting was held, to a packed crowd, and by now everyone knows the decision FPUD made. (They all must have read Animal Farm by George Orwell.)

The truth is, if FPUD was concerned even remotely about what the citizens of Fallbrook thought, they would have let it be known well in advance before one pipe was put in the ground on Pendleton, as to the total cost of all this, but no, they waited till the 11th hour (so to speak) to say “Sorry, this is how it’s going to be, like it or not.”

It wouldn’t have mattered if there were a million protest letters sent in, by the fact that the work had already been started on Pendleton, it was a done deal. Both meetings were to let the citizens feel they actually could make a difference in the outcome - what a joke that turned out to be, and a waste of time for all since their decision was already made, we just didn’t know it. (So much for community input!)

The comment Mr. Bebee made about living in a “desert area”, if they wanted a loan, to get over it. By the way he stated that you could tell he wanted all this to be over. Then, the new board director, right after Mr. Bebee’s comment, stated “The people were just going to have to adjust.” their spending to pay the new rates, again very poorly answered to the citizens who are already struggling to pay the current rates.

Someone stated we were seeing more and more groves cut down and the ag-industry was going to suffer because of this rate increase, the answer from one of the board members was the “Mexico” avocados were cheap anyways. Well, so much for ag/growth!

We have lived in Fallbrook a long time, and as I drive around town, I see more and more “for sale” signs going up. People can’t continue to pay all these increases, DMV, gas, SDG&E, and now water rates added, and have a good life and save for the future, at least not in Fallbrook.

I hope all those connected with the FPUD board and all board members have a wonderful Christmas. They already got their present. While the rest of us may have to skip Christmas altogether so we can “adjust our spending” for January's bill, that is our Christmas.

I’m disgusted, more than angry, the citizens of this town deserve a better FPUD board than this.

The McCain Family