Description of myself

This is supposed to be an opportunity to describe myself to readers of my Blog, so here goes.

My name is Bob Thomas.  I’m an electrical engineer and have been a registered professional engineer in the State of Oregon for many years.  I and my wife moved to West Linn in 1989.  Since 1990 I have closely monitored and publicly commented upon the successive city governments of West Linn up to the present.  I believe I would be properly described as a “citizen watchdog” of city government.  I don‘t know of any other person who has so diligently served that role over so many years.

I have done so always from the standpoint of trying to stop the exploitation of West Linn taxpayers and ratepayers by those who want to promote growth through subsidizing local developers at the expense of West Linn tax and ratepayers.  I haven’t always been successful at this, but have always tried to protect and benefit West Linn residents over the years by pointing out attempts to exploit them by the symbiotic confluence of empire building city bureaucrats and development interests.  I’ve often been a sponsor or major participant in initiatives and ballot measures that provided opportunities for West Linn residents to vote in the best interests of the vast majority of the public.

I have also spent a lot of time in familiarizing myself with West Linn’s water system over the years and keeping current with changes to it.  I consequently know therefore when the City is being honest and responsible in the use of available funds for the design, construction, maintenance and repair of major water system components and when it is not being honest and responsible in this regard.  I believe our present council’s ruling majority, consisting of Mayor Kovash and councilors Carson, Jones and Tan are not being honest and responsible in serving the best interests of residents when they stubbornly and foolishly remain wedded to raising monies from tax and ratepayers to fund the unnecessary, oversized and excessively expensive new Water Master Plan adopted in 2008 which claims there is $21 million in supposedly “required” water infrastructure projects to be constructed.  Although not admitted by officialdom, included in those projects are facilities that make possible the provision of capabilities to supply water for urbanized expansion of West Linn into the Stafford Triangle.

If the ruling council majority would instead act responsibly, it would abandon the 2008 Plan and retain the very adequate and much less expensive ($6,914,000 less) 2004 adopted Water Master Plan.  It is perfectly adequate through build out of the City within its present boundaries and deliberately did not include facilities having the capability to provide water to The Stafford Triangle,