LETTERS CLWA BILL FLAWED, SHOULD BE VETOED.

Assembly Bill 134, to legalize the Castaic Lake Water Agency's purchase of the Santa Clarita Water Co., has several fatal flaws and requires a veto to have this issue revisited and corrected.

When initially introduced, AB 134 was solely intended to allow the Coachella Water District to recover the costs of storing imported water locally for future use. It was a clean bill in that regard.

Without informing the board, some staff and lobbyists of the CLWA managed to get language into the bill to ``legitimize'' CLWA's ability to work as a water retailer. This was done without board review and approval, or any local public review of this issue. CLWA staff and lobbyists managed to even get this bill passed by the Assembly before the CLWA board had any knowledge of the bill's existence. This is a case in which the governing board of an agency was deceived, or at least not informed, about staff and lobbyist efforts to change a fundamental aspect of an agency the board was elected or appointed to govern.

With the momentum of passage through the Assembly, the supporters of AB 134 expected the measure to have clear sailing through the Senate, gain the governor's signature and become law. But once the existence of the bill was finally disclosed, it ran into a buzz saw of opposition.

The bill subsequently was amended eight times in the Senate in an attempt to defuse opposition. None of these amendments involved Coachella, and all involved CLWA as a suckerfish on this bill.

Sometimes amendments clarify and improve a bill. But in this case, the amendments made the bill weaker and more murky. In fact, one amendment was necessary because a prior amendment had boundary lines defined incorrectly. This is but one example of haste and inattention to detail.

It should be understood AB 134 is for the purpose of overturning an appellate court ruling that CLWA acted illegally in acquiring Santa Clarita Water.

The bill is vague. It allows the CLWA to operate with the powers of a county water district, but defines no limits.

It calls for a water management plan that is unenforceable at the state level and relies on the public - at personal expense - to monitor and take action if the CLWA fails to meet deadlines to draft and adopt the plan.

It also establishes a water users committee to review the management plan, but the committee has no authority.

This is bad law and deserves an emphatic veto.

- Robert Lathrop

Newhall

Many bus drivers incompetent, uncaring

I have not taken public transportation since I was a kid in Chicago, some 40-plus year ago.

However, I happened to read your recent letters to the editor and felt compelled to reply.

I strongly agree with your letter writers on the subject of the Santa Clarita bus drivers. I feel for the average citizen who uses public transportation. I think that many of the drivers are misplaced, incompetent and uncaring of the public and its needs.

In today's times, they should be grateful that they have a well-paying job that requires very little skill and not much effort.

I carried troops in my truck in the military many years ago with honor, so I am sensitive to the drivers' complaints.

- William Kaufmann

Canyon Country