Last week to protest.

Last week to write in a protest letter to keep your sewer rates from increasing. If you are a Milpitas resident and you not happy that the sewer rates are going from $426 to $558 in three years, then you better get in your written protest letter before May 3 at 5 pm.  Milpitas has the highest sewer rates then any other city in Santa Clara county. This is a very regressive tax on the residents of Milpitas. I have head that some people can barely afford the utility rates as they are today.

See the March blog called Vote form to get a form letter and send it in before May 3 or mail it in before May 1. Time is running out.

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Kathleen Phalen, city engineer on sewer rates.

Kathleen Phalen is the person to contact for any question concerning water and sewer rates.
Phone her at 408 586-3345 or email her at kphalen@ci.milpitas.ca.gov to get the new sewer rate info go to ci.milpitas.ca.gov go to happening now. Meeting about sewer rates on April 21 6:30 at the senior center at 40 North Milpitas Blvd.

Here are a few questions to ask.

1. Why are Milpitas sewer rates the highest in Santa Clara county.
2. Why are multifamily family sewer rates lower.
3. What is considered a Multifamily resident? Are condominiums single or multifamily residents ?
4. Why does it take 8500 protests votes to stop a rate increase when not one person is in favor of the rate increase.
5. Why are single family rates are going to increase from $426 to $558 a year and multifamily rates increase only from $304 to $313 a year.  

Pay to play

Have you ever wondered why a resident of Milpitas has only 3 minutes give a talk before the city council meetings and companies have all the time they want? The reason is they pay for the privilege by contributing to the council members in campaign contributions. Most residents don't pay for campaign contributions they just pay the council members their salaries. Do you think the council members care about the people who are paying their salaries? Of course not. When there is a hot topic and more then 30 citizens what to speak, well then their time to speak is cut down to maybe one and a half minutes. So Milpitas residents are really second class citizens. The city council member get paid about $180.00 an hour for about 100 hours of work a year. If they had to work another hour then there pay would be only $178.22 an hour and of course they would get home an hour later maybe. The council members will tell you that they are doing you a favor by reducing the time you speak on an issue. The way they present it is by saying something like this  

"In order to hear everyone who wants to talk city council  members will reduce your time to speak"

They will quickly vote on the motion to reduce your time to speak and it is quickly approved by the majority of council member. Armando Gomez will introduce the motion and Debbie Giordano will second the motion( in less then a second) then other members Althea Polanski and Pete McHugh will approve it. If they had their way they would not want to hear what you have to say at all, just pay their salary and benefits and please be quiet and go away after 3 minutes or less.