Brandon's Blog

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Submitted by Alex Brandon on

CSD & Other Stuff... Alex Brandon discusses the Phelan Pinon Hills Community Services District, the Chamber of Commerce, civic affairs, community events and the people that shape them.

Comments

"in the hole"

Alex Brandon's picture
Bill - I do attend the meetings as a concerned citizen, on behalf of the Chamber and as a staff writer for NewsPlus. I have written an article on the CSD in the past five issues. I believe that a rate increase will be pursued in short order. There has been no rate increase for the past three years. As far as being "in the hole" though, the CSD still has twelve of the fifteen million dalloars in reserves it started with upon taking over from the County's special districts. And, althought the board has intentionally budgeted for a deficit in water operations, the real shortfall is in monies for recreation and parks. There is no real source of income for these services, except for what might get set aside from the ad velorum property tax. That is why it will be so important for folks to vote YES ON G on Nov. 8th. Measure G will set the bar higher on the dollar amount the CSD gets from the County each year, corresponding with any raise in property values. It is NOT a new tax, nor an increase in an old one. "G" will simply make sure our communities' share comes back to us. Thank you for your question. - Alex

PPHCSD

Alex Brandon's picture
Hank - Yes, I will be on the ballot Nov. 8th for a seat on the CSD board. My intention is to be informative moreso than political in this forum. But, if someone wants to ask reasonable questions, I will not shy away from them. As you know, I am a writer for the NewsPlus. Up until now, it has not been a conflict. The publisher and I would perhaps have to re-examine this relationship should I be elected, or at least assign me to another "beat". Al Morrissette, who serves on the Wrightwood Firesafe Council with you, has done a fine job of covering community events for another local paper and serving as a Director for the CSD at the same time. Thank you for your question. - Alex

Hey good Alex

neener563's picture
I am so happy to see your blog working here Alex and the friskey banter. This might sound lame but can you have Don contact me.. I cannot seem to post a new topic in any of the forums. I see every instruction on the screen EXCEPT post new topic! thanks.. Keep up the good internet work!

Oh and by the way...

neener563's picture
That silly hat I am wearing in the picture was from a Summer Senior Event, the Ice Cream Social and Funny Hat Contest! Believe it or not, I did not win because there were some pretty Crazy Creations!

Dan Whalen

Alex Brandon's picture
I want to be careful here, for many reasons. Not the least of which is that I can not be 100% certain that Mr. Whalen actually made this post himself. I would be surprised at him questioning my character. Up until now, when asked about him, I have always told others that he seems to be a hard-working, honest, and straightforward kind of guy. I sometimes add that I have only recently become very acquainted with him, and don't really know him that well. I would refer readers to the previous response to the post above by Hank Hallmark, in which I thought I had covered this pretty well. If readers will notice - I have not proactively even mentioned the campaign. I have not posted a picture of my signs, I have only answered questions. I will attempt to direct discussion on this blog to other subject areas, and would recommend one of the forums as a better place for these types of questions.

Pinon Hills Happenings

DanWhalen's picture
Alex I have to ask, do you view your position with this paper and this forum as an unfair advantage in your political campaign? Are you worried how this may reflect upon your character, or does it not bother you?

Measure G on November ballot

Alex Brandon's picture
It is very important that voters in the PPHCSD vote in favor of this measure. It is NOT a new tax or an increase in current taxes. It simply sets a maximum dollar amount, leaving room for growth in property values, of the ad velorum taxes that come back to our communities from the County. The fact is that this first election since the inception of the CSD is when we have to do this by law.

Election topics in Blogs vs. Forums

dfishjr's picture
I am glad to see people interested in the upcoming CSD Election and coming to our website to ask questions. However, The comments for this particular blog post are getting off topic. Alex's original blog was about what kinds of things he is going to talk about from CSD to Community Events. The types of comments he is getting are starting to turn towards the election. He has in fact not said anything about the election, but forced to respond to such questions because they are asked on this blog post. I think it is great that everyone is asking election questions and wanting to be informed. That is in part why we set up the website. I would ask that you post your election related questions to the Forum Page under the CSD Forum. ( http://www.4newsplus.com/forums or click on the Forums Menu Item above) all the candidates have been informed that this is where the discussions should happen and in fact all candidates are registered users on this site and have equal opportunity to respond, comment, discuss, debate etc. etc. Thank you for your understanding!!

Phelan Phun Day

Alex Brandon's picture
Another great Phelan Phun Day! Mostly cooler weather, large crowd, no calls for service from sherriff's or fire departments, and a good time was had by all.

Hey Alex time to update your blog! I am bugging you

neener563's picture
I am really a big fan of keeping this forum alive as you can see by all my postings, I think it is one of the most vital tools I have seen in this Community in a long time, but a forum is only as good as its posters so please, Alex, I know its difficult( ha ha ha ) but TRY to find things to chat about on your blog please. At least you have one reader here! Think of it as a yard sale, nobody wants to stop if it looks dead, but if you see tons of folks riffling through stuff it makes you want to stop.

PPHCSD Nov. 8 Election

Alex Brandon's picture
I did not post here much during the campaign. Now that the election is over, I plan on being more prolific. First of all I would like to thank everyone who supported me, by voting and otherwise, during the campaign and this last Tuesday. Ken Anderson's encouragement was pivotal. Gene Knight's help as Treasurer/Manager was crucial. I can't thank everyone here by name. A partial list of supporters will be up for awhile on my website. I would like to invite everyone to Ken's last meeting (and my first as a Director) on Wednesday, December 7th. We will be honoring his service to the District. Again, thanks and blessings.