COUNCIL MEETING (4.5 Hours in Closed Session) is a NOTHINGBURGER – Scott O’Neil BLASTS THE CITY ATTORNEY!

June 12, 2025

This is a WIN for the people in Ridgecrest – NOTHING HAPPENED and the lies in Sacramento stand on the record. City Attorney Keith Lemieux Silences Members of The City Council, invoking “Attorney Client Privilege”. Scott O’Neil Demands Accountability, Openness and Transparency: “Do the right thing!”

June 12, 2025 11:07 a.m PST

This post will be updated with the “unlive” video if the City gets around to posting it on their Youtube page before their 3 day weekend. We will keep either version here, whatever the City Clerk does or doesn’t do about it.

June 17, 2025 7:55 p.m. screenshot, City of Ridgecrest YouTube page. This isn’t transparency, it’s a cover-up.

The live feed url was saved here and you can watch the public comments below.

Two members of the community gave public comments before the five and a half hour meeting, and nothing was reported out of the meeting by the City Attorney. This is a WIN for the good guys, and a LOSS for the bad guys. They don’t know it yet.

Will somebody, anybody in this town show some intestinal fortitude and make a simple phone call to the Kern County District Attorney? It’s like calling 911 when somebody steals your car. You have every right to file a complaint verbally or in writing. They even have an officer of the court in Ridgecrest so you don’t have to spend a dime on a postage stamp. Do what’s right.

Daily Independent Op Ed

6/13/2025

A nearly $395 million pipeline might be coming to your backyard, and so might the bill.

In 2024 Clean Energy Capital, a firm with expertise in analyzing water, energy, and infrastructure projects, developed a cost estimate for the proposed Imported Water Pipeline Project by the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA). The Imported Water Pipeline proposes to convey treated water from the AVEK pipeline in California City to a new Terminus Tank in the vicinity of Ridgecrest.

Clean Energy Capital’s estimate? Building this pipeline will cost nearly $395 million, and on top of that, it will cost millions more just to run and maintain it. That’s a heavy financial load for local residents to carry for years to come. Read the entire report here: https://www.iwvwd.com/cec-imported-water-pipeline-project-cost-analysis-61568e9b-f0f4-4a92-96a4-4034b5640739. While some federal funding may be available through the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), it is limited and not guaranteed and even with Federal Grant funding it will cost IWV residents some $18 million every year. Simply put, that will double your water bill and then some.

To make things worse, state legislation, promoted by our local Groundwater Authority seeks to guarantee the construction of this pipeline. The bill would lock in the Groundwater Authority’s current claim for sustainable yield, ignoring newly developed science, paving the way for construction of the pipeline regardless of financial or community concerns.

As leaders from the Ridgecrest Area Association of Realtors, the Indian Wells Valley Economic Development Corporation, and the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce, we’re deeply concerned about how this will drive up the cost of living. Higher water bills mean more expensive housing, tougher times for local businesses, and a hit to the whole economy.

We’re asking everyone to take a hard look at the numbers, think about what this really means for our wallets, and get involved in this conversation. Going ahead without full transparency about the costs? That’s a risk we can’t afford to take.

Ridgecrest Area Association of Realtors Board of Directors

Indian Wells Valley Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors

Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors