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Pastimes : The California Energy Crisis - Information & Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (40)	2/19/2001 10:14:44 PM
From: Geof Hollingsworth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1715

Hi Ray, Good article, but misses a few important points about how we got here to begin with and who should be metaphorically hung for it. For that, you won't get any coverage out of the major California dailies-they are either busy helping in the rewriting of history or at least trying to keep us from thinking about it. The only remotely complete analyses I have seen were in the NY Times in late January and, a little more pointed (and enjoyable) in the following (and related links): sfbg.com I disagree with those who say we shouldn't look for scapegoats in this mess. As long as the people who got us here are still running things, they will spend time trying to cover things up instead of taking decisive action. I suspect that explains the total lack of leadership on this issue from any perspective. Where are the boards of PG&E and SoCal Edison, and why haven't they fired their bumbling CEO's? Are the voters in San Diego going to make Steve Peace get a real job in the private sector? And did you see the move made by our vaunted governor in filling the open position at the PUC? In this time of government-created crisis, you would expect that the appointee would have some or all of the following characteristics: 1. Someone smart, a clear "big-brain" with the ability to synthesize detail quickly and act decisively.; 2. Someone articulate, charismatic, able to swing people to support solutions which will, inevitably, entail shared sacrifice; 3. Someone independent and apolitical, both for the reality and the perception of fair-dealing rather than butt-covering; 4. Someone with at least a smattering of background in the utilities industry or in the economics of utility regulation. My model for the person to lead us out of the mess would be Felix Royhatan (sp?), who salvaged NYC after its brush with bankruptcy. So who did the Gov. pick? An individual with a long and not particularly distinguished career in the public defender's office in San Francisco. Huh, I sense you are saying? Well, it turns out he is also the nephew of former Governor Pat Brown, and as a result is unlikely to make waves for the current gov. He is also unlikely to do any good. Most comical of all, in the SF Comical story about the most recent Plan de Jure one of the legislators quoted was none other than Don Peratta, the architect of the deal to bring the Raiders back to Oakland which was supposed to be no-cost to the taxpayers but in reality looks to cost them well in excess of $100 million. With guys like these helping us, there are dark days ahead, pun intended.