Editor, Manteca Bulletin, 

Most of the focus has been on PG&E what about the other villains in the story? Our representatives that have been sitting on their hands for years while the California Public Utilities Commission allows PG&E to do whatever they want at the expense in money and lives of the people they have pledged to represent. The problem has been obvious for a long time and still the governor and legislatures past and current do nothing but make a bad situation worse. Bail them out, make it harder for South San Joaquin Irrigation District to take over and put a safety board into the PUC, an organization that has already shown itself to be incapable of oversight.

I would ask that you post the list of representatives that voted for the latest bailout of PG&E. I need to know who not to vote for next time around. A reader recently commented that there is a recall petition for the governor. Can you give any details how we can sign? Our representatives have crossed the line and we need to show our displeasure. I am an independent but if the Republicans can’t turn this fiasco into a bunch of seats in the legislation, then there really is no hope for them (and us?). Not that I expect much would change.

The PUC and Department of Water Resources and probably others seem to be out of control. It is only because the Federal government stepped in that we are not flushing water down our rivers and putting thousands out of work on a plan to save a few fish that most experts agree won’t work anyway even when there are better alternatives that might work. When will we have had enough of this? It is our elected representatives that allow this behavior to continue. Where is the oversight of the overseers?

In addition, why are the shareholders of a bankrupt company getting anything at all? I have worked for a company that has gone bankrupt where I also owned stock and guess how big my dividend was and how much my stock was worth? Why isn’t the guarantee of profit and dividends equal to zero for a while and let any profits fund the P&GE incompetence fund and also be used to make up for the money we have given them already to fix their infrastructure? The shareholders of PG&E should be held accountable for the board of directors and leadership that they put in place. Stockholders in other public companies suffer the consequences for poor leadership. Why not PG&E shareholders? 

Unfortunately, it is also the hard working and competent front-line workers of PG&E who report these problems to their management that also suffer. The leaders that have been allowed to run the company and the PUC that oversees it and our leaders who have done nothing about it have made the whole organization look bad.

Gary Hagensen

Manteca