Of course that is great news if you are hopeful for positive economic development and/or simply believe in private property rights in Mohave County. However, I wanted to blog a bit about a different article that appeared the day before, this one actually. Below are my favorite parts...
KINGMAN - Two Mohave County residents who hoped to participate in Arizona Corporation Commission's Line Siting Committee's review of the Hualapai Valley Solar project Tuesday morning were disappointed.
HVS is asking for a certificate of environmental compatibility for its proposed 340-megawatt concentrated solar power plant to be built about 27 miles north of Kingman near Red Lake.
Residents Denise Bensusan and Susan Bayer filed to become interveners in the committee process in December. An intervener is allowed to call and cross-examine witnesses as well as present testimony to the commission.
You know that every now and then I have a beef with the editor of the Miner, he calls people fed up with federal waste and spending racists and gets his young writers in trouble with readers for ridiculous headlines, and once again another crappy headline. Notice above from the article is starts out by saying 'Two Mohave County residents'... yet the headline says 'Residents denied part in solar plant review'. The headline makes it sound as if ALL residents were denied the chance to speak in front of the Line Siting Committee... and I'm sure it was done on purpose.
Okay, back to the good stuff...
On Tuesday morning, both women were questioned as to why they wanted to become interveners.
Both said they were concerned about the impact the proposed solar plant would have on their community, the wildlife and the water table in the area.
"This is our neighborhood, our backyard," Bensusan said.
No... for the 1,000th time, it is NOT your backyard. You don't own it... never have -- never will.
I have to tell you, the reader, that over the years that the two women in this article have been appearing at government meetings to 'intervene' with private property rights in Mohave County I have been told many times about the property that one of them owns (not that I have ever cared one way or the other -- I've never written about it and won't here either). I will share only this, the location is out in unincorporated county area which likely means she has a well -- and the well does not have an imposition such as a meter on it -- which likely means she has rights to the water (from some aquifer) under her land. Yet here she always is, telling other private property owners what they can and can't do... yes of course it is silly.
Once again, unless your metes and bounds happen across the particular 4,000 acres or so in question where the solar field will be located -- AND -- your name is on that legal description... IT IS NOT IN YOUR BACKYARD!!
Committee member Gregg Houtz asked if both women had participated in the approval process at the county level.
Both said they had, but they felt that their voices were not heard.
Priceless... oh their voices are always heard, but there is a difference between hearing and listening.
Committee member Barry Wong made a motion to approve intervener status for the two residents. The motion failed for the lack of a second.
Chairman John Foreman told Bensusan and Bayer that because the motion failed, they would not be able to act as interveners, but they would be allowed to testify before the committee at a later time.
Again headline writer at the Miner... notice 'two residents'.
Also... I wish I was there for those precious moments.
"I feel that eliminating both of us is defeating the meaning of the (line siting) process. The community has a lot to say about what's happening in their neighborhood," Bensusan said.
Since when have these two women been considered the community?? What have they done and accomplished to earn the right to speak for the community?? Sure, I'll always support their right to speak for themselves (I love the entertainment), but dern it I'm tired of them pretending to speak for something more than their imagination.
last one...
"You have not been eliminated from this process," Foreman said. The two residents would have the opportunity to submit comments and evidence into the record for consideration by the committee, he said.
The committee has had previous experiences with residents wanting to act as interveners; some have been able to act as interveners very well, others have not, he said.
And the committee spoke to which category these two would have fallen.
See folks, this is the type of stuff that I have come to miss about being in Mohave County on a more regular basis. I used to be sarcastic in promoting these events as entertainment, saying that for the money it was the best form of entertainment (at least in Kingman) around. But basically '/sarcasm off' these days as this here is good entertainment. For realzzzz!!
Next step for the HVS solar project is a date in March with the Arizona Corporation Commission. Hopefully the lights will remain green along the way. Respecting private property rights and expanding the tax base in Mohave County will pay off for the community, no I'm not speaking for the community when I say that... just a prediction.
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