UPDATE: Letter to CalTrans Bullies!

Flutterby

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It is getting good now folks!!!!

"Restore the Delta Calls on CalTrans to Stop Confiscating "Save the Delta! Stop the Tunnels!" signs

Stop acting like bullies and interfering with the rights of Delta residents

Sacramento, CA - Restore the Delta today released a letter to the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) to cease confiscating "Save the Delta! Stop the Tunnels!" signs displayed by Delta land and business owners. Restore the Delta refuted CalTrans' assertion that the signs are illegal, and called on Gov. Brown to stop using CalTrans to silence critics of his proposed Peripheral Tunnels, and to order CalTrans crews to cease removing the signs from private property.

"We are outraged that the Brown Administration is trampling the rights of business and land owners who have posted signs on their property opposing the Peripheral Tunnels," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. "State government officials are acting like bullies and are interfering with the rights of Delta residents to state how they feel about Governor Brown's plan to build the twin tunnels which will destroy their homes, their businesses, Bay area and coastal fisheries, and the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of the Americas.

"CalTrans did not follow the required process about notifying people to move signs if CalTrans believed they were not located properly. CalTrans does not have the right to enter private property to remove signs without following the legal process described in the Business and Professions Code.

"Delta residents were threatened by CalTrans employees with huge $10,000 fines. CalTrans told Restore the Delta that residents could be fined if their signs were not 660 feet from the public right of way.

"CalTrans does not enforce these same requirements up and down Hwy 99, H146, and I-5, where the water-takers post signs about wanting even more water at the expense of the Delta. The law is not enforced equally throughout the state -- one standard for the Delta, one standard for mega growers in Westlands, Semitropic and Kern County water districts. This unequal treatment of Delta residents under the law mirrors how water quality and quantity laws for the Delta are ignored by the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Water Resources, and the Delta Stewardship Council -- all to benefit Westside San Joaquin Valley mega-growers.

"Who decided that our signs needed to be confiscated? Is the Delta now fully under the 'control' of the State of California that they can dictate to private land and business owners?" said Barrigan-Parrilla. "

www.restorethedelta.org
 
"Update on Caltrans' removal of signs in the Delta

Osha Meserve, counsel for Local Agencies of the North Delta (LAND), has sent a letter to Caltrans in Rio Vista with a Notice to Cease and Desist Removal of Signs in the Delta. The letter notes that:

Caltrans has been inconsistent in citing applicable codes, sometimes claiming that signs had to be more than 660 feet from the public roadway and other times claiming that they had to be more than 14 feet away;
Caltrans has not provided landowners or Restore the Delta with citations for the legal authority behind the 14 foot ruling;
Caltrans has been inconsistent in categorizing the signs, sometimes calling them outdoor advertising and other times political signs;
Caltrans has selectively removed "Save the Delta!Stop the Tunnels!" signs, leaving announcements of other kinds in place;
Caltrans has violated statutory enforcement provisions by removing signs without giving property owners notice;
Caltrans has exceeded its authority by threatening residents with fines up to $10,000;
Caltrans has entered private property to remove signs, which constitutes trespass;
Delta residents are engaging in protected political speech.

This is all particularly galling to those of us who for several years have been driving past much larger signs in the southern San Joaquin Valley with messages such as "Congress-Induced Drought" and "Save Jobs! The Politicians Created Water Crisis!" The fact that those signs have remained untouched is the most blatant example we've seen of the power imbalance between southern San Joaquin Valley agriculture and the Bay-Delta.

Restore the Delta has been advised by consulting attorneys to wait at least ten business days for a response from Caltrans.Depending on their response to LAND's letter, we will decide on our next steps."

WWW.RESTORETHEDELTA.ORG
 
I've always liked how those the "congress created dust bowl" signs are on a dry plot of land. There are of course other plots nearby that are irrigated, but the one with the sign is dry. I've always been tempted to bring a can of spray paint and replace "Congress" with "Nature" since Congress had nothing to do with the fact that they chose to farm in an arid area that doesn't have enough local water to support their crops.
 
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