Critics file complaint against YC's Ramirez

With protest ballots still being counted, members of a Hillcrest citizens group say they've filed an ethics complaint against Yuba City Mayor Rory Ramirez.

Ramirez denies he did anything wrong in sending a letter to Hillcrest Water System users earlier this month that included postcards giving people the option to withdraw their protests.

Yuba City is proposing a $19.80 monthly surcharge for 4,000 residents to pay for a storage tank and part of a 30-inch pipe connecting the Hillcrest region to the city's surface water plant.

The connection and surcharge is being proposed after Hillcrest well water showed arsenic levels higher than federal standards allowed during part of last year.

Critics say its a bid to pay for a pipe needed for development, and the city could connect the area more cheaply with less costly connections.

In the complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, members of Murky Waters, a citizens group opposing the surface connection and surcharge, said Ramirez violated state law by sending the letter in an "attempt to influence the vote on the Proposition 218 tax issue."

Ramirez sent a letter dated Aug. 8 to Hillcrest customers, saying canvassers going door-to-door in the neighborhood gathering protests were misrepresenting facts on the city's wishes to switch the area to surface water.

Murky Waters claimed the letter violated FPPC regulations governing mass mailings sent out with public funds.

The group also said a flier distributed by the city violated the same rules because it included a note from Ramirez, along with his photo and signature.

Ramirez said Wednesday he "categorically denies" any violation occurred.

"I've made it known in public I'm not running for re-election, so I don't believe I have violated any code related to that letter or that flier that (Murky Waters is) referencing," Ramirez said.

FPPC spokesman Roman Porter said he would be able to confirm today if the commission had received the complaint.

The commission would have 14 days from the date the complaint is received to tell Murky Waters how it plans to proceed, Porter said.

The count of protests is expected to be completed sometime today at City Hall, City Clerk Terrel Locke said.

The remaining ballots not yet counted have questions about signatures or will come down to a judgment call about whether they are valid or not, Locke said.

The City Council meets Friday at 3 p.m. in City Hall to review the results.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Robert LaHue at 749-4713 or rlahue@appealdemocrat.com