By Pat Orr
Apple Valley Review
Buried deep in a list of “job killer” bills distributed by the California Chamber of Commerce is a gem we all need to be aware of.
Assembly Bill 1897, which is now law, allows an employee to sue the entity that hired a contractor for wage, hour and workman’s compensation violations.
For example, you hire Dave’s Tree Service to take down that dead scrub oak in the backyard. You saw Dave’s ad in the Pennysaver and he gave you the cheapest bid. During the job one of Dave’s employees complains he is being cheated on hours or perhaps a tree branch hits his leg. Dave has no assets or insurance so Dave’s employee — or more likely the employee’s lawyer — can bypass good old Dave and sue you because you hired Dave.
This makes it almost impossible for anyone to safely hire any service provider who cannot provide proof of employment liability insurance and worker’s comp coverage for their employees.
Hiring anyone “off the street” puts your own home, savings and assets at risk. This is fairly new, but you can bet the attorneys all know about it and so do workers looking for a free payday.
Deadline looms
Speaking of home repair, May 1 is the deadline for active duty and/or vets to apply for a $10,000 “grant” to make “health and safety” repairs to their owner occupied property.
For an application and specifics on what constitutes “health and safety” repairs go to www.HomeStrongUSA.org right away and get more information. This could just be the boost a vet needs to make that bath more accessible or get the house and yard ramped for wheelchair access. If you know anyone who can use this program, pass this information along.
The drought is good
Why is being on the cusp of a record shattering drought in California a good thing? Because it gets lazy, complacent folks to actually spend a second or two thinking about water, where it comes from, where it goes and how it is used, abused and politicized.
More Californians are beginning to wake up to the reality that Governor Sunspot’s billion dollar train to nowhere is using financial resources that should go to the water issue.
Desalinization facilities cannot be built because of rabid coastal environmentalists. Northern Californian politicians will not lift a finger to help stop diverting the millions of gallons a year pouring into San Francisco Bay because they hope the southern part of the state will be forced into a building moratorium and there is a fish somewhere in the bay that needs the water more than your lawn does.
There should be a civil war fought over water in California with the sides divided right down the middle of the state. The coastal counties can keep the ocean and we get the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Colorado River. That seems fair to me. That would mean our side also gets all the farms and agricultural production which is OK, because the Malibu crowd prefers tofu and organic kale grown at home.
Locally we are taking steps for the future by partnering with the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority to help eventually use reclaimed water on our parks and the golf course. We are also lucky that a majority of our town is on septic, not sewers.
There still rages a debate about what the best and cheapest way to recycle water may be. Clearly letting nature do it through the earth filtration system from septic tank to groundwater basin is less expensive, but takes considerably longer than automated filtration and chemical treatments provided by folks like VVWRA. In addition, Mother Earth may not be as good at intercepting some toxins and drugs that seep into the water table as we thought.
The bottom line is that getting everyone “fired up” about water by imposing restrictions and skyrocketing water rates is good for us because it may actually prompt us to think, plan and act.
— Pat Orr is a local business owner, community volunteer and political junkie.