Presentation was made on behalf of the FAC
To the editor:
A recent article which appeared in this paper headlined: “Stewart requests apology, threatens lawsuit” written by reporter Drew Winchester contained the following statement: “City Spokeswoman Connie Barron said Grosso was presenting the information ‘on his own behalf as a citizen.'” She also stated:
“Plus, he is a volunteer board member, and he would not be covered for legal representation for comments he makes as a volunteer,” Barron wrote in an email. “Also, the mayor alluded to the fact that while council might not turn the information over the DOJ (Department of Justice), that would not preclude Mr. Grosso from turning it over as a private citizen.”
With all due respect to Ms. Barron and her opinion, I want to correct the record. If she examines the Agenda for the meeting in which I made a presentation to the other members of the Financial Advisory Committee, she would find scheduled for discussion an item identified as “DISCUSSION ON UNITS VERSUS CONNECTIONS MEMO.”
My presentation was all about that topic and how data was reported as “Connections” when it was actually “Equivalent Residential Units” which was a much larger number. The city told Tetra Tech to use its data and said to Tetra Tech: “It is agreed and understood that the accuracy and veracity of said information and data may be relied upon by Engineer without independent verification of the same.” I made the presentation to show that the Connections data was but one of many things submitted to justify building facilities not needed at a huge cost to the ratepayers of our city. I think Ms. Barron and this newspaper should correct the record.
Sal Grosso
FAC Member