Wading In

May 24, 2012 | Your CASA is not my CASA Posted by Kelvin Wade The two columns I wrote recently on junkets taken by Fairfield and Suisun City council members have been well-received by the public. People want accountability from their elected officials. Unfortunately, there has been unintended fallout for a local nonprofit organization. The organization that runs the conferences that local council members have attended is the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. Unfortunately, many readers have erroneously contacted CASA of Solano County, which is the Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and/or neglected children. Executive Director Candy Pierce notified me last week about the mixup after receiving numerous calls from people upset about the junkets. It’s easy to see how the mistake was made, given both organizations have the same acronym, CASA. I regret the error. While the California Association of Sanitation Agencies runs the conferences at posh resorts that ...

May 16, 2012 | Domestic violence a continuing scourge Posted by Kelvin Wade It’s a shame that the only video I have of my deceased brother Ken is a grainy one, filmed by our dad on Thanksgiving 1989 as he “interviews” Ken and his girlfriend. While Ken makes jokes and his girlfriend jokes that he’s “hardheaded” and “crazy,” you can see the underlying tension. (It is this video that I shared with Ken’s girlfriend’s son a year ago so he would have video of his mother.) I knew their relationship was chaotic. But what I couldn’t foresee was that in six months they’d both be dead by his hand. According to information by SafeQuest Solano, an organization that provides domestic violence prevention education and support services for victims of violence, in the past two years, 20 men and women in Solano County died as a result of domestic violence. Five of them were murder-suicides that left a dozen children behind. I don’t know if the numbers really describe the extent of this problem. When I...

May 10, 2012 | Suisun City loves junkets, too Posted by Kelvin Wade Last week, I wrote about junkets some Fairfield City Council members have taken in their role as members of the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District board to conferences held by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. This week, I’m taking a look at the Suisun City Council’s junkets. Accompanying Fairfield Mayor Harry Price and Rick Vaccaro on the trip to CASA’s conference at the luxurious J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa in January was Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez, at a cost of $1,974.95, Councilman Sam Derting at 1,682.37, and Mike Segala at $1,594.50. Last year, Councilman Mike Hudson, who has not gone on any CASA-related junkets this year, racked up $8,870.39 in CASA trips. Sanchez spent $6,004.97 on CASA conferences. Derting spent $6,799.86 while Segala spent $4,064,80. Since being on the board, Sanchez has spent $16,619.56 while Derting has spent $34,413.33. Mike Segala has totaled $26,855.04...

May 02, 2012 | Daily Republic Not wild about Harry’s junkets Posted by Kelvin Wade Palm Desert lies approximately 512 miles south of here. Only .02 square miles of the 27-square-mile city is made up of water. Some of that water finds its way through the J.W. Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa. This gorgeous luxury hotel, with two golf courses, tennis courts, four pools and a nightclub, has cascading waterfalls in its lobby and gondolas to take guests through the resort’s waterways. In January, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies conference was there. Mayor Harry Price attended the conference and you picked up the tab to the tune of $1,587.04. Councilman Rick Vaccaro also attended at an expense of $1,459.65. I recently obtained expense records of the Fairfield Suisun Sewer District Board. The board is made up of the Fairfield and Suisun City city council members. For now I’m just focusing on Fairfield. I’ll deal with Suisun City next week. Last year, Mayor Price’s sewe...