Los Osos Citizen’s Anecdote Cuts to the Heart of Sewer Debate

‘We’re going to make a sewer system so expensive that it would drive the riff-raff out of town.’

During Public Comment at the April 30th Planning Commission hearing, Los Osos resident Jack Hunter spoke about the issue of cost and illustrated his point with a personal anecdote. He told a story about a former neighbor’s cheerful explanation of the benefits of building a big-city megasewer in Los Osos that few could afford. Following is a transcription of Mr. Hunter’s comments telling the tale:

“The elephant in the room that’s not being addressed… is the cost,” Hunter prefaced his remarks.

“I moved to Los Osos in the early ’90s and rented for several years. I had a neighbor there and we became acquaintances and then I bought my own house in another part of the town. I did not see that neighbor again for many years until just a couple of years ago. I don’t believe he understood that I was still living in Los Osos and so I asked him how the rental business was going. He told me that he had sold most of his rentals and I asked him if he had retired. He said, ‘No, no, I’m just preparing for what’s to come.’”

“So I asked what that was and he says, ‘Well, we’re going to make a sewer system so expensive that it would drive the riff-raff out of town. The beauty of it, he said, is they’ll all be forced to sell at the same time because of the price of – not just the sewer but – the water that will be priced upwards as well. That will put all their properties on the market at the same time. That will reduce the price. ‘We’ll buy those properties for a sum, we’ll scrape those cottages, we’ll recombine the lots and we’ll build mansions for the L.A. and San Francisco equity refugees.’”

“He was very proud of how it was all going to work,” Hunter recalled.

“I was shocked, of course, because I realized I only have a middle-class job. I’m part of the riff-raff,” he concluded.