Mailbag: Split undergrounding cost with utility company

Our civic discourse increasingly views most issues through the lens of a zero sum game with a winner-take-all outcome.

In this environment, the contending parties inevitably resort to hyperbole, half-truths and unseemly personal attacks in lieu of rational debate. Such has been the case with the cause of proposed undergrounding of utilities in West Newport Beach, sadly pitting neighbor against neighbor.

The issue is rather simple. Most of us would like to bury unseemly utility wires that pollute our visual landscape. The main questions to be answered are: Who should pay? and How much should we pay?

The current answers to both these questions, codified into statutes and common practice, are totally bizarre.

Who should pay? Currently, the entire burden is borne by all of the homeowners of a duly constituted district on the say-so of 50%, plus 1, of homeowners. Should this tyranny of a bare majority be acceptable in a state where a super-majority is required to pass any tax legislation whatsoever?

And the electrical utility, the telephone company, the cable company and others who pollute our landscape are not required to contribute a cent! How did we ever come to this?

At the very least, the threshold for the establishment of a special utility district that ends up levying large sums of money on unwilling participants should be brought in line with the threshold for increasing taxes at the state level. And there is absolutely no reason why these various utilities should not contribute significantly toward fixing a problem of their making, something to the tune of 50% of the cost, at the very least.

How much should we pay? Currently, we have the absurd situation, where Southern California Edison tells the city what it is going to cost, with no backup other than their say-so. As prudent consumers, we want to assure ourselves that we are not being taken to the cleaners.

I, along with many others, certainly want to bury all the utilities in Newport Beach and get rid of all those ungainly poles. And we are willing to pay our fair share.

However, it all starts with a verifiable cost estimate, with full transparency, not an Edison guesstimate. We are willing to pick up half that verifiable cost, if the benefiting utilities jointly agree to pick up the other half.

We would not presume to impose this cost on our unwilling neighbors, other than through approval by a super-majority, along with well-defined financial assistance for those in need. I am confident that under the above scenario, there will be little acrimony between neighbors, and most proposed undergrounding projects will sail through.

Jamshed Dastur

Newport Beach

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Appreciation for Daily Pilot columnist

Thank you for the articles by Barbara Venezia. I enjoy knowing more about the City Council.

Joanne Overman

Newport Beach