City representatives and the local media have done a good job making everyone believe the debate we are having in Paso Robles is over water. It is not. It is and always has been about the law and our Constitutional rights as citizens.

The rules, regulations, and guidelines in place to finance such projects as the one underway are not ambiguous. The constitution of the State of California has been amended to spell out the procedure to this kind of project. If our representatives had used the legal procedure from the beginning, if the public agreed, funding could have been in place by now and the project would be done responsibly.

There is no reason to allow this plan to be forced through. All the other infrastructure can be added once the citizens have been allowed a voice. If we lose this opportunity to insist the City Council follows the rules, we will not only be saddled with 300-percent-higher rates, but it will reinforce their attitude that the way to get things done in the future is to force their will on the citizens, a further erosion of our constitutional rights. Once our rights are gone we won’t get them back.