I've got a money-saving idea, SLO 

It’s so wonderful to know Carrie Mattingly, SLO’s utilities director, does “a little jig inside” whenever somebody says, “Oh! I love San Luis Obispo, you’re so lucky to live there!” That’s the news on page 1 of the latest edition of Resource, a four-color, slick propaganda flyer mailed regularly by the city to its residents.

On the back cover we are told, “Come in, We’re Open,” just in case your day went poorly and on one of four days in May you want to stop by the utilities department for a friendly chat prior to heading home from work.

Inside Resource we learn that due to “outstanding leadership by the City Council and diligent work by City staff,” our water and sewer rates are going up again. And again. And again.

The thing even more annoying than the content of Resource is how it’s financed. Our “broke” city can continue to write, publish, and mail this expensive ad-agency-concocted tripe because water users have its cost (estimated at about $25 per year per recipient) added onto their water bills.

How about before the city raises utility rates again it terminates Resource and passes the savings on to water customers? Shouldn’t the city do its part to cut waste and excess in its operations rather than just pass those costs along to its captive customers?

-- Richard Schmidt - San Luis Obispo

-- Richard Schmidt - San Luis Obispo