Community Corner

Ex-Sanitary District GM Had Been Wanting to Blog For Awhile

In Brett Richards' so-called Ross Valley Sewer Truth blog, the former sanitary district GM writes that there was a movement among the board members opposed to upgrading the district's infrastructure.

 

Brett Richards’ blog may appear to some as a knee-jerk reaction to a series of events surrounding the former Ross Valley Sanitary District general manger’s abrupt resignation in July.

But for Richards, who registered the blog’s domain in December 2011, the so-called "Ross Valley Sewer Truth" had been long in the making.

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“I considered the blog for some time, but decided that doing it while employed just wasn't wise,” Richards wrote in an e-mail to Patch. “So I did nothing, until...”

Until Richards’ use of a district-funded $350,000 housing loan was questioned. Until Richards’ he resigned and the Marin District Attorney launched an investigation into use of the housing loan.

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Until no one knew where Richards’ was.

Richards’ blog initially seemed to be telling the complete story of Richards’ time at the district in chronological order. The first two posts focused on his recruitment and first day on the job.

But at the end of last week, Richards posted “Why I resigned July 25,2012.” 

Richards’ swears that everything in his blog is factual.

“Now, I'm telling the truth about what I experienced,” he wrote in an e-mail to Patch. “And when I make myself available, I'll be willing to polygraph to all of it. Will the others?”

In his post on his resignation, Richards wrote about a group of people who worked against efforts to improve the sewer district and “attacked everything.”

But Richards' post is full of attacks at RVSD board members and Marin Independent Journal writers while he outlines his frustrations with what he felt was a movement among the board members that was against upgrading the districts infrastructure. 

Local officials mentioned in the blog don't seem too phased Ross Valley Sewer Truth, which is getting updated every couple of days. 

Jason Dow, the manager of the Central Marin Sanitation Agency who, told the Marin Independent Journal that the things Richards wrote about him on the blog don't bother him. 

"I've heard it before. It's all kind of regurgitated," Dow said. "I'm kind of desensitized to Brett Richards."

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