Since there is no way for me to directly link this content, and I also wish to keep it for history’s sake, I reproduce it here without permission of Ramona Sentinel or Keith Hansen. If anyone from the Sentinel (or Keith) reads this and wants it taken down, please contact me. I did not write the following editorial; Keith Hansen did at RamonaSentinel.com — I should say that I wholeheartedly agree with the tone and statements made in this editorial. If the water board members did in fact do something “wrong”, then they will be punished for it after investigations. But until then, let’s cut them some slack, and not try to instantly strangle them. Also, most geniuses in Ramona don’t realize that the Ramona Fire Department is actually a department UNDER the water district. Do we really want to affect our firefighters with this mess, too?

A mob mentality seems to be growing around Ramona since the smoke and fire moved out of town.

It seems that some folks are after the hides of Ramona Municipal Water District board members and the general manager. We’ve been fielding phone calls from irate district customers complaining that the district did not have 20/20 foresight, leaving Ramona without water when the electric lines feeding the pumping station in Poway were burned by the Witch Creek Fire.

One may have noticed signs taped to the backs of portable toilets along Main Street that essentially call for the resignations of all board members and the management of the water district. Well, that’s everyone’s right as a paying customer to demand service. It’s also everyone’s right to sit back and gather facts before throwing gas on a fire!

Critics said that board president Bob Krysak was nowhere to be found during the raging inferno. That’s correct. He along with his elderly mother (who is on oxygen) were forced to evacuate with the rest of us.

Director Kit Kissinger lost his house in the blaze, and director Doug Wilsman, who has asthma, left when wind-driven smoke came over his house and it was obvious the fire was coming. Directors Jim Robinson and Red Hager remained in town.

It is our understanding that board members stayed in constant contact with district management.

I’m not sure, but I do believe that the evacuation order given by law enforcement was mandatory for all citizens. Members of the water board were among those of us who where told to get out when the reverse 911 order came.

Now, for those among us so eager to point the finger at these folks and demand their resignation, I’d ask all of you to stop and think for just one moment before you throw the rope over that low-hanging branch to lynch these five citizen board members. First, consider that the fire roared through Ramona like a locomotive bent on killing everyone and everything in its path. No amount of water or flame retardant was going to quench that fire’s lust for fuel.

Second, the board, even if they would have had an emergency meeting in the middle of Main Street while the embers were flying around their heads, it is doubtful they could have forced the fire to stop.

Third, the problem was in Poway. The electrical feed that powers the huge pumps to bring water up the hill was cut off when this demonically driven fire moved down the hill. Even if the board and the general manager had been there 10 seconds prior to or after the fire hit the pumping station, there was nothing that could have been done to pump water up the hill.

Fourth, even if there was fault, however great, is there no more room in our town for giving each other a bit of slack? The board is made up of citizens — just like you and me. I don’t know about you, but I’ve made a mistake or two in my lifetime, and I’d venture to guess so have you.

Finally, if the mob does prevail and the board does resign under pressure and the general manager is forced out of his position, who is going to take their place? Will it be a group of village idiots who have no idea of how a water district is operated or maybe we’ll be lucky and get five people with Ph.D.s who have IQs over 200, but don’t know the first thing about running the water district.

Some have said there was no contingency plan. No alternative source for water. Yup, that’s right. The old back-up source for water was the Barger operation, which was too costly to run and, as I understand it, just plain worn out. The board decided it was too expensive to operate and did not want to saddle district customers with the cost of running an obsolete system. So, they voted not to include the Barger system in this year’s budget.

“Yeah, well they should have known!” has been the outcry from the mob. Well, they like everyone else had not predicted the Santa Ana winds to blow into town last week and spark an inferno that would wipe out the lives of folks from our town.

Let’s focus on those folks who need our support. There’ll be plenty of time for a good lynching after the entire matter has been investigated. If they are negligent, I’m certain we can get a good deal on hanging rope!

Keith Hansen

The pitifulest thing out is a mob; that’s what an army is—a mob; they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s borrowed from their mass, and from their officers. But a mob without any man at the head of it is beneath pitifulness.

Mark Twain