Letter Back from Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee

Letter From CA Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee

07-08-10 Letter

Dear Assemblyman Blakeslee, Congresswoman Capps, , Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer, Congressman Bartlett and respective Staffs,

This letter is to inform you of an unfortunate, illegal, and underhanded situation, and to ask for assistance and direction in how best to proceed. I am a former employee of Creek Environmental Labs in San Luis Obispo, which was acquired by Frederick, Maryland based Centauri Labs as of April of this year. Centauri shut down the California lab Thursday, July 1^st.

It should be noted that I have worked part-time for Creek/Centauri for about six months. As scheduled part-time, I was not working Thursday, when the staff was brought in for a conference call with the corporate office in Maryland, announcing the closure. At this time, I was at Disneyland, celebrating my recent engagement with my fiancé. She gets a call from one of my co-workers, telling her that I do not have to come to work on Friday. To this date, I have received no formal termination notice from Centauri.

Friday, the day after the staff was told to close down, was the regularly scheduled pay day. Nothing was deposited into my checking account. I can not contact anyone in the Maryland office to find my paycheck. Additionally, I was not given a final paycheck for the time work the week up until the closure. This is also the case for the other fourteen individuals that were put out of work that day. Our phone calls and certified letters go ignored. KSBY and the SLO Tribune have done pieces on the way that Centauri has closed. Individually, the staff is prepared to submit claims for wages with the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. I worry that because Centauri no longer operates in California, any claim from a state agency will be useless. If there is an appropriate agency that has jurisdiction in Maryland, please let me know where to proceed.

Additionally, the sudden closure left us with no time to secure the lab. Experiments were ordered to be halted mid way through. As a full-service environmental analysis lab, there are a lot of potentially dangerous chemical substances that are not secured. Barely functioning fume hoods are all that have controlled open containers of hazardous materials and waste, acids, solvents, and bacterial pathogens. I am incredibly worried about the threats posed by Centauri and the manner in which they closed this facility. I anticipate that the power will be shut off, leaving the fume hoods useless and allowing an unknown number of chemicals to mix and react. Furthermore, I fear that the property owner or someone else not familiar with chemicals, hazardous materials and waste, or acids, will enter the facility to clean it out. Any lack of knowledge could easily result in disaster if the wrong chemicals are mixed, or if wastes are improperly sent to the septic tank. I implore that you ask work with the USEPA and CAEPA to ensure that this threatening situation does not harm individuals or the critical environmental resources located nearby.

In summary, I am asking for help in getting due pay for me and my co-workers. Additionally, I hope that you can contact the appropriate agencies to ensure that the facility is secured and no longer a threat to health and environment. Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information.

Sincerely,

Philip Dutton

And what about what got left inside there...?

Dear Fire Chief Callahan,

I am writing as a former employee of Creek Environmental Lab (bought out by Centauri Labs April 1st). Please be advised that Centauri Labs' SLO lab was shut down abruptly as of July 1st. We were given no notice, no pay, and were unable to secure the chemicals before being locked out of the building. I believe that there is an eminent threat that exists, due to the unsecured containers of solvents, hazardous materials and wastes, acids, and other flammable and reactive material.

If you need to contact anyone representing Centauri, you will only be able to find someone in their corporate office in Maryland--try (240) 575-7300. We have been getting ignored when attempting to contact them. Perhaps you will have better luck.

Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. I hope this situation can be resolved without harm to human or environmental health.

Sincerely,

Philip Dutton


~~~~~~~~~~~~
Response Below
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for contacting us with this information. By copy of this
reply, I am passing it along to the City Fire Marshal and Haz Mat
Coordinator for followup.


John W. Callahan
Fire Chief
City of San Luis Obispo
2160 Santa Barbara Avenue
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

I would like my pay, please.

My job at the lab suddenly shut down last Thursday. No one has gotten pay that was due that Friday, or for the week of the closure. This is the certified letter that I sent to Joe Hernandez and Betty Rose of Centauri Labs.


Centauri Pay Me Please

The Truth

Dear Officer ____ (sorry, didn't catch the name on your badge),

I just wanted to write you a note to say 'Thank you' for coming to our house to talk with us this evening.  Phil and I didn't really know what course of action to take, and you certainly cleared things up for us.

When we heard a knock on our door whilst making dinner, we weren't really expecting Stacy to be standing on the other side.  But when Phil opened the door, alas, there she was, red-eyed and bleach-blonde as ever.  She stared at us through eyes that can only be described as empty, saying "Just wanted to say thanks for keeping such a good eye on my house while I was gone.  Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to return the favor."

Points: 1) We didn't know she was gone. We did no watching. We try to ignore her. 2) Did someone break into her house or something? 3) Was that a threat?

Phil said a quick and cheery "Thank you!"  I, being more suspicious of Stacy, said "What?"  But she walked away and closed her door.  Daisy got some good barks at Stacy's evil cat, and we closed the door.  Standing in silent shock for a moment, Phil and I contemplated the meaning of Stacy's message.

Was Stacy being sincere in her attempt at friendly-neighborness?  Or did we just get served with a passive-aggressive Stacy threat?... Hmmm.   No way to be sure.  Suddenly our crazy neighbor's unpredictability may have turned from ignorable to potentially dangerous.  And since Stacy has previously accused us of aiding and abedding intruders breaking into her house, we decided to let the police decide the true meaning of Stacy's words.

Thank you, officer, for helping us understand the truth about our neighbor.  In fact, you didn't even need us to explain the situation to you.  The first thing you told us was that the SLO police department indeed knows who Stacy is.  In fact, on the way over to our house, you said you were trying to figure out where you had heard her name before.  Then you apparently received a text message from another officer who heard about the call to remind you that she's well-known.  You looked her up in the system and were reminded that Stacy is indeed under constant surveillance not only by the department, but by the anti-drug task force.

You told us that Stacy is a meth addict.  That people from the drug task force stake out her house, waiting to catch her when she's high as a kite, or carrying.  And according to your records, whenever she calls the police on one of her drug-induced paranoid rants, she usually gets arrested and goes to jail.  But despite the fact that she's addicted to methamphetamines and has been for quite some time, she's never had a violent history.

Sooo... thanks for the reassurance.  We has a suspicion that she did (lots of) drugs at some point, but it's good to know a little more about the situation.  And, you told us about a anonymous "welfare check" we could call in to have an officer come out and see what kinds of crazy things she is doing.  This may come in handy the next time she needs to bang on every wall in her house, or when she decides to more furniture around at 3 in the morning.  At least our lives (probably) aren't in jeopardy!

Anyways, thanks for the Truth.  We capitalize the Truth because it is an epic Truth, one which we will heed in our future interactions with our meth-head neighbor.

Cheers,
Maggie and Phil

Vitamin D

Stacy,

Sunblock.

Sincerely,

Philip

Chronicles of Stacy, Part II

Continuation of a previous post, chronicling the history of our interactions with our crazy neighbor Stacey.


Dear Stacy,

The day we knew you had mental problems, February 2010
Myself and a group of my good friends were having a nice evening together making dinner and getting ready for our Twilight marathon.  The guest list: myself and my good friends Giulia, Ashley, and Kim.  On the menu: baked marinated salmon, salad, cous cous, and homemade cornbread.  For desert, Grandma's famous chocolate cake with strawberries, and strawberry shortbread fixings with vanilla ice cream a la mode.  On the entertainment menu: the first and second installation of the Twilight movies, enhanced by a widescreen HDTV.  The forecast for the evening was light-hearted and jovial... it was going to be a great night.  Until, while we were preparing dinner, waiting for AShley to join us...

BANG BANG BANG...

Me, in the kitchen with Giulia and Kim:  Oh, sweet!  That must be Ashley.  Giulia, can you go get the door?

Giulia: Sure!  *walks around the corner to open the door*

(in the background, I hear some words, and a slam of a door)

Giulia:  Uhh... Maggie!  Can you come here please!  Your neighbor....

As I walked around the corner to see what was going on, I find Giulia looking at me with a surprised (VERY surprised) look on her face.  Also, she's holding what appears to be a vacuum cleaner (note: not my vacuum cleaner).  Apparently, YOU, Stacy, found it essential at that moment to knock on our door and SHOVE a vacuum cleaner at my unsuspecting guest.  Fortunately, I had told Giulia about many of your "special" qualities and sketchy escapades.  But she hadn't until that moment seen it for herself.  As she stood there holding the vacuum cleaner...

Giulia:  You neighbor just put this on my feet and told me, 'Take it, just take it.'  And then she left and slammed her door.

Knowing that your crazy requires immediately, intentional reaction, I took the vacuum cleaner from Giulia's hands, banged on your door, and loudly reminded your that "THIS IS NOT OURS!"  The vacuum cleaner stayed outside like that for several hours, but I imagine that at some point you took it back in your animal-print laden house.  I have not seen the vacuum to this day... and I can't imagine what kind of fate it met.

You throw strange things in our backyard, April 2010
Stacy, why do you throw things in our backyard? Just because your paranoia makes you think that people come into your yard and mess with your artifacts, does not mean that we want those items in our yard as well.  The most recent item we found was a small metal carabiner.  Since we didn't know if you wanted it back, we put it out on our front stoop so that you could retrieve it if so desired.  A few hours later, Phil and I opened our front door to find the carabiner missing... or so we thought.  In fact, upon closer inspection, we found the carabiner under our door mat.  But not alone.  Along with the carabiner was a strange curved piece of metal... possibly a fancy shower curtain hanger?  Thank you for the thought, but we don't really have a use for the strange metal objects that you put under our door mat or throw into our backyard.

So, we put the metal pieces out in plain view again, in case you wanted them back. And of course, a few hours later, they were gone.  Glad you found a use for your metal objects.  Please stop giving us shit, even if your intentions are good (which I assume they are not).

Today, you revved your car engine at me, May 2010
Today, while I was putting my stuff in my car to go to school, I heard a loud engine sound coming from the opposite end of the parking lot.  As I looked up, I recognized your car taking the curve of the lot a little too fast.  To avoid a potential confrontation when you parked in your space next to mine (or should I say, when you park your car across TWO spaces at a 45 degree angle like a maniac driver), I quickly put my things away, and started to close the door.  I looked up at you to ensure we would avoid contact with one another, to see you staring at me with a pretty hostile look on your face.  I suspected that maybe it was the reflection in your windshield, or maybe just the fact that you always look like that, but neverless I was frigtened.  I suppose you also did not want to talk to me, which is why you abruptly increased your speed and revved your car engine at me as you proceeded to drive like a crazy women through the parking lot at easily 30 mph.

I don't really mind that you revved your engine at me and stared me down as you drove by.  But I am concerned about the fact that we have children and animals living in our complex, which might be walking through the parking lot next time you decide to drive your car around the block trying to break the sound barrier.  SLOW THE HECK DOWN, WOMAN!  For the kids!

Well Stacy, now that all of the events have transpired, I suggest that we not be friends.  I'd like to say that it's not personal, but it is.  You are crazy, and please keep it to yourself. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to continue chronicling these events for the public to judge.

TTYN,
Maggie

A letter to Congress

Dear Congreswoman Capps,

This letter asks letter asks for your support for, and introduction of an amendment to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. As you are aware, the NTMVS Act created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA is charged with developing and enforcing safety, theft-resistance, and fuel economy standards for motor vehicles. I believe that there is an unregulated safety issue on the roads, and I am asking that you introduce legislation directing NHTSA to develop new safety standards regulating this issue.

Imagine that you are sitting in your American-made Hyundai Sonata, pulling up to an intersection, waiting paitently at the traffic light for the left-arrow to turn green. The Mexican-born Ford Fusion in front of you has its turn signal on. This is where things get tricky. You engage your turn-signal as the red LEDs before you illuminate. Together, the two sets of turn-signals make a beautiful symphony. Before you know it, the Fusion's signal goes silent, making your signals unexpected soloists. Something is clearly going wrong. The beautiful symphony is nothing but a crude, dissonant, rhythm-less brass line. In a misguided effort to right this wrong, you sit at the light, manually flicking your turn-signal on and off in sync with the Fusion.

Congresswoman, the need to manually flick your turn-signal is more distracting than texting while driving. It can leave you unaware of your surroundings, oblivious to pedestrians entering the intersection, or vehicles crossing in front of you. Ma'am, this is an obvious safety issue. With your legislation, we can direct the NHTSA to regulate turn-signal frequency. Why should innocent drivers be distracted by over-eager turn-signals? By requiring car makers to set a particular frequency for their cars' turn signals, we can save lives. I look forward to a safer America.

Sincerely yours,

Philip

...see?

Dear Maggie,

Since you left for your field trip:

I was downtown paying bills, sending off job apps, etc. I pass mission plaza. Who do I see? Stacy! I would have stopped to say hi, but I am convinced she had just finished a deal with one of her tweeker pals.

Upon returning home, I realize that she (again) has left her stereo on a wall vibrating volume, playing to an empty apartment.

Stacey runs everywhere. And not your typical "I'm in a hurry" running. It is more of the "I'm crazy and freaking out" running. She runs like this down her stairs, out her door, and to her car, before pulling one of her no-look u-turns across four lanes of traffic. Then she comes back and runs up to her door.

Less than an hour later, Stacey takes off for another run--final destination: her car. But this is where it gets good. Rather than taking off, gas pedal to the floor, across all lanes of traffic, she instead opts to maintain her current path. In the parking lane. To the right of the bikers in the bike lane.

As I type this, I am scared. There are strange noises, stomping, voices, hammering--but no Stacy.

Come home soon. Please.

Philip

Why is Stacy so crazy?

Dearest Stacy,

You are crazy. Really crazy.

Do you remember the night of April 10th? I was at the Poly baseball game, and Maggie had some of her girlfriends over. As one of the girls was coming in, you were at your door, and insisted that she take your vacuum cleaner. When she did not take your vacuum cleaner, you threw it at her.

You are crazy.

One and one-half weeks ago, I worked a half-day, only at a single job. This meant that I was home in the middle of a weekday. What did I do with my time? I was working on beating New Super Mario Bros. Wii. So I am home alone, playing video games in my living room. No stereo. No friends. Just me. Next thing I know, *KNOCK* *KNOCK*. You're at my door. "Can you please keep it down, I am working on something." Dub-tee-eff? Note: Volume was set at 7 on the tv. While watching 24 late Monday nights (DVR recorded so we're often after 10PM) the volume gets upwards of 40 and beyond. I am skeptical that my game is preventing you from hammering on your walls.

You are crazy.

I woke up yesterday morning to find a small metal carabiner clip on our back deck. Not mine. Not Maggie's. Sometimes things have come over our shared fence. So since we are avoiding contact with you, I placed this clip between our front doors, on our mutual front porch. This evening, we headed out the porch and the clip is gone. Maggie noticed a large bulge under our doormat. Upon further inspection, we find the missing carabiner, next to a large, hook-shaped tool. We share the walkway and stoop with you. We suspect that the clip is yours. Why, rather than taking it back, do you hide it under our doormat with a second, larger, odd, peculiar item?

You are crazy. Really Crazy.

Best Wishes,

Philip

The Chronicles of Stacy, Part I

Dear Stacy,

Now that we've been neighbors for a good... oh... 8 months, I thought it was finally time that I address some of your habits which are not only hella annoying, but that are becoming somewhat worrisome in terms of how safe I feel sharing a wall with you.  To begin, let's chronicle the interactions that we have had just so that we're all on the same page.

Move-in day, September 2009
Maggie:  Hi!  I'm Maggie, and this is Philip.  We're your new neighbors!

Stacy: Dude hey, what's up. Dude that's awesome.  Yeah, I mean, I'm Stacy.  I live here by myself, you know, but I'm cool.  This place is totally chill.  Those guys over there just moved in (*points to my other next door neighbor) and there totally chill.  Mark over here is chill, we're just all chill.

M:  Oh...kay, cool. Well nice to meet you.

S: Yeah dude that's chill.  It's great that you're moving in because we can watch out for each others' places.

M: (*???) Great.  Well, have a nice day.

Encounter with Mark (Stacy's other next-door neighbor) October 2009
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.
Phil and I woke up to the sound of someone banging very loudly on what we thought was OUR front door. We also woke up to the slightly muted sound of the Beach Boys... loud enough that I could actually sing along to the song... coming from your apartment. It was 2:30am.

Since I was too scared to go downstairs and see what the hell was going on, I made Phil go.  Apparently, Phil opened our front door to your OTHER neighbor, Mark, who was trying to WAKE YOU UP TO TURN DOWN YOUR RADIO.  Unfortunately, Mark, Phil, and myself all know that this is a habit of yours... to turn on your stereo to an 80s rock playlist on repeat, and leave for the weekend.  I don't so much mind the music choices, but I think we'd all agree that jamming to Billy Idol at 4:00 in the morning isn't something I regularly like to do.

Unfortunately for you, this was the beginning of our alliance with Mark, against you.

Request for Security, November 2009
This was one of the first times that you asked us to "keep an eye" on your place whenever you're gone.  I think it went something like this...

M: Oh hey, Stacy, how's it going?

S: Hi guys.  So I've been having some problems with some people coming over here that shouldn't be here, okay.  And I've been trying to get away from that, you know?

M: Ummm... what?

S: Yeah, well, you know,  I used to party a lot, you know. And I'm just trying to get away from that now.  So there's a couple of guys that might come around but I'm just not really into that anymore, you know?  So if you see people around, you know, then they're probably not supposed to be here.  So anyways, I'll let you guys know when I'm leaving for the weekend or somethin so you can keep an eye out, you know.

M:  Uh, sure. Yeah, just let us know.
--
There ended up being 2 specific problems with this arrangement:
1) You never once told us when you were leaving for an extended period of time.  We only knew because your radio would be on for 3 days.
2) You have strange people over your house everyday.  I don't even think I've seen the same person there twice.  Now, I'm not here to judge, but your behavior over the past 8 months has led Phil and myself to draw the following conclusions:
-You may be a prostitute.  You keep very odd hours... regularly are up until 4 or 5 in the morning, banging  tools and moving furniture, falling down the stairs repeatedly.  I don't even know.  You have strange men and women coming into your house at all hours, and like I said before, they are always a new visitor as far as we can tell.  Mark has commented that your "lesbian love noises" keep him and his wife up at night.  I feel bad for Mark, but am overjoyed that our bedrooms don't share a wall.
-You do some hard-core drugs.  You are extremely paranoid.  You twitch.  You yell... to yourself?  You dig through your own trash in your backyard.  You have guests that come in and out with black duffel bags... Maybe you're the dealer!

Cop behind our houses, January 2010
Phil and I were going out to our cars to leave somewhere, and lo-and-behold, there was a police officer parked in your parking space!  We were surprised to say the least, but he seemed like a nice guy so we said 'what's up.'

P&M: Oh, hello!

Cop: Hey guys, how's it going? Do you know your neighbor?

M: A little... (*sees Stacey walking outside to meet with the Cop)

Cop: Does she have mental problems?

P&M: shrug

The day we knew you had mental problems, February 2010
BANG BANG BANG...

To be continued...

Sincerely,
Maggie

Roll Over

Dear Daisy,

I love you very much. But there is one thing that you do that perplexes me.

Considering that you sleep on the bed and have free range of the furniture, I would consider you to be well trained. So why is it that when I ask you to "Lay Down," you insist on rolling over too? You sit, lay, and then roll. Did I ask you to roll over? No. You just want to show off and hope that I am impressed enough to give you a treat.

I stress to you that "Lay Down" and "Roll Over" are two discrete tasks, and that by asking you to perform the first task, I do not necessarily want you to complete the second. Consider that there may be unintended consequences to rolling over. Rolling into people, furniture, other dogs, off ledges, or into puddles--these are all legitimate concerns or actual experiences.

So in the future, let us both try to avoid rolling over when we are not asked to.

Sincerely yours,

Philip

Finals

Dear finals week,

I HATE YOU!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You suck!

RE: I slipped. SLO should fix this.

Dear Barbara Lynch, Deputy Director of Public Works,

Thank you for your email of March 12, in response to my email on March 3, which detailed a particularly dangerous crosswalk within city limits. I inspected the area in question this afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised. The algae growth on this corner appears to have been significantly reduced. I feel that there is little safety hazard at the corner of Laurel Ln. and Southwood Dr. today.

Based on the content of your previous email, I trust that the work done to improve the safety of this crosswalk is, as you described, an interim solution. It is clear that the private property owners have yet to remedy their water leak. Although there is no algae in the city's crosswalk now, it will inevitably grow back, unless the city is successful in pursuing a correction to this dangerous situation. Until that day, the city will have unnecessary work to maintain a safe crossing of Laurel Ln.

Thank you for your attention to this situation. I look forward to the day where water stops unnecessarily flowing down the gutter.

Sincerely,

Winter Quarter 2010

Dear Winter Quarter 2010,

The last event we'll enjoy together is finals week, next week.  Just wanted to prepare you for the fact that I am going to kick your ass throughout the week.  I am expecting that you will put up a good fight.  You may even cause a few mental and emotional break-downs, some tears, and chocolate (darn lent!) a few trips to Bali's.

My defense system is strong. I will study like there is no tomorrow.  I will go to the gym to knock off the pounds you will attempt to add to my flab. I will punch you in the face, and you will bruise.

Consider yourself warned, Winter Quarter 2010!  You sucked!

It is what it is.

Dear Employer,

I have noticed a spike in the usage of the phrase: "It is what it is." This has been spoken by peers and management alike.

I have no major issues with the phrase "It is what it is." Many things are indeed what they are. In this particular instance, I take issue with the repeated speaking of this phrase as a means of dismissing an anomaly.

Every time I run a test for a particular client, I get a value that is practically zero. Now I get a result that is astronomically higher in comparison. "It is what it is." Is it? I don't know that? This doesn't make sense. "It is what it is."

I understand that times are tight, but I feel that taking a moment to double check an odd result can only do good for the company.

Yours,

Italia

Dear Italy,

I would like to come visit you.  My friend Giulia just invited me to come vacation on your beautiful beaches of Sardinia.  However, it seems to be very expensive to fly there.  The upwards of $1000 price tag on a 2-way flight is slightly offensive, and I would much appreciate a smaller bill.

Therefore, I am holding my tourist dollars hostage from you until you decrease the cost of travelling to you.  You have until August.  Something in the range of $600 should do the trick.

Ciao!

I slipped. SLO should fix this.

Dear Director--San Luis Obispo City Public Works,

I am writing to inform you of a hazard created by a natural spring or broken pipe on the 1200 block of Laurel Ln. The constantly flowing water has allowed algae to grow on the downhill crosswalk/cutout. Wet algae is slippery. Weeks ago, an elderly gentleman slipped and fell on this hazard, hurting his hip. Unable to walk, he required an ambulance. I fell on this same algae today, injuring my wrist, knee, ankle, and elbow.

I contacted city public works administration, and was advised that the city street sweeping would remedy the issue. I have lived here since the past summer, and the problem has gotten progressively worse. I suspect that either:

1. The two different sweeping routes do not sufficiently sweep the corner/cutout, or
2. Street sweeping fails to remove algae growth.

Please remedy this situation before another serious injury takes place. The city would be well served to ensure the safety of their crosswalks. I look forward to finding a clean, safe crosswalk and cutout in the near future.

Thank you for your prompt response.