by Dennis Evanosky
"our water supply is at stake."
`
"The State of California requires notification to Underground Services Alert (USA)."
"it APPEARS the Andes crew flouted the law and simply dug without any EBMUD, PG&E, or SBC markings."

Dennis, did you call USA and find no record of notification?
"the crew COULD have punctured the aqueduct and caused a real crisis."

"The creek permit that covers Andes' work on the Berlin Branch of Peralta Creek did not anticipate any excavation or stockpiling of material."

Is there a threshold involved in the permit?
"The first two things the crew did upon arriving on the scene were to excavate and stockpile," my source, Andrew Vincent said."
Kind of hard to do any constrution work without being allowed to dig or place supplies on site, yes?

"A Hillview Street neighbor noticed..." hearsay
"Had the crew not been careful, trees COULD HAVE fallen and affected the properties along the creek."
I guess they were careful.

"The neighbor also questioned the crew working on the property along the creek, ostensibly without a permit, on Monday, November 10, a city holiday, "
Presumably they weren't aware that the City of Oakland officially was celebrating Armistice day early.

"We traced a rainbow of oil colors and fuel odor to where the Andes Construction crew had just finished compacting a cold-patch pavement repair," said Vincent.
Pavement patches use crushed rock and oil. Without you naming a quantity, this is starting to sound like another Oaklandnews shaggy dog story.

"When the crew arrived on the scene and was asked about the fuel spill, they pointed to a driveway and said the neighbor had dumped oil there," Vincent said."
Did you interview the contractor? Seems like you are being as fair and balanced as Fox News.

"The specialist told the crew that the oil was not coming from a neighbor's driveway."
Please attribute.

"When the specialist instructed the crew to clean the spill, they couldn't. They had no spill-control material on the job. "
FYI cat litter absorbs oil. Might be a good thing for Mr. Vincent to keep around, though engaging in a rhetorical blame game seems more satisfying.

If you've been following this story, you know that this is not the first time we've caught stories on this website without proper attribution or balanced sourcing. Will it be the last? We're watching. Stay tuned.

When everything else fails, blame Jean Quan, Henry Chang and the Oakland hills goats.

You're right, Larry. I'm limited in my story to just 800 words. So I do leave the attribution to the imagination, something I should not do.

The story, by the way, has little to do with this Web site. It appeared in the MacArthur Metro. I do have names. I think Andes deliberately dug on a holiday, thinking nobody was watching.

You do bring up some good points about my writing. I'm just a neighborhood person, not a journalist. In the future I will, however, be able to answer anything I have to say, sentence by sentence. Thanks for the lesson.

I do feel that Andes is doing a lot of shoddy work and John Russo our city attorney has launched an investigation because of my articles.

David Lau also wrote a letter to the area residents. He did say in the letter that a test plug was left in the sewer OVERNIGHT. That sewer was blocked, and the city knew it, for about 10 days before it overflowed. I intend to ask Lau why he misstated (lied?) in his letter about the length of time the sewer was plugged. He also failed to mention that a shovel was left in the sewer along with the test plug.

Stay tuned, Larry.

I have to agree 100% with the comments made by Larry on his post. I feel as tough this issue has become a blame game and the only people that are loosing in it is Andes. I feel that they are doing the best job possible, I mean for gods sake they are a small local business, not some large firm that is only interested in the money, THEY ARE INTERESTED IN THAT ALL THINGS GET DONE RIGHT!

Now I do understand that the stories that are posted on this website are not directly associated with this site, but I also must note that when someone duplicates a story, I sure hope they have confirmed the facts. Just because this sad excuse for investigative reporting was listed on the Macarthur Metro, it does not make it 100% true and accurate, I don't think that neither your website nor the Mac Metro is being very balanced in this situation, its been basically what Andrew Vincent said and what he did not say, but does that make it right just because HE said it, since when was he GOD? Huh?

I just don't feel that the stories that are floating around of this company are right in any way. They are a small local Oakland business that contributes to the Taxes of this City, why in gods name would they want to rob from the same pool of money to which they contribute too?

In either case, please read the information that people send to you before printing a story that is so erroneous, that many people are getting tired of hearing about. There were many reasons why Andes did things differently to what the “code” says, and I have to believe what the designer of the projects says. Furthermore regarding the day of work on the 10th of November, that was something that I asked the company why they were working a day that the City of Oakland was not “open” and they said with a letter proof, that the City left it to the discretion of the contractor, since this holiday was for Union City employees and they could not obligate the Contractor to stop work.

Please let me know and I will for sure "stay tuned"

Oh and by the way if you happen to speak to Andrew Vincent, please contact me if you have any further comments. I really would like to hear from this man that seems to know everything, maybe he can figure out where Bin Laden is???

Thank you Dennis for acknowleging some possible holes in the story.
And thank you Sandra for backing me up. Don't know that I would go as far as you in painting Andes as a poor suffering local business that "only wants to get it right" I don't know that for sure either.
What really irked me was the lack of research and corroboration in those stories. They wouldn't have passed muster at a high school newspaper.
In an earlier andes story Dennis wrote something about the fill they were using not being something like class IV composite something or other, which is required under the code. Perhaps Evanovsky or Vincent are engineers or something, but I know I couldn't differentiate class IV from class III or class V materials if I fell over them in the street. There was no expert opinion about that stuff in the story--is the replacement stuff an accepted industry alternative? The story doesn't say. It would be unfortunate if this sewage project wasn't done right, but its hard to take the leap of faith that Andes is on a par with international boogieman Osama Bin Laden.
Merry X-mas

Larry, you are again getting perilously close to a lawsuit. Andrew Vincent did massive amounts of research, as did Dennis, and Toni Locke, the Metro editor. And actually, yes, a local resident who is an engineer did get involved.

I heard today that the City Attorney's office is
investigating this and has hired an outside engineering firm to check things out.

This is Oakland, Sandra and Larry. Bad things happen all the time because we don't have enough
residents like Andy Vincent to watch the foxes.

My money is solidly behind Andy, Dennis and the
MacArthur Metro.

Oh lord, another one-sided hypocrite. Jeannette, I think you and the rest of the Mac Metro people are doing nothing but trying to find problems everywhere, I guess you have nothing better to do with your time.

I am not exactly sure what you mean when you say that Larry is leaning towards a lawsuit? What happened with freedom of speech? What he nor I can express our opinions the way we want?

In either case, in response to Larry and his comment on painting Andes as a poor suffering local business, I think you misunderstood what I was trying to get at. I did not want it to seem that they were the innocent bystander here, but wanted to get the point across that they too are Oakland residents, their company is 86% employed by Oakland Residents (As Per the Oakland Website), although the comments made by many on this site is that they are "robbing" the city of their money when in fact they all contribute to that pool of money. I just think its unfair to make such comments on a company when in reality the only facts that we have are those that are being spoon feed to this "fair and balanced" newspaper by the god of intelligence Andrew Vincent.
And for gods sake, I cannot believe that Jeannette is making the remarks that those at the Metro have done "massive amounts of research" when in a previous article, I think it was Jeannette who made the comments on the following site:
http://www.oaklandnews.com/archives/000104.html in which she states and I quote: “You wouldn't think that Andes Construction has any
financial links to anyone in the city, would you? Its CEO is Ray Sanchez. Ray used to be an Oakland building inspector.”
Where in gods name did you get this info? I have checked the Andes website, for one Ray Sanchez is not employed at Andes, RON Sanchez, is the superintendent at Andes, and not the CEO as stated by Jeannette. (Nice Investigative Reporting Jeannette!)

In addition to this, I have also asked Ron Sanchez, during a time that he was in the neighborhood, and was notified by him, that he never used to work for the City of Oakland. So Jeannette, please don’t come off saying that what you state is backed with massive amounts of research when in fact your research is nothing better than that of a High School newspaper as Larry so effectively compared these articles to.
Thanks for your time, and please don’t hesitate to make further comments I am open to your remarks…

Jeannette,
Yer gonna sue me? Oh-oh I think your threats of a lawsuit have disrupted my sleep and DESTROYED my quality of life. 1-2-3, now I have grounds for a counter-suit. Neener, neener, neener!
But seriously, what, pray tell is "perilously close to a lawsuit" For asking questions? Oh well, life in George Bush's AmeriKKKa.
Let's see isn't that called apriori censorship?
And Old Man Russo is launching an investigation? The same guy who was endorsed by Jerry Brown, Ed Lee, Esq, Yui Hay Lee, and Don Perata? The last case he got to the bottom of was a case of Mallowmars!

I can act as your fist witness on the lawsuit Larry. I think Jeannette is crossing the boundary here, I cannot believe she actually made that comment. A Lawsuit? I think that alone make a statement about her credibility. She apparently has not ready the constitution. Freedom of speech, and anyways all you were doing was asking questions. In either case, ill keep posted to see with what other ridiculous comments Jeannette comes up with.

Sandra,

Don't be too harsh on Jeanette, she's performing a public service and has a good sense of humor. Though what the whole lawsuit threat is about I don't know. Jeanette, you did give me an idea---maybe we can file a class action suit against people descibing themselves as being "smart" "funny" "thin," "single" or as having a "full head of hair" in the craigslist personals!

I'm glad to see the dialogue. It gives me something to think about. Maybe it's time to back up and lighten up a bit.

I wanted to involve the city in this, but they wrote a response that was way past our deadline (and yes that is a legitimate reason for exclusion from a newspaper story).

I will call Lau and see if he wants to be part of the dialogue for the next (likely last) installment of this in the Metro.

I don't think we should be harsh on Jeannette, nor do I think we should be that harsh on Andy Vincent or Andes. I think it's the process, the city and the way it does things. Sometimes I think they should change the name of Public Works, the City Manager's office, and the Mayor's office to Winken, Blinken and Nod, respeptively.

Without Jeannette and the Metro, little attention would be paid to this (or any other) issue.

Happy Holdays.

I do want to repeat my appreciation of Larry's lesson in journalism. I have taken it seriously and hope you'll see it reflected in my writing in the future.

To Larry and Sandra:
_I_ am not threatening a lawsuit, but I think your attacks on Andy Vincent are very, very rough and since Andy is not a public figure, you need to tread carefully. I am a public figure -- you get to say almost anything you want to about me. I'm thrilled.

As for Andes Construction, or any other company
making money by doing business with the city of Oakland and its taxpayers, you bet I hold them to a very high standard, as should everyone. Unless you want to pay for this work to be done again in 2 years, or you want to pay for the lawsuits from homeowners whose houses were flooded in raw sewage?

You really don't get it Sandra: Oakland sells itself cheap, dirt cheap, all the time. We don't
demand that developers use high quality materials
in their projects, so a 7-story building next to the Pardee House, an elegant landmark, a new building that hasn't been finished yet, with plywood crap for detailing under the cheesy vinyl windows -- is... is... ALREADY DELAMINATING.
And that piece of shit building is going to be there for decades.

Above ground, below ground -- everyone tries to cut corners and to screw Oakland residents in the
process.

I don't accept this, neither do Andy, Dennis or the staff of the excellent MacArthur Metro. Count me in on their side.

Jeanette,
Could you please identify what part of which comment in this thread that could possibly be interpreted as slander actionable by a lawsuit?
I don't see Dennis complaining, he said the above criticism will help him craft a stronger story.
Is suggesting that some wish to play a rhetorical blame game considered slander?

Flush twice, it's a long way to City Hall.

I'd like to nominate Jeanette Sherwin for the 2003 John Ashcroft Freedom of Speech Prize for soliticting public comment on a blog and then threatening various respondants with lawsuits.

I've never threatened anyone with a lawsuit, Larry.
But if Andy Vincent gets good and angry with you, he
would have syanding. Dennis is a reporter. Andy is
a private citizen. I wish I had a neighbor like him.

Larry, If you have any question about the accuracy of Evanosky's reporting of the fuel spill, You can check the report the specilist made. It is a public document. Storm drain Inspection report 031104-01. The report confirms EXACTLY what Evanosky reported in the Metro article. I would have put a bucket under the fuel draining from the back of the Andes truck, But the city has notified me, In writing not to interfere. Also my "hearsay" neighbor has her stuff on video, complete with sound. We might be able to figure out a way to put that on the internet. Evanosky's 800 words of reporting did not begin to address the scarey stuff about the Sequoia Aquaduct. If you plan on being in the area of MacArthur and Colledge when Andes is working with their pipe bursting equipment, I would recomend you bring a rubber life raft.....You might find the Mokelumne river there.

And now my turn to start a jucy, unconfirmed rumor.....The plumbers, opperating engineers, laborers and concrete finishers working for Andes construction are only being paid $350 per week. My friend was told this by his friend who works for Andes Construction.

This needs to be investigated. The workers on Andes crews work long hard hours around sewage and angry motorists. They should be paid prevailing wage like the city's contract with Andes says. This is a Public Works job. It's not the crew's fault their work needs to be done over. They are very hard workers and they are doing what they are told to do. The workers should be privately interviewed and their pay checks compaired with the certified payroll reports filed with the city. I don't have time for this. Someone else needs to do it.

Oh Lord another bogus complaint from this man. Vincent GET A LIFE. Don't you think the workers would be complaining more if they were only paid $350.00 per week? I think they are paid that amount after you take out all taxes and union dues, which for your own information take away about 1/2 of peoples checks......
So I think if you have a bone to pick with the money problem, it should be with the UNIONS, but really get a life...

Oh and by the way I hear around there, through the grapevine, that Andrew is really not your model citizen as so many believe. I have heard, and please don't take my word, but Vincent has not paid his garbage bill in more than several months and the city has a lean on his house. If anyone can confirm this please do so, if I am wrong well my regrets in advance.

Also another side note, I have also noticed that Andrews’s car also drips a significant amount of oil as so he claims that Andes’ trucks do. So why don't you too do something about it Andrew, is it because you’re a citizen and your immune to having to do something about it?

Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts? Yes…………The same place that the city’s public works inspector that we were told in the city’s July 28 letter “will be on site to ensure compliance with plans and specifications” is…………NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!

And Ms. Goldman For correct info about the City's fraudlent activity regarding my (lack of) garbage service you don't have to go thru the grape vine. you can check in the public records at city hall and at the county recorders office.

City of Oakland blight inspector John Stuart has confirmed that my car does not leak oil.

Any More Questions?

Sandra are you married to or in any way related to, or do you work for Andes? Because it isn't Andy Vincent who needs a life -- Andy is an Oakland hero.
I think he just gave you the smackdown you've been
asking for. And yet he did it like a gentleman.

Hats off, again, Andy.

Puh-lese. This thread is getting oh so childish. The back and forth charges look like a transcript from the Policies, Proceedures & Zoning Update Committee of the City Planning Commission.
All we need now is someone to ask someone else "when did you stop beating your wife?"
Oh the hilarity. The accusations are so half baked it's hard to take seriously.
I'm inclined to believe Andy, up to a point, though when he said he needed a bucket to catch leaking fuel it sounds really serious, but then again, if you had fuel pouring out of your truck, you wouldn't be able to drive that far before running out of gas, right? Was it losing a gallon per hour? a quart? a tablespoon? a teaspoon? you can catch all those quantities with a bucket.
These guys making $350 a week are they day laborers? What would Iggy say? If it's true, why are the unions mum? Oh yeah, it's a rumor.
And so what if Vincent actually has a lien or garbage bill issues---accusations of that sort are red herrings and character assasination.
And Jeannette, calling Vincent a "hero?" that kind of stretches things yeah? A hero is someone with a sprained ankle who saves 10 babies from a burning building or someone who defeats an enemy battalion with only a spoon, or runs the underground in a POW camp.
Praise him as a civic watchdog, but reserve heroes for Hogan.
Jeez, look at me, the Voice of Reason? Who'd ov thunk it?

$350 a week and It's not just a rumor. It's a rumor that needs to be investigated. These guys are excellent workers and we will be paying $20 a month on our water bills for a long time so they can be adequately compensated. I know that they are not getting help from the union and they feel their pay checks are not correct. My Spanish is not so good and I already have a lot of stuff on my plate (and in my bucket). Someone else needs to investigate.

There's been much use of the words oil and fuel interchangeably in the thread. Was it oil or fuel? How much fuel or oil leaked in your opinion? It's a question asked since the first post in this thread....
Let's see, $350 a week divided by 40 hours and uh, these guys are making $8.75 an hour?
And the difference between "a rumor" and a "rumor that needs to be investigated" is what?
How reliable is this information from your friend who's friend works for Andes construction? Forgive me, but it sounds as real as my friend who had a roomate in college who had an aunt that one time she washed her poodle and wanted to dry him off real quick, so she stuck the poodle in the microwave...
And by the way, who was right on that Ray Sanchez, Ron Sanchez thing? I haven't seen a rebuttle on that?

Regarding the fuel spill see city of oakland Storm Drain Inspection Report 031104-01

The workers on Andes crew need your help with the pay issue.

Check the link I posted immediately after someone first raised the Ray/Ron Sanchez thing for clarification.

I ask: Fuel spill quantity: you say: go to city hall and get the report--- You don't remember what's on the report? You don't have a copy on you? sound's like the old "my dog ate my homework."
I ask: is the pay thing really true: you say: I'm just the messenger, ask someone else.
I ask who is right about Ron/Ray: you say: "Check the link I posted immediatley after someone first raised the Ray/Ron Sanchez thing..." Well, I went back over the thread. The first time it was mentioned was 12/19 @2:24 by Sandra Goldman. Your first response was 3 days later 12/22, not exactly immediate, but hey so what. But there is no link in your post, or any of your posts. Goldman is the only one who had a link---purportedly showing that Jeanette kind of goofed. I say purportedly because now achived story has apparently been removed because the link doesn't work. Oops, down the "Memory Hole" George Orwell would be proud.
Andy, I want to believe you, but you can't seem to back up any of your charges.

The City Auditor concluded that it would be reasonable to award this contract to the high bidder(Andes Construction). Here is the link http://www.oaklandauditor.com/reports/andes_macarthurblvd.html

Andes Construction web site describes the owners 15 years as a City of Oakland public works inspector. Here is the link. http://www.andesconstruction.net/aboutus2.html

Posted by: Andrew Vincent on November 17, 2003 10:19 PM

Andrew,
Thanks for the link. The Andes site says that "Danilo Mayorga, Sr." was a public works inspector for 15 years.
According to Sandra, Jeannette said that Ray/Ron Sanchez was an Oakland building inspector.
So now we have three different people: Mayoraga, Sanchez & Sanchez
and a building inspector and a public works inspector.
So is the name wrong? yes or no?
What about the pay?
What about the fuel/ oil?

And here's a question for only for the editor--when a public employee moves to private industry, is that "prima facie" evidence of corruption?

So True Larry... I also find it strange that the Link that made Jeanette look stupid was removed shortly after me posting the comments on this site. I feel a cover-up! Also I have not mentioned this, but below I have attached an e-mail that Jeanette sent to me shortly after making the post:

++++++++++++++++
Sandra,
You're an idiot, too. _I_ am not going to sue either of you -- but Andy
Vincent maybe has grounds.
Since he is not a public figure.
Jeeze, learn how to read!
++++++++++++++++

Don't you find it odd that she says and says that she is a Public "figure" and she cannot portray herself in this way, but the message she wrote me personally, (NOT ON THIS POST) was something far beyond what someone that is a public figure should be writing to its readers!!! I take offense, JEANETTE!!!!

What! You took offense at something I wrote to you privately? You show teensy signs of a learning curve after all.
Look for coverups all you want, but I have never removed a link from this site.

Some people deserve an apology. Sandra, the link you made in the first post has an "," tacked on the end, that's why it doesn't work. Here's part of Jeannette's post from the earlier thread:
"Its CEO is Ray Sanchez. Ray used to be an Oakland
building inspector.
Nah, building inspectors are never on the take, and
neither are councilmembers. But wait, a random thought...many of the current council members also voted for Andes (the highest bidder)and are the same people who voted for the Oracle computer contract, the most obviously stupid and ill-advised contract since we promised sell-outs at Raiders games.
Coincidence? You judge that while I take my pink-haired dog out for a walk to cut some pure
black roses under a green cheese moon.
Posted by: Jeannette on November 17, 2003 08:29 PM"

So, I owe Jeanette an apology for the George Orwell through the memory hole comment....but wait, wasn't the Oracle deal referred to above a state, not a city matter? Ak just saying.

What is perhaps more enlightening, dear readers, is how when certain people face specific questions, they resort to red herrings and attempt to "change the conversation" and "move on to a higher level of understanding," I guess y'all took the Werner Earhardt training back in the 70s. I have news for you: all the earth shoes, mood rings, quiche and Captain and Tenille LPs aren't gonna make up for being short on facts.

The link in question has been fixed. Carry on.