Cyane Dandridge Wins "No Bid" Solar Consulting contract in 2012- "The Smoking Gun"

Cyane Dandridge, sitting Marinwood CSD Director wins "no bid" contract while Chairman of SEI HERE

Cyane Dandridge, sitting Marinwood CSD Director,  presents a proposal from HER COMPANY (Strategic Energy Innovations) to adapt a "no bid" consulting contract giving her company the right to select Solar Contractor for Marinwood CSD.  She DOES NOT IDENTIFY TO THE PUBLIC that it is her company, yet all of the sitting CSD directors,  Leah Kleinman-Green, Bruce Anderson, Tarey Reed, Bill Hansell and of course Cyane know that it belongs to her.

It is a CLEAR VIOLATION of Government Code 1090 concerning Conflict of Interest (see below) and  Fair Political Practices in my opinion.  

Bill Hansell halts the vote in September 2012 for "more consideration".  Leah Kleinman Green and Tarey Read want to rush the vote:




The very next Marinwood CSD meeting in October 2012, after consulting the County Attorney, at taxpayer expense,  the Marinwood CSD votes to approve the SEED contract with Cyane abstaining (she previously "forgot to disclose" her ownership of SEI).  When I raise objections due to possible conflict of interest, the board quickly votes to approve the contract.

Once again, Tom Horne, Marinwood CSD manager consults the county attorney who informs them that INDEED there is a conflict of interest when a sitting board member is awarded a no bid consulting contract.  Cyane Dandridge resigns and then the Marinwood CSD board awards her the contract after she is no longer a representative OUTSIDE OF A PUBLIC MEETING.

In my opinion   ALL OF THE MARINWOOD CSD BOARD MEMBERS plus the Marinwood CSD manager breached an ethical duty to voters for disclosure and transparency and may have violated Fair Political Practices law.

The result of the SEED Solar fund chose a SolED Benefit Corporation,  a company that had NO SUCCESSFUL government installations despite the requirement each bidder have FIVE installations.

We are paying DOUBLE what government agencies are paying for similar solar installations.

Leah Kleinman-Green Marinwood CSD Board President in 2012 and current Marinwood CSD board member in 2016
eagerly voted to approve the SEED project with SEI in 2012  and SolEd Solar in 2016

GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 1090-1099 

1090.  (a) Members of the Legislature, state, county, district,
judicial district, and city officers or employees shall not be

financially interested in any contract made by them in their official
capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members. Nor
shall state, county, district, judicial district, and city officers

(b) An individual shall not aid or abet a Member of the
or employees be purchasers at any sale or vendors at any purchase
made by them in their official capacity.
Legislature or a state, county, district, judicial district, or city

performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited
officer or employee in violating subdivision (a).
   (c) As used in this article, "district" means any agency of the
state formed pursuant to general law or special act, for the local

boundaries.

Whats wrong about the Marinwood SolEd project? A Twenty Year Mistake at up to SEVEN TIMES cost

At last, the ground has broken for the Marinwood CSD Solar Project.   The proposal was submittedd by a former Marinwood CSD director, Cyane Dandridge who personally profits from the project.  After a series of secret negotiations,  a bidder who had been in business for a few months won the project over well established competitors.  Two years of delays due to financing difficulties and a stubborn will by a new Marinwood CSD to NOT PUT THE SOLAR CONTRACT out for competitive bids, resulted in a twenty year commitment with an unknown company from New York, NY.    

It hardly seems possible that all over the current Marinwood CSD board (Izabela Perry, Jeff Naylor, Justin Kai, Leah Kleinman-Green and Bill Shea)  could be so naive but they voted for the project unanimously in 2016.  Justin Kai even INCREASED the size of the project.  They think the project is "FREE".

All of the Marinwood CSD directors believe the project will "cost nothing" since it is paid from a twenty year commitment to purchase electricity at up to SEVEN TIMES the cost of similar solar system until 2036.

How could they be so feckless?  Simple.  No independent analysis was undertaken outside the board.  Former Marinwood CSD Director, Deana Dearborn was very skeptical of the proposal and recommended against the project but she left office before the final vote.

The Marinwood CSD directors won their solar project.  It was similar to the one cancelled by the City of St Helena just weeks in November 2015 before DUE TO BREECH OF CONTRACT by the SolEd Benefit Corporation.  They all cite the virtues of solar while ignoring the obvious error in locking us into a proposal that will produce energy at seven times cost of similar systems for twenty years. 
(published on 9/13/16.  Justin Kai since resigned and moved to Oregon. Despite the essential solar panel being completed in September 2016, they are not active.  The Marinwood CSD manager claims that delays by PGE were the cause.  Some believe that the financial backers either did not have the capital to complete the project.  No long term financier has ever been identified.  This gross incompetence on behalf of local taxpayers is not acceptable.)

Marinwood got BURNED with the Solar Contract and is now over TEN MONTHS behind schedule with NO EXPLANATION!

Editor's Note:  This post below is from March 2016.  Since then the project was approved the project is now TEN Months behind schedule and NO SOLAR POWER.  The Marinwood CSD claimed that "county" was at fault for not approving permits.  This is highly questionable since most projects are approved in a matter of delays.  Finally, after most of the project was installed in August 2016, Marinwood CSD manager, Eric Dreikosen claimed that PGE didn't have the proper generator for three months. This is the same equipment replaced with hours or days after an outage during a storm. Finally, the latest "explanation" is there is "no explanation from the contractor" and at the same time he claims that the contractor IS COMPLYING WITH THE SOLAR CONTRACT.

The Marinwood CSD directors, notably Leah Kleinman Green who approved of the initial Solar consulting contract in 2013 with sitting CSD board member Cyane Dandridge claims that we will be getting FREE solar electricity through the PPA.   Now after MONTHS delay the board is silent and will not hold the Solar Company nor the Marinwood CSD director accountable.

This deserves a full investigation immediately.   The Marinwood CSD is refusing to release documents under the California Records ACT.  

A little protection from legal and financial exposure can prevent nasty surprises later.

The Top 10 Mistakes Schools make with a Solar PPA

An Open Letter to the Marinwood CSD on the proposed SolEd contract approval on 3/8/2016

Dear Marinwood CSD board Member,

Tonight you will be making a fateful decision to encumber Marinwood Community Services District into a twenty five year commitment with a young inexperienced Solar company, SolEd and and an unknown financiers C2Beta Holdings llc, a Delaware Corporation formed in May 2015.  

As you know, Soled Benefit Corporation was fired by the City of St Helena for "FAILURE TO PERFORM" its contract duties on November 10, 2015.  C2Beta Holdings is run by a 29 year old financial entrepreneur from New York.

There are many red flags.

The above link is a very detailed explanation of the risks involved in Solar PPAs that is posted to the California School Boards Association website HERE.  According to all accounts it is a VERY EXPENSIVE way to purchase solar and does little to guarantee competitive energy prices in a changing marketplace.

A outright cash purchase using conventional financing may result in as much as 75% savings over a PPA.  This means faster payback and less risk due to technical obsolescence. 

Please weigh the facts carefully before putting our finances at risk for twenty five years.

Stephen Nestel

Marinwood, CA

Editor's Note: The attached power point presentation makes all of the points we have been making against the SolEd contract.   I doubt if anyone other than Jeff Naylor even bothers to read the presentation.   For the rest of the CSD,  they seem ready to blindly accept the contract without any modifications .  

This is really disgraceful

Is this the same Richard Dovere of C2 Beta Holdings that is the partner with Marinwood?

The Marinwood CSD signed a contract with Richard Dovere of C2 Beta Holdings.  Is this the same man?  His company was formed just six months ago and it appears he has had multiple businesses since 2011 when this video was made.  Quite an achievement for a 29 year old man.

The real concern is with his company with whom we have a twenty five year commitment.  We could have done business with the established solar companies yet for some odd reason, Sol-Ed, won the contract.  It is owned by David Kunhardt, a company run out a cubicle in downtown San Rafael with NO SOLAR installations experience when it won the contract.  Strange isn't it?

Who is David Kunhardt?  He is an affordable housing lobbyist with  CALM and has testified frequently that Marinwood needs more affordable housing.  

Another key player is Cyane Dandridge, a former Marinwood CSD Director who owns SEI and runs the MSEL Environmental High School at Terra Linda High. She secured the exclusive consulting contract for solar engineering for Marinwood without competitive bids before resigning in 2012. Prior to that she was on the committee to approve eight sites for affordable housing in Marinwood Lucas Valley.   We now have a stunning 83% of all the very low and low income housing units for unincorporated Marin.  

Coincidence?

Sleazy Solar Powered Scheme in New Jersey

This Jersey Mayor used his position to secure a Solar Deal and got caught.