I also was at the meeting Caltrans held with south county residents on Oct. 12 regarding chip seal projects on Highway 29 and Highway 175. The meeting was a total sham.

Essentially, what we were listening to, was excuses by the contractors, for the terrible job on repaving the road they did.

Caltrans is the state agency that opens bids for work on our roads, and has the oversight responsibility from the time the contract is awarded, until they sign off on the job. The contractor also has to have a performance bond, which indemnifies the state, for failure to perform the job correctly.

The district manager from Caltrans had already “signed off” of the work, and so released the contractor from further work. Clearly the person in the hot seat should be that district manager of Caltrans.

Right from the onset of the meeting he was asked repeatedly, and once by me, if he had classified the road was safe? And, repeatedly, he not only answered to the affirmative, but had the contractor's representatives repeat that statement, that in their opinion it was safe.

It was only after heated debate by the majority of attendees that both the Caltrans district manager and the contractor seemed to agree that a mistake had been made in stating that it was safe.

The money for the work came from the taxpayers of California, from the general fund and from the fuel taxes, which we all pay. Aren't Caltrans,and contractors they use supposed to be held accountable for the work down under contract to the state?

Caltrans in this case clearly failed to exercise oversight, and the contractors clearly did not meet their terms of reference in this contract with the state.

Three things should happen. Firstly the contractor should be made to go back and correct all of the mistakes, including resurfacing of the road with the proper aggregates and completing the road markings.

Secondly, the contractor should be barred from future contracts with the state.

Thirdly, the district manager for Caltrans should be fired.

Furthermore, I believe that a class action may well result from this incident, because hundreds – if not thousands – of motorists are finding that their tires are wearing out very rapidly since the new surface was laid down.

Additionally, the noise level from the traffic on Highway 29 has become incredibly loud, something that was not a factor before in Hidden Valley Lake.

Finally, there is absolutely no question that the work on the Highway 29 is the most outrageously unprofessional road work I have ever seen. Lake County taxpayers deserve a professional level of performance by contractors, and the state should evoke the performance bond they established to get the contract, even if they were the lowest bidder.

Just compare the recent work on other roads in neighboring counties to see what they should have looked and felt like. The same manager from Caltrans is also in charge of those road works, so he knows better. Why is he acting as if he does not know what all the fuss is about? Is it because he might lose his job?

I am looking forward to seeing what the fall out to this is going to be.

Raymond Daviesson lives in Hidden Valley Lake, Calif.