On the Record
by Nicholas Schou
Nicholas Schou is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of several books, including Orange Sunshine and Kill the Messenger. If you have tips or stories about Montecito, please email him at newseditor@montecitojournal.net
Watt’s Going On With Trevor Broudy’s Water Supply?
T 2021-New Year,New Strategy? Time to revisit your plan and investments Thankfully, it is time to leave 2020 in the past. A true disruptor, last year upended our lives in fundamental ways: health, jobs, education and money. Pre-COVID decisions about your financial plan and portfolio need to be revisited and possibly revised. 2021 will also bring more change in the form of booming emerging trends, likely tax law changes and questions over interest rates. Contact me to consult and review or create a financial plan along with an investment strategy for the coming years. *28 years local finance experience *UCSB alumni
Christopher T. Gallo, CFP®, CIMA® CPWA Vice President - Wealth Management Portfolio Manager 805-730-3425 christopher.t.gallo@ubs.com
Christopher Gallo UBS Financial Services Inc. 222 East Carrillo Street Suite 106 Santa Barbara, CA 93101-7146 805-730-3425 800-262-4774
ubs.com/fa/christophertgallo As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC-registered investment adviser and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Investment advisory services and brokerage services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that clients understand the ways in which we conduct business, that they carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide to them about the products or services we offer. For more information, please review the PDF document at ubs.com/relationshipsummary. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ in the U.S. CIMA® is a registered certification mark of the Investments and Wealth Institute, formerly IMCA, in the United States of America and worldwide. ©UBS 2020. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member FINRA/SIPC. D-UBS-E1BDFB29
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MONTECITO JOURNAL
revor Broudy could be forgiven for thinking he might just be the unluckiest person in Montecito. The Middle Road homeowner ’s troubles began early last year, when Bacall, his beloved golden retriever, began to rapidly and inexplicably lose weight. Aside from taking his pet to various veterinarians, Broudy stopped giving Bacall tap water to drink and switched to bottled water; the dog slowly but surely began to recover. The mystery deepened when Broudy received a telephone call from the Montecito Water District (MWD) in September letting him know that the agency had detected unusually high levels of copper in his home’s drinking water. As he soon learned, Trev Broudy’s electrician tries to pinpoint the MWD does periodic tests of end-us- problem er water quality to ensure that both copper and lead levels in the drinking water stay below state-mandated action guidelines. Earlier readings had found copper levels of just 90 parts per billion (ppb) in his drinking water, but mysteriously, a recent test showed that number had somehow jumped exponentially to 1500 ppb. “I was up in Lake Tahoe and got a call [from MWD] saying that my water was so high in copper that it was way above the [safe] threshold,” Broudy recalled. “They had never seen copper levels like this in Montecito and thought it might be a mistake.” Broudy says he couldn’t believe his ears. He had just installed new copper pipes in his home two years ago at a cost of $40,000. “But they came back three weeks later and SoCal Edison on the scene, looking for answers told me that it wasn’t a mistake.” Broudy says he asked MWD what he should do but didn’t receive any initial guidance so he went on Google and searched for articles about copper contamination in drinking water and found stories about just such a situation that occurred a few years ago in New York state, where water pipes had been inadvertently exposed to an electrical current by the local power company, thus resulting in electrolysis, which caused unhealthy levels of the mineral to leach into drinking water. Armed with his internet-fueled suspicions, Broudy used a Gauss meter to test the electromagnetic field on one of his copper pipes; the test suggested a stray electrical current was somehow connected to his plumbing. So he called an electrician to his home and asked him to investigate. On November 10, Carlton Electric conducted a series of tests and tried to figure out how to remove the current, but to no avail; the company suggested he contact Southern California Edison (SCE) for advice on what to do. According to Broudy, SCE came out the following day, and after finding 45 volts of electricity on his gas meter, 18 volts on the gas line, and 8 volts on several kitchen appliances, advised him not to touch the gas meter or any appliances
On The Record Page 244 244
“New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday.” — Charles Lamb
7 – 14 January 2021