| Author | Message | ||
| Katherine Clarkson
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I think it is laudable that there is a movement concerned that poor residents unable to pay their water bills don't have their water service shut off. I don't think that the answer to the problem is to require the city to cover the expense of providing water to non-paying customers. Just as there is a "heat bank" that allows us to kick into a fund to help cover gas costs for the poor, we should have a "water bank" and those of us who can could kick in a few bucks to help cover the costs of those of us who can't afford our water bills. The city of Highland Park, specifically, cannot afford to subsidize non-paying customers without some form of help from others to cover that cost. If the State of Michigan or the County of Wayne can't/won't cover the costs, then those of us who care can establish a "water bank." It does no good to beat up on the city for charging its customers, based on consumption rates, for the service of providing water treatment. It is a utility like any other and one has the choice of using the utility or providing your own (collecting rain water, digging a well, heating your home with your fireplace, using candles or lanterns, etc.) Untreated water is free and should be. Treated water is not free and should not be free. It seems to me that the problem here is poverty, not that the city is unfair. The city does not have the money to supply treated water for free, just as many of its residents do not have money to pay for treated water. If both the city and the residents are poor, let's not beat each other up. Let's work together to find a solution that will provide clean water to Highland Parkers without further bankrupting the city. Can the State do anything for us? Like include water bills in its welfare budget? Can we all chip in and provide a fund to help those who can't cover the full cost of their water? Can we insure accurate readings so that fewer controversies will arise over the size of bills? Can we get volunteers to help check for leaks in the water system--on BOTH sides of the meter. Let's put our energies into cooperative work and not a destructive waste of time demanding from the city what it does not have and cannot give. | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow
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There is an old Danish saying, "When the trough is empty, the horses bite one anoter." Instead of fighting over leftovers, we should unite and go for the whole plantation. The State and Feds must live up to their responsibility. Highland Park must be declared a disaster area and be afforded the help that any distressed area has a right to receive. Just because our disaster was social and in slow motion, is no reason not to come to our aid. |
