— “You can’t trust water: Even a straight stick turns crooked in it.” — W.C. Fields —
I’m stepping away from the legal topics for this post and heading into the realm of local politics. I do so with an understanding that politics is divisive and this post may turn some people off. However, I was taken aback by this subject and just needed to get it out. And local politics is not partisan, it is personal.
So, in DeKalb County, Tennessee, there is a big fight between the DeKalb Utility District (DUD) and the City of Smithville (City) regarding water. Behind all the fuss is lots of money. Apparently, DUD buys a boatload of water from the City. Well, DUD decided that it wanted to streamline services by building its own water treatment plant. That way, they would not be dependent upon the City for their water. That sounds simple enough, and maybe a little business savvy on the part of DUD. The City opposed this as DUD is the City’s biggest water customer. And that is all fine and well.
What is not all fine and well is the fact that the City of Smithville Board of Alderman apparently voted to and actually did hire a public relations firm to “educate the public.” Really, they wanted to stop this water treatment plant from being built. Here’s the kicker. The public relations group that was hired was The Calvert Street Group out of Nashville, Tennessee. This group was hired in April 2012 and paid “$5,000 per month, plus expenses.” The arrangement also included a potential $25,000 bonus if The Calvert Street Group stopped the DUD from building its water treatment plant. The City of Smithville Secretary-Treasurer, Hunter Hendrixson, testified at the Tennessee Utility Management Review Board (UMRB) that as of “March 2013, before the UMRB hearing, the City had paid the Calvert Street Group in excess of $78,000, not including legal fees to the attorneys representing ‘ratepayers’ in UMRB proceedings.”
There are still legal battles pending between the two groups. I’m not necessarily worried about the fact that they are fighting over rates or that they don’t really get along. I’m concerned with the fact that the unnecessary quibbling of these groups is costing taxpayers/ ratepayers in the City of Smithville and beyond a lot of money. And this is apparently at the behest of a few as opposed to the majority. In an article in WJLE dated April 4, 2013, the UMRB board reviewing this issues is quoted as saying, “I believe there was major bias demonstrated throughout this hearing today where the public relations firm [The Calvert Street Group] actually drummed up the people to sign the petition and even offered them prizes if they got a lot of people signed up.” See http://www.wjle.com/news/2013/umrb-dismisses-dud-ratepayers-petition (Emphasis added)
If the public is not behind the frenzy and it is really being ginned up by this firm, what is the point? Who really wants to stop this plant from being built? These are questions that may not get answered. But I was told by a professor years ago to “follow the money” in order to get to people’s motivations about things. At this point, I haven’t found the end of the rainbow.
The Calvert Street Group certainly has. It is apparently still employed by the City as of January 2014. There was a “robo call” made per the Group’s order to all DUD members about a public hearing in January. “Only one DUD customer showed up for the hearing and he did not speak.” That’s another $5,000 of taxpayer money sent to Nashville.
The City’s opposition to this water plant by DUD stems from an argument that purchasers of water from the City will have to have a rate hike if DUD gets its own plant. The only thing that has happened thus far is that the City has spent in excess of $100,000 on a PR firm that was able to get one DUD customer to a public hearing. Money well spent.
The rate hikes behind all this is a bit fuzzy as well. The City must run its utilities and services, per statute, at cost. Meaning, they cannot profit from these entities. Yet, the City has a surplus over its operational budget according to WJLE’s reporting. (Also this information can be found at the State Comptroller’s website.) Recently, the City has voted to raise the rates to DUD to $5.00 per thousand gallons of water. That is a 144% increase. A recent study of the City’s operational expenses found that the City’s average cost is “$2.67” but could be as low as “$2.25.” (Warren Study, See WJLE.COM) Is this rate hike arbitrary? Is it retaliatory? If the goal was to stop DUD from building the treatment plant, this is not the way to go about it.
Yes, lets charge our best customer double what they have been paying… that’ll keep them coming back for more. (Maybe that was a bit overboard but I haven’t seen a good reason yet)
It is unclear what will happen with the water plant and whether DUD will get relief from the rate hikes placed upon it by the City. But there is something to be taken from this fiasco. Do not sleep on local politics. I can claim as an excuse my preparation for law school finals and the bar exam. But I live in this city, own property in this city and drink the water that this City provides. I was completely unaware that my representatives had voted to pay this amount of money to a PR firm. That’s on me. It won’t go unnoticed again.
More research is needed to see who the actual board members were at the time of the hiring. However, the agreement between the City and The Calvert Street Group is a month to month agreement. It has been renewed or allowed to continue in excess of 20 months at $5,000 per month. What have we received in return? I would argue nothing, but that’s just me. That’s on the current board members.
That’s where I stand. Please feel free to comment below. If you agree, fine. If you don’t, please tell me why. I believe in open debate and honest disagreements. But please give me something to work with, namely facts.
Full disclosure, I am not a DUD member nor am I a DUD ratepayer. I live in the City of Smithville. I understand there is pending litigation regarding these issues and this is meant only as an opinion of the issues publicly stated. There may be many more facts that have yet to be disclosed. I am open to changing my mind if and when those facts appear that warrant such an alteration.
Information for this post came from WJLE.com articles covering this issue. All credit is given to WJLE.com for their work and coverage of this important issue.
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