Posted on 09/22/2014 12:32:51 PM PDT by BradtotheBone
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit's water department defended its shutoff policy Monday and warned that free service to people with unpaid bills could be "very devastating" to the bottom line.
Judge Steven Rhodes set aside Detroit's bankruptcy trial to hear evidence in a controversy that has been boiling all summer. A coalition representing low-income residents is asking him to suspend water shutoffs and restore service to people who have lost it.
The water department would be violating Michigan law and breaking agreements with bond holders if forced to supply water and ignore overdue bills, attorney Sonal Mithani said.
The "humanitarian concerns are very compelling" but fairness is critical, too, Mithani said, noting that 60 percent of Detroit residents are paying for water on time.
Opponents essentially are arguing that "every resident has the inherent right to free water," she said.
The water department stepped up shutoffs in March, and about 15,000 customers had service cut from April to June. Criticism and protests followed, even appeals to the United Nations.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The food police really are like Prohibition and Carrie Nation, aren’t they? Just dour, sour killjoys hellbent on control because they know better than we what’s good for us.
A skinless chicken in every pot!
Yes!
There’s plenty of free water around in Detroit. Its called “rain”.
OTOH, since Joe Taxpayer provides telephone subsidies for Joe Gibsmedat, why not water too?
Oh yes, they suck the joy from everything: “ban this, don’t eat that, hey you’re not allowed to have . . .”
Blech
And now they are making the schools a dour experience more than it already was. If MaBelle ate the way the kids are supposed to eat, she’d be a svelte figure indeed. Although she is a case of do as I say, not as I do!
If they want free water, I guess they can haul buckets down to the Detroit river and have at it.
If you want it clean and pumped into your home, you’re gonna have to pay for the convenience.
The judge should have reminded them just how close the Detroit river is to their homes......all the free water they could ever need.
Opponents essentially are arguing that “every resident has the inherent right to free water,” she said.
Yes they do. They may collect what falls from the sky, dig a hole to ground water, or gather it from rivers & lakes.
Or they may pay others to exert the same efforts more efficiently.
That would work,sure would see a world class chimp-out as a result.
No, the suburbs will end up covering the water bills through higher rates because that’s where the money is. We already pay higher water and sewerage rates than Detroit. Detroit won’t relinquish their hold over the water department and the ‘burbs aren’t allowed to break away and establish their own water department.
The only solution is to have residents that don’t want to pay for their water service line up at the Court building and receive free water by the glass, jug or bucket and have the court service provide someone to monitor the spigot and the waiting line 24/7.
The water department can be fiscally sensible and turn off non-paying customers, no person is without the ability to walk to the court and get water, and the court insures new found rights are administered — everyone gets what they want without theft.
HEHEHEH, You got it.
It is true that city electric and utilities are a ripoff. They overcharge and then complain when people stop paying.
I’m not enamored with those that refuse to pay but I find it entertaining to see the deadbeats and greedy union members go at each other. Where in the world did the idea come from that local governments and their monopoly service organizations could control water and electricity?
Deregulate power and water! Do it just like telecommunications and airlines during the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s.
I believe in egalitarianism and essentials through technology and efficient markets, not socialism and fascism which are the forces we witness here from our seats in the bleachers.
They all DO have a right to free water. Go down to the river and get some.
So once this "judge" says the 40% who aren't paying for their water are entitled to it "free" and orders the water to their residences turned back on, exactly how long does this judge think the 60% who are paying, are going to continue carrying the load for the freeloaders and moochers?
Im certain that the UN is EXTREMELY interested in this “issue” and will likely be happy to dispatch peace keeping troops....to Detroit....any day now
Yup....anything else is racist.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that one month later...no one could tell the difference.
Sure, you are.
And you can exercise that right by standing outside when it rains.
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