Lowering water rates (January 28, 2017)

While it is accurate that Apple Valley Assistant Town Manager Marc Puckett has stated that water rates can be lowered should the Town be successful in its hostile takeover of Liberty Utilities (Eminent domain case slow to start, Daily Press, January 28, 2017), it is worth noting that then-mayor-pro-tem Barb Stanton elaborated on this statement by pointing out this would not happen until the bond is paid off, that is, 30 years or more after the long, drawn-out acquisition process (Assemblyman discusses benefits, pitfalls of water system acquisition, Daily Press, October 8, 2015).

In thirty-plus years, those of us who are still alive won’t still be in office, which means there is no accountability attached to Mr. Puckett’s promise of lower water rates based on his flawed (and now outdated) analysis. Of course, once the Town seizes control of the water system, there’s no going back, no matter how badly it turns out.

Our water system currently is locally controlled, fully funded, well run, competitively-priced, and completely transparent, in stark contrast to affairs at Town Hall. Why anyone would want a bunch of feckless and unaccountable nabobs at Town Hall running our water system instead of leaving it to the professionals at Liberty Utilities is a real mystery.

Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.

Published: Daily Press, February 5, 2017