First it was the calls to the newspapers and the interviews from the local TV stations. Then came the Brockton Water Party and now the group Brockton United Voices headed by Ayana Cato and Bob Ford are pushing forward with legal action because of the mounting interests on their bills and still no co-operation from the Water Department. Last night at the City Council meeting they unanimously approved the money for the water audit which is expected to begin in Febuary but the group isn't waiting any longer.
"We have a group of people who are meeting with a lawyer this Wednesday night to discuss potential litigation based on bills that we have kept as a group from residents of the water rally as well as inter-department memos that show a steady rate of failure within their own system" says Ford. Among the information that Mr.Ford has collected were consumption reports and emails sent to him by people and one with connections to the department saying "the solution will expose the ineptitude of those individuals running the show".
Many people in the group were disappointed that within the audit scope it didn't include specific writing that called for a group of citizens with water billing issues to be updated and also be interviewed and involved in the audit process and in many peoples minds the auditors could be biased by the water department opinion of the job they are doing and by still putting blame on the residents. "I don't trust the water department or the audit now because of the time span" said Ayana Cato. The group is still getting calls from people with water billing issues and 2 new people showed up at the meeting last night. Mr.Ford was armed with his black book and when asked what else he has in it he said "Everything that has been said by the department since this all started, every newspaper article, emails, erroneous bills, consumption reports and numbers of people with billing issues". So having seen the bills and consumption reports, one that sticks out that was shown was for an A read that was for the first quarter of this year and for a single family home with 2 people living in it. The bill was for 210 gallons of water and that was for a 90 day period. So armed with this type of information and his black book, Mr. Ford is going to fight water with water. Anyone interesting in attending the free consultation with the Lawyer Wednesday night and for more information can call Mr.Ford at 508-584-7757 or go to their website at
Brocktonunitedvoices.blogspot.com The meeting that Mr. Thoreson was called before the City Council he said if people have a problem to call him. I asked Mr.Ford would he sit down with him and he said "I would sit down with Mr.Thoreson and ask my son who is a Brockton Firefighter, BrocktonBeat, The Brockton Post and Amy Littlefield from the Enterprise to come with me and please explain once and for all how I used over 1,000,000 gallons of water". Mr. Fords case has been out there for awhile and for the sake of a man who has had open heart surgery and has probably paid 100 times more in taxes than in what he owes to the water department($12,000) please sit with us and show us how the water department can justify these figures. I think this is a fair and reasonable request and if you cant sit down with this man face to face and talk to him with witnesses at least in good faith take a look at his bill and please explain it to him. The next Water Commission meeting is Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9a.m. at 39 Montauk Road.
EXAMPLE OF ERRONEOUS BILLS
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The following is just one example of a bill that is an Actual read, this is not an estimated bill. Double click on it and it should go to full size. The first quarter was billed for just 28 cubic feet or roughly 210 gallons of water for 90 days. This is for a single family house with 2 adults living in it. That means the house was billed for using less than 4 gallons of water a day. the average use per person per day is 100 gallons of water. Taking a shower you use about 30 gallons of water. When you flush your toilet you use about 1-3 gallons of water. Washing your hand you use about 1 gallon of water. The second bill is slightly higher at 897 cubic feet or about 6727 gallons of water over 90 days or 75 gallons of water a day. Again same house and 2 adults. Now these are actual reads and if you look at the first bill the water in 28 cubic feet is billed at $22.43 but the water out is only 82 cents. The second bill is slighly higher but still off. Now in good faith Mr. Creedon was called and told about this bill and he said " I cant explain why its so low, did you go to Florida for the winter". If a bill that is an ACTUAL READ CAN BE WRONG AND WE KNOW MORE WATER IS USED WHY CANT MR.FORDS BILL BE WRONG AND LOOKED INTO AND TAKEN CARE OF. IT WORKS BOTH WAYS AND THIS IS WHAT THE GROUP HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO. SO WHEN THEY SAY THEY HAVE A BOX OF THESE TYPES OF BILLS AND THE FIRST PERSON THAT GETS THEM IS THE AUDITOR THAT STEPS THRU THE FRONT DOOR OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT THEN IS THE GROUP GOING TO GET ANSWERS. PEOPLE LOOK AT THIS FIRST BILL, IT IS AN ACTUAL BILL AND IT CAME FROM THE SAME WATER COMPANY THAT IS OVERBILLING PEOPLE BUT IN THE CASE UNDERBILLED AND THE HOMEOWNER WANTED TO DO RIGHT BUT WAS TOLD WAIT FOR THE NEW METERS. IF THIS BILL IS SUPPOSEDLY RIGHT AND WE KNOW IT WRONG THEN I PROPOSE THAT MR.FORDS AND AYANA CATO'S BILL FIT INTO THE SAME CATEGORY AS THIS BILL.
