NO PITCHFORKS PLEASE, JUST DON'T PITCH US ANOTHER PILE OF DUNG!

This is the first time I have written about the water billing issue in Brockton in 4 months. Revisiting the water billing issue over the last year I have gone thru the archives and all the articles that I have written since August of 2010. I got involved initially because I was outraged at the treatment the residents were getting by the DPW. Being blamed for leaky toilets and taking long showers and every excuse in the book. August 2010 to January 2011 I went full steam ahead, writing, interviews, photo's, video's and initiated the first Water Party Rally in August 2010. I decided to wait until the audit was concluded. After reading the audit its still my belief that the residents are still being blamed. The audit concluded different meter types, employee's who were not trained properly on the Munis billing system and numerous other faults but not mismanagement, that was outside the scope even though we were told the audit would cover everything from "Soup to Nuts." Throughout this ordeal the residents were told their houses would not be liened but they were. That the audit would fix everything and that everything is going to work out. What has worked out is for the upper management of the DPW.




DOUBLE CLICK TO ENLARGE.

We have faulty meters and your toilet leaks are what the residents are told but never an apology or any accountability of how this actually happened. Now we are being told to move forward and don't take pitchforks to the management. The bill below is an actual bill and not an estimated bill. It shows that for the first quarter of 2010 a total of 28 cubit feet of water or roughly 200 gallons of water was used for 3 months. This is a household of 2 and the average house uses about 100 gallons of water a day. Heck when you flush your toilet you use about 3 gallons of water. This was a new meter and when I called the water systems manager I was asked if I went to Florida for the winter. I asked what we owe and was told just to pay the bill. This is just one bill of many that I have seen like this and was brought to the attention of DPW back in March 2010.
Is it a billing error absolutely, did the city loose money, they sure did. I came forward but how many never came forward on bills like these. We need accountability and not what we already knew that the equipment was old and the software was outdated and the system was broke. Who broke it and how long was it broke. In the private sector a company that looses money and treats customers like dirt wouldn't survive. Now we are told to move forward without pitchforks but tell that to the people who have liens on their houses. Tell that to Mr. Ford who in the Audit report concludes that his bill is unusual and is extremely high. If the system is broke and we use the same people to fix it then are we setting us up for another disaster. We need new management and people who care about their jobs in this economy and know they work for the residents of Brockton and not themselves or the Mayor. They need to stop using the City as their own personal bankroll and stop acting like they are the privileged few. Decent Brocktonians who have been the glue that has held this community together were disillusioned by their own City officials and upper DPW management.


People its time for a change and that change is coming this fall. Get out and vote and if your not registered please go to city hall and do it. We can't fix Brockton with the same thinking that got us into this mess. My focus is change and we can do this at the polls. Elect officials who will back new policies and hold people accountable and liable for their positions. Look at the candidates who have been there from the start who sat down with residents to save their homes like Jass and Michele did. Hold the standards high for these elected officials and listen to the ones who have been in the ditches with us and not the ones who have told us what we want to hear but actually are working and committing themselves in their actions everyday to make Brockton a better place for us. We have some good people running for our city who prove in their works like Jass Stewart, Michele Dubois, Kate Archard and Tom Monahan who have helped Brockton fight the good fight.