Last week I blogged about the possibility of privatization of Milwaukee’s Water Works, an idea first floated (pardon the pun) by City of Milwaukee Comptroller Wally Morics. In an update to that story, the Milwaukee Common Council leaders temporarily shelved study of privatizing the city’s Water Works today, to the disappointment of those who wanted the idea killed outright. Shortly after the vote was finished opponents of privatization filed out of the room chanting, “Off the table,” while one individual shouted, “Our water grows more than money.”
While today’s vote tabled consideration of the privatization plan, opponents of the plan, led by KPOW, want it shelved permanently. As I’ve said before, privatization is a bad idea, and one only needs to do a quick Google search to read some water utility privatization horror stories. As my gramma always says, “If it ain’t broke, then don’t try to fix it,” and in this case Milwaukee’s Water Works aren’t broke, so they don’t need “fixing.”
They realy didn’t even shelve it. All they did was halt the acceptance of advisory bids. But, as Ald. Bohl noted, it would take a new resolution to recind the resoution passed last year directing the comptroller to seek ways to get “dividends” from the water, ranging “from leasing to anything in between”. And as they discussed, the comptroller is still supposed to proceed on exploring those possibilities (just by himself, now, without the help of private firms).
What disturbed me most, though, was President Hines’ counter-chanting of “out the room, out the room”. Truly disgusting attitude. Also, being informed upon entry to city hall that “this is a place of business”. Don’t think they intended the irony of that statement. Public officials need to remember we’re they’re boss – not the other way around. We hire them. We can fire them.
JCG, you’re absolutely right that public officials need to remember they work for us, because it seems they’re more concerned about their own self-interests than what’s best for their constituents.
their. proofread fail.
It seemed to me Alderman Hines was bothered by the crowds chanting, while they were trying to go on to the next topic.