WATER BILL DISPUTE ENTERS NEW PHASE

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—Interviews of residents with disputed water bills by the city’s independent auditing firm are set to begin next week—a round of interviews that began with city councilors earlier this month.
Interviews with residents are expected to begin Monday, Feb. 28 and will continue Monday, March 7, several officials and residents said.
Councilor interviews began Feb. 8 and members met with The Abrahams Group in shifts over the next couple of weeks.
Each of the city’s ward councilors is expected to pick one resident to meet with the review team. Councilor-at-Large Thomas Brophy, the only councilor at large to choose a resident, has picked Robert Ford, a resident who has been vocal and public about his fight with the water department over his bill that was reduced to $12,000—a figure Ford believes is still erroneous.
Among those who are expected to meet with auditors are Ayanna Yancey Cato—the woman who received a $100,000 bill—and Marianne Silva, who has paid her bill, but disputes the numbers involved.
Not all city councilors have made public their picks-yet.
Ward 1 Councilor Timothy Cruise said he has asked a particular lady, but has not heard back if she will be able to attend.
Ward 3 Councilor Dennis Eaniri said in a telephone message and Council President Paul Studenski said in a telephone interview they have made their picks, but are also uncertain if the residents will accept or will be able to make the scheduled interviews.
Dennis DeNapoli could not be reached for comment, but sources have said he has made his pick, but it is uncertain if the resident has accepted.
Kathy Jewett, who was chosen by Ward 7 Councilor Chris MacMillan, is president of the Fieldside Gardens Condominiums Association,which has had ongoing problems with meter readings and problem bills.
Jewett and others in the condo complex have tracked their water bills for over two years and since the latest snafu have had maintenance personnel monitor and record the meters on a quarterly basis—a step Jewett said should not be necessary, but is considering the problems.
Jewett said during the summer when the water bill issue erupted, the condominium complex was hit with a $55,000 bill that was reduced, but the change left numerous questions about the process and formula used to decrease the bill.
She said condo owners are still getting far-fetched bills and are still working with the water department to fix the problems. Steps have been taken to find leaks and none have been found, she said.
“No one is getting an actual read,” Jewett said. “The actuals are actually based on estimates,” she said.
One of the reasons she, Ford and others want to bring their individual problems to the review team is to ensure the auditors understand what the problems are and that the review includes all of the issues associated with metering and billing problems—not just the ones city officials might have mentioned.
“We want to make sure the system is fixed. We want to make sure bills that say they are actual reads are just that, and not based on estimated water use,” Jewett said.
Residents also want to ensure a process is in place that outlines the formula and criteria water officials used to reduce bills that were seemingly high.
“There’s no paperwork. No one knows how they came up with these numbers,” Jewett said. For full article please see The BrocktonPost.com

BROCKTON RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT PART 4

BROCKTON RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT PART 3

BROCKTON RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT PART 2

The second part of Brockton residents speaking out on January 31, 2011 about the water billing systems and how many residents have recieved liens placed on their property taxes for billing errors and recieving estimated bills, some that go back over 10 years and now recieving actual bills. The water department has given the reason to faulty meters, outdated software, leaking toilets and many residents do not understand how they come up with bills as high as $100,000 in one womans case. The department is blaming everyone and everything but not accepting any responsiblity in the perfect man-made storm of catastrophe that might have some residents loose their homes. The system does not run itself and management is put in place to run a efficient department but every meter they say are outdated, when the department tests them, they say the meters are fine. I ask why are they still blaming the meters then. Listen to the residents they tell it the best.

BROCKTON RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT PART 1

Brockton United Voices and residents of Brockton came out in show off support on January 31, 2011 for the first Water Meeting concerns Major water system billing errors and mismanagement at the department. Many of the residents came out because now the City of Brockton has choosen to put tax liens on residents propety tax and will add another step for residens to take to safe guard their houses in this down spiral economy. An Audit is going forward but the question remains still, why were these liens put on the first place when the department knew about the ongoing water billing problems.Broken meters, outdated software, homes that have leaks have all been given as an explanation but companies need people to run them and apparently at the department much has gotten by in the past 5 years that in any other sector such as the private sector or a water ultitlity that was under DPU guidlines would never seen the light of day. Another major question is why was the audit taken away from the Mayor when the residents were told this would not effect their homes. The Mayor wanted the Audit back in July but some councilors for priveledged reason choose to fore stall that measure and this person believes that is one of the reasons that the homes are liened today. Like the old saying "Be leary of clothes dressed up in sheeps clothing". We will be compiling the meeting into 4 or 5 parts and this part the residents speak. When we get to the part where the lawyers speak we will break that down word for word and try to read between the lines. Good luck to everyone who has a lien and has to deal with this department. It is time for privatization.

WATER BILL MEETING TO BE HELD MONTHLY

 

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—Residents who attended an informational meeting about disputed water bills are expected to submit a petition to Mayor Linda Balzotti to act in the matter, including enacting a new ordinance that would require the water department perform an actual meter reading every year—a policy similar to the state’s Department of Public Utilities requirements.
“That’s the industry practice and standard,” said Ward 6 City Councilor Michelle DuBois, who along with Councilor-at-large Jass Stewart and numerous residents with Brockton United Voices organized Monday night’s meeting held at the Mary Baker Elementary School.
(FOR FULL ARTICLE SEE BROCKTON POST)

LETTER FROM ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE REGARDING VIOLATION OF OPEN MEETING LAW

Open Meeting Law Complaint Brockton, Ma