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It happened in Flint, Michigan where
thousands of children and pregnant women were exposed to
lead poisoning after a series of questionable decisions by
various government entities caused lead to seep into their
drinking water.
It happened in Detroit, where, in the past 10
years the water rate doubled, and during the summer of 2014
the city was performing 3,000 water shutoffs per week with
children, elderly or those with a disability accounting for
more than 50 percent of those affected; and in 2016, where
83,000 homes, more than one in six Detroit households, had
their water cut off and many children were being raised in
unsanitary dwellings without running water.
It happened in Toledo, when stores sold out,
libraries and businesses were closed and 500,000 area
residents were without water because of the toxic algae
bloom, leaving us to rely on humanitarian efforts or out of
town relatives to bring us water to drink, bathe, cook or
clean with.
So, as the City of Toledo and its suburban
leaders begin to finalize a regional water agreement (Toledo
Area Water Authority), my primary concern is, pure and
simple, the health of a community. And, what are the
potentially dire consequences for low to moderate-income
individuals and people of color who are most likely to
suffer at higher rates from a water crisis than those living
in our neighboring suburbs.
According to Eric Rothstein, a consultant
working with the Toledo Chamber of Commerce, suburban
municipalities will more than likely leave Toledo’s water
system and create their own separate authority without the
regional water agreement now proposed. If that happens, the
city will have to fund an additional $500 million in
infrastructure upgrades on their own without the revenues
they stand to lose by the suburbanites’ exit. This would be
a financial disaster for the city and Toledo’s own water
rates are expected to skyrocket as a result.
What do we Stand to Lose?
According to version 12 of the actual TAWA
Memorandum of Understanding, Toledo gives up owning and
singularly controlling the water system. However, in return,
the city also gives up the burden of financing and paying
for a sizable infrastructure project, possibly with a
lowered credit rating and therefore carrying an oppressive
interest rate. Yet, the city will have two votes and Lucas
County one, on a seven-member board that requires five votes
to pass any major rate or capital changes.
The Benefits?
In addition to stable water rates as a result
of the low cost financing of capital projects and
optimization of infrastructure investments by collaborating,
Toledo residents should benefit disproportionately compared
to others with the inclusion of the following in the MOU:
·
Water Affordability Plan – while Percentage
of Income Payments (PIP) and the Home Energy Assistance
Program (HEAP) have been available for other utilities, this
low- income assistance plan has not been available in the
past for water service. Yet water is a human right, a right
that Detroit’s politicized emergency management team
evidently did not recognize or respect. The TAWA regional
MOU then, by correlating the payment of water to income and
accounting for faulty plumbing and other factors, should
de-politicize decisions affecting shutoffs, public health
and providing service.
·
Lead Water Lines Replacement – Lead has
caused cancer. It has caused brain damage and affected our
children. Toledo definitely does not want to become another
Flint, Michigan, replacement of all lead service lines is a
must, a process which is spelled out in the regional MOU.
·
Employer of Choice – The agreement honors
relations with organized labor and calls for competitive
compensation, training and safety programs.
Where Do We Go From Here?
In my review of the latest version (12) of
the MOU, I am not aware of anything which explicitly spells
out workforce equity strategies that show a commitment to
prepare, hire and develop workers of color in the new
system. Should the new water system be a true partnership,
the new water authority must implement systemic diversity
and inclusion outcomes aimed at achieving equity within
their vision for workforce development.
For, as Mos Def, the urban hip hop
artist/activist, says:
The rich and poor, black and white got need
for it (That's right)
And everybody in the world can agree with this (Let em know)
Consumption promotes health and easiness (That's right)
Go too long without it on this earth and you leavin it
(Shout it out)
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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