Indiana

Water Works

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

I’m taking brief respite from blogging about Indiana Black Expo and yesterday’s arrest of Shamus Patton.  I’m working on a longer, more analytical piece which I will throw up tomorrow because I need a couple more pieces to fall into place.  In the interim I would like to pontificate on the proposed transfer of the city’s water and waste water facilities to Citizens Gas.

The City-County Council’s Utility Committee voted 7-4 to move the deal to the full Council.  All six Republicans voted for the deal, as did Paul Bateman.  I asked Bateman why he supported the deal, and he told me keeping sewage from backing up into his constituents sinks ad fixing their crumbling roads were more important than playing politics.

Democrats on the Committee did offer up a some amendments, two of which  surprised me because of the legal issues they would create.  One of which would have allowed the city to take back the water company if Citizens failed to provide “adequate service”.  When I heard that the lawyer alarm in my head went nuts, because the amendment did not define what “adequate service” was and anybody and everybody who didn’t like what was going on could haul Citizens into court.

The second amendment offered was a little more complicated, but still sent off a couple of legal flares as well.  Democrats offered an amendment that would require that 30% of Citizens contracts go to women and minority owned businesses, a goal similar to that of the current water companies.  Right now Citizens has adopted the city’s participation goals which are about 18%.    The legal issue here would be that Citizens is defined as a public utility and in order to increase those goals it must be based on a disparate impact study geared toward addressing past discrimination.  The last such study was done in the early 2000s.  To me if Democrats wanted to include language increasing minority participation they would have asked for a second study be done and based on those results had new goals put into place into the agreement.

I don’t know who was giving them legal advice, but someone should get their money back.  I think it was the same people who told the Baptist Ministers Alliance that it would be a good idea to bring Al Sharpton to town.

Oh well, now that the measure has gotten out of committee, it goes to the full Council.  By my last count, the measure will pass with at least 18 votes, 15 Republicans and 3 Democrats.  Libertarian Ed Coleman is still undecided and the remaining 10 Democrats are all “no” votes.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on July 20, 2010 (boomark / email).