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Petition drive aims to put water, sewer systems controversy on Nov. 4 ballot
By Bob Downing
and Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writers
Published on Friday, May 02, 2008
A grass-roots coalition wants to amend Akron's charter to block Mayor Don Plusquellic from selling or leasing the city's sewer or water systems without voter approval.
The organizers will kick off a petition drive at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St.
The effort is being organized by Citizens' SOS (Save Our Sewer and Water), a coalition of citizens, labor, faith and community organizers.
The goal is to collect about 12,000 signatures and place the proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot, said Greg Coleridge of the American Friends Service Committee.
The drive will continue through July, when the petitions will be turned in to city officials to be certified, he said.
Petitioners must collect signatures equal to 10 percent of the number of Akron voters in the mayoral-council elections of last November, he said.
Akron is investigating the feasibility of leasing the city's sewer system, with its 90,000 customers in the city and suburbs, to a private company and using the upfront money it would receive from such a long-term contract to fund scholarships for Akron students to the University of Akron or trade schools.
The proposal was advanced by Plusquellic on Feb. 7 in his annual State of the City speech.
Service Director Richard Merolla is directing the city's investigation into such a concessionary lease, a study that could take up to 18 months.
The Citizens' SOS group was organized after community
meetings in March at the downtown Akron library and the East Akron Community House.
Warner Mendenhall, attorney and community activist, said that the SOS group was not formed as a ''knee-jerk'' reaction to the mayor's proposal.
''We are not saying that it (sewer and water system) should never be sold,'' he said, ''but we are saying the community has to make that decision. It's not a decision that should be just left up to the mayor or to elected officials.''
However, Mendenhall conceded that most of the people involved with SOS are opposed to selling or leasing the sewers.
He said the citizens of Akron have a vested interest in maintaining control of ''very valuable publicly owned commodities'' like public sewer or water systems.
The proposed charter language would require that any decision to sell, lease or transfer any city-owned public utility, including but not limited to the city water and sewer system, be placed on the ballot and voted upon.
''There would have to be a vote of the people to accomplish that sale,'' Mendenhall said.
Having a private company manage a public water or sewer system is a growing trend.
In 1997, there were perhaps 400 sewer and water plants in the United States that were government-owned and operated by private entities. By 2006, the number had grown to 1,784 plants in 1,463 systems, according to the editors of the Public Works Financing newsletter.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com. Carl Chancellor can be reached at 330-996-3725 or cchancellor@thebeaconjournal.com.
A grass-roots coalition wants to amend Akron's charter to block Mayor Don Plusquellic from selling or leasing the city's sewer or water systems without voter approval.
Get the full article here.
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