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Written by Charlie Kratovil
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Sunday, 16 May 2010 19:54 |
Municipal elections held on May 11 indicated strong public opposition to a controversial plan to sell more than 2/3 of the City of Trenton's water system. In addition to the success of numerous sale opponents in Mayoral and City Council elections, our volunteers reported over 95% of voters who were aware of the sale plan to vote against it on June 15.
After a lengthy battle to bring the issue to a public vote, the NJ Supreme Court ruled the sale could not go through without the approval of voters during the June 15th runoff election. The Stop the Sale campaign is committed to defeating the short-sighted proposal, which would cost Trenton taxpayers money and increase water bills in the city and in the surrounding suburbs of Hamilton, Lawrence, Ewing, and Hopewell.
The water deal is a bad deal for Trenton. Selling our most valuable asset to a for-profit corporation will cause layoffs and lost jobs for Trenton residents as meter-reading jobs will be eliminated. The sale of the majority of the water system will also burden taxpayers with unnecessary system separation costs and put Trenton in a vulnerable position that could easily lead to the privatization of the remainder of the Water Works in the near future. Furthermore, there is a clause in the contract that would permit NJ American Water to end their business relationship with the City after just three years, leaving Trenton high and dry, with infrastructure to provide water to five municipalities but no customers outside of Trenton.
Do the right thing and Vote NO to the deal on June 15th to keep our water publicly controlled and keep generating revenue for the City. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 May 2010 16:02 |
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Supreme Court to hear arguments March 22 |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 25 February 2010 11:07 |
It was announced today that the New Jersey Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding whether or not the split and sale of part of the Trenton Water Utility is subject to a public referendum on Monday, March 22 at 10:00 a.m.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 10:58 |
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Mayor ties budget concerns back to TWW sale |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 18 May 2009 12:25 |
Judge Feinberg granted the water works petitioners reconsideration of her earlier opinion declaring the petition invalid.
The following was written by Greg Forester for his blog The Ruins of Trenton and is included here with his permission.
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg granted a motion on Monday that could allow the group of Trenton residents who have protested the sale to put the question to a vote sometime in the
coming months.
The ruling represents a reversal for the City of Trenton and New Jersey American Water Co., both of which attempted to have the citizens’ protest petition thrown out but now find themselves in the
position of having to convince Judge Feinberg as to why the sale should not be put to a vote.
The critical issue to Monday’s ruling was whether or not the suburban Trenton Water Works infrastructure set to be sold serves more than 5 percent of the city’s population. If it does, Judge Feinberg said,
the city is obligated to put the sale to a referendum at some point in the coming months regardless of the existence of a petition.
The 5 percent issue reemerged as a critical issue after the petitioners produced expert testimony stating that the outlying system did serve more than 5 percent of the city’s population, requiring the sale to be put to a vote. Judge Feinberg, when presented with the testimony, reversed her earlier decision pending a new hearing.
Under the new development the city and water company have until Friday to provide the citizens and the court with information about whatever expert testimony the two entities plan to bring into the debate,
setting the stage for a plenary hearing that will decide the fate of the ballot question.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 10:59 |
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NJ American Water Seeks Auto Rate Hikes |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 04 May 2009 08:49 |
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New Jersey American Water, the privately held utility poised to purchase the outlaying water distribution system from the Trenton Water Works, is petitioning the Board of Public Utilities to allow it to automatically increase water rates up to 7.5% each quarter.
In an article in the Times on Saturday, May 2, it was explained that if approved, the need for the rate increases could be demonstrated retroactively rather than before going into effect.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 06 April 2010 11:00 |
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