[Mpls] STORMWATERGATE- great name!

[gemgram]

Thanks to Jeff Strand, I appreciate your kind words.  The post was intended 
to do what it did.  Get attention! Stormwatergate is cute, thanks to David 
Brauer for that. Isn't it wonderful what humor can achieve!  Well I seem to 
have someone's attention, unfortunately no answer from the "Leaders".

I believe the real point of the post has been missed.  I am sure the Mayor 
and Council lead the effort to separately charge for "Storm Water", that was 
not a bad idea.  BUT, and it is a big butt, we are talking about the 
overcharging of poor homeowners for storm water.  Would someone please 
address that?

Last evening I reviewed several such letters and bills, and everyone of them 
from my neighborhood was overcharged by almost 300%.   Possibly 50% of the 
homeowners in my neighborhood may have been overcharged to support those 
from neighborhoods where half the yard is paved with driveways and three car 
garages.  This overcharge was due to the bill being charged on a statistical 
model that did not take into consideration non-paved driveways, lack of 
garages and "out buildings", and small footprints of two story duplexes that 
prevail in poor neighborhoods.

My alarmist post was to get attention and prevent the clear injustice of the 
situation. Leadership requires just that; "Taking the Lead".  So I would 
expect that in this election year we might expect "Leaders" to immediately 
correct the situation.  It should not be up to poor people to "Prove" they 
do not owe that amount; if they are even aware that they are being 
overcharged.  In that bill and notice there should have been included a 
notice that the bill was based on statistical information and NOT actual 
measurement.   As such the owner should be advised to carefully review it, 
and call if the measurement was faulty.  After such a call taking exception, 
it should be up to the City to measure and prove, not the poor homeowner.

Hopefully, the water department will contact all people in poorer 
neighborhoods and give such a warning.  Perhaps "leadership" will help them 
make this correction. Also hopefully, responsible neighborhood newspapers 
like David's, will report this issue and warn their readers about these 
overcharging.  In that way they might even have an awareness it is happening 
to them.

I have to apologize to that civil servant I referred to in my last post.  I 
am sure he was simply reacting that way out of frustration from many people 
calling and madly complaining to him about a policy that he had no hand in 
creating.  I, like many people, sometimes forget that "our" employees do not 
make policy and can not take leadership themselves in fixing the problem. 
We supposedly have elected leaders for that purpose. Any elected leaders 
care to respond?

Jim Graham,
Ventura Village

>"Crickets, if you can be patient in one moment of anger, you may avoid a 
>hundred days of sorrow. In swallowing of one ounce of pride, we may allow 
>the creation of several pounds of happiness." <