I wasn't running for Mayor.
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A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO THE ANDERSON CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR AND MANAGER
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Pappy. your missing the point. If someone can help you and about 9,000 other people don't you think you could put aside your differences and work on this thing together. Maybe then you could find other things to agree on and then maybe all this bitter fighting about BS stop.
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Pappy. your missing the point. If someone can help you and about 9,000 other people don't you think you could put aside your differences and work on this thing together. Maybe then you could find other things to agree on and then maybe all this bitter fighting about BS stop.
-noeline
Noeline,
T have to ask, why do you think that Mr. Driver now wants to fight City Hall about water rates and would welcome my help in that endeavor ? You seem to imply that I am the only impediment to such a cooperative venture.
Since I opposed his candidate for Mayor and his County slate this past election, I think he would have a bigger problem working with me than vice versus.
You are from Jersey so you know what I mean when I say “the fix is in“. The rate problem solution was sought but not found in the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s, the Senate Judiciary Committee, nor the County Council.
Let’s assume Rick and I became buddies and found the dough to finance a petition ( not easy nor cheap ), then what.? Do we board the rickety ( pun intended ) bus, with Driver as the driver, and head for Columbia to see. . . who exactly ?
The main part of the ‘fix’ is Home Rule. Municipalities in SC are a small part of the County and a smaller part of the State. Yet they have secured disproportionate power and since politics is all about getting and keeping the vote, they are not likely to lose it any time soon.
Consider that the City Manager pledged the City to a single water rate three times in a letter to State legislators. He then broke that promise a couple of years later and guess what happened---nothing.
Noeline, I truly appreciate your efforts to suggest simplistic solutions to a complex problem, but a look see at the history of the purchase and operation of this white elephant might give a different understanding as to the magnitude of the issue.
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Well water rates are certainly insane here in Anderson. We have HP water & Sewer and my bills are always different. One month my bill will be $38.00 then the next month my bill is $90.00. Now let me explain that my family recycles water as much as we can. We have buckets in our shower to catch the water for flushing toilets or watering our plants. We do not run the water while brushing our teeth,shaving, ect. When I confront the water company about the huge bill, the next few months my bill will stay around $38.00. Hp water has had many complaints about them and when you do complain to them they tell you that you can shut off your water. You see they have a lock down here, there are no other water companies available. Also the water company now has a $ 250.00 deposit just to have your water turned on, the funny thing is that only $50.00 counts as a deposit, the rest the water company uses a "service fee". Now tell me who do you turn to to fight this injustice? I do know that several people have contacted the BBB but all they will do is take the complaint. We have lived here and have had service with HP water for over 10 yrs, when we moved here we had to pay a $100.00 deposit and have never ever seen a dime of that back. You would think that if a customer has never been late or never ever missed a payment that they would give you back at least part of your deposit.Not these guys. So to me it looks like we all have problems with water companies.
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Pappy, I'm not suggesting you and RD become great friends, but I have known of enemys that have come together for a single purpose and then things weren't quite as contentious as they had been. You may have opposed him when he ran for mayor (He did? When?). what I am saying is that Driver seems to like to fight city hall and seems to have some clout in attaining that goal in Columbia.
Your right Pappy being from NJ I do know what the fix is in means however I have seen the machine lose in NJ a few times and always because of private citizens.
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Angel, I with you the water companies here seem to be able to do what they want to the citizens of SC and the deposit thing is only one of the faults with the water companies. So I think we ought to start a petition on the blog and anyone who has a problem with the water companies can sign it we include Pappy's problem and the fact that deposits are not returned after a year and there is no claim of interest on the deposit. We just need to find someone that is computer savy enough to set up the petition on-line and then the ability to have people sign it.
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A prime example of clout going wrong is the Governorship of Illinois being tied to payoffs and graft. I would imagine whatever tie this person claims to have will be scrutinized with fervor by both public and social entities.
Class action lawsuits are usually profitable and end up with results. Have you solicited the citizens of your area into pursuing this breech of promise? i know too little about your direct situation to add further.
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Noeline I agree with you 100% when I questioned the water company about our deposit, they told me that they have all deposits in a bank account. when I asked if I get any of the interest earned they told me no that it belongs to them. Now I know how they were able to pay each board member who came to my community meeting $50.00 per meeting.Seeing as these board members lived in HP I saw no reason why they needed to recieve money to attend. When this was brought out into the open they stopped doing it.yes they even stopped attending meetings.
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Angelsc,
I don't know if you live in or outside the municipal limits of HP, so I can't tell if you are paying premium rates or not. I do know that your utility, as mine, is a municipally owned water utility monopoly. This means that it can pretty much do whatever it wants because there is no Public Service Commission oversight.
The BBB is probably useless in the case of your utility since you can't get your water from a competitor so the number of complaints scored against it is meaningless.
What makes all this so illogical is that if your utility was investor-owned, it would be forced to submit all fees, rates, etc. to the SC Public Service Commission for approval and it would be permitted only one rate per user classification.
So what that comes down to is, BY SC LAW a municipally owned utility can legally enforce policies that would be illegal if followed by an investyor owned utility.
Seems crazy to me, but then I am just another damn Yankee.
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Is Homeland Park water company municipally owned? I thought it is an independent water company.
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Is Homeland Park water company municipally owned? I thought it is an independent water company.-non-sequitur
I believe it is municipally owned since a rate survey developed by the City of Anderson indicated that it had dual residential rates depending on whether you live inside or outside the cityline.
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You may have opposed him when he ran for mayor (He did? When?). what I am saying is that Driver seems to like to fight city hall and seems to have some clout in attaining that goal in Columbia.
-noeline
Driver did not run for Mayor. He supported Mayor Shirley's reelection and had a discussion that included references to me on the air. I had never heard his show nor knew about the on-air conversation until a neighbor told me.
Mrs Pappy and I drove out to the station and I asked to buy a tape so that I could hear what was said. Driver told us he didn't have tapes of the show. I then asked for equal time to relate my position on the then Mayor's involvement in the purchase and operation of the water utility. He refused.
End of story.
As for his clout in Columbia, if the comments in another topic about a bus trip to Columbia to protest the Preston deal are true, it appears his clout is as powerful as mine would be trying to get a hit off of Nolan Ryan.
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Pappy, I think for Christmas I will give myself a present and not read anymore of your posts regarding the whole water thing. You seem to poo-poo every idea that anyone comes up with to try and help you. You do not seem willing to try anything new or old. I have come to the conculsion that we all need something to complain about and yours is the water dept.
I still love you and Mrs Pappy, but this seems to be a no win thing with you
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Pappy, I think for Christmas I will give myself a present and not read anymore of your posts regarding the whole water thing. You seem to poo-poo every idea that anyone comes up with to try and help you. You do not seem willing to try anything new or old. I have come to the conculsion that we all need something to complain about and yours is the water dept.
I still love you and Mrs Pappy, but this seems to be a no win thing with you
-noeline
Noeline,
The only idea I have poo-pooed, as you so endearingly put it, was that Driver could wave a magic wand and solve this issue.
I have tried just about everything else, but refuse to give up because the concept of having no oversight on municipally owned water utilities is inconceivable.
Understand, personally my wife and I don't use enough water to make it an economic issue for us. However, for a single parent with kids to wash daily and loads of clothes it becomes one. Add to that the current economic crisis and the city is squeezing those that can least afford to pay a double water bill each month.
This practice is as un-American as 'taxation without representation',and as un-Christian as 'screw thy neighbor'.
Illegal, I don't know. But the State constitution says that every citizen is to be afforded equal protection under
the law. When one customer of a monopolistic government utility pays half that of another, and the only distinction is inches from the city line, I can't be convinced that this is equal protection.
Unfortunately you won't read this because this post reagrds the 'water thing', but I do wish you and yours a wonder filled Christmas and a depressionless New Year.
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OK Pappy one more time I have read your reply and think I know the problem. First I did not say that Driver could solve it. I said he might be able to help especially since this is a non-political issue. Second I did say he seems get that word there "seems" to be able to connect to people in Columbia. and this is the important part when they (Driver and the Gang) do one of their trips to Columbia, this is the important part they make the television. Guess what that does
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Oh groan.... Pappy, once again, I paid SIX HUNDRED BUCKS over five years ago for a tap for a water line and it STILL is not run down my way yet. I would dearly LOVE to have your problem. At least I would have water.
Bah humbug, y'all! (Pappy, love ya but just wish I could share your problem - them I would at least have water.)
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Sir- You must work for the City. According to Electric City Utilites
"Water is not a right, it is a 'privilege'".
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Oh groan.... Pappy, once again, I paid SIX HUNDRED BUCKS over five years ago for a tap for a water line and it STILL is not run down my way yet. I would dearly LOVE to have your problem. At least I would have water.
Bah humbug, y'all! (Pappy, love ya but just wish I could share your problem - them I would at least have water.)
-the-queen
Queen;
Curious, what utility would be supplying you water if the line was run to your house ?
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Sir- You must work for the City. According to Electric City Utilites
"Water is not a right, it is a 'privilege'".-g-papadopolis
Papa, one of the 'rights' enunciated in the Declaration of Independence is the right to Life. I would argue with the City that water is obviously essential to Life, therefore it is a right. The City has the privilege of supplying it so its customers may 'pursue happiness'. They purchased that privilege from Duke.
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