[WATERFORALL] press release-Mayoral conference should support public water syste

[Guest guest]

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:11:33 -0400

" Maj Fiil-Flynn " <mfiil

[WATERFORALL] press release-Mayoral conference should support

public water system

 

 

News from Public Citizen's Water For All Campaign

**********

 

PUBLIC CITIZEN PRESS RELEASE

 

 

For Immediate Release: Contact: Erica Hartman

(202) 454-5174

June 13, 2005 Maj

Fiil-Flynn (202) 454-5178

 

Public Citizen Urges U.S. Mayors to Oppose

Water Privatization in Their Cities

 

As Annual Conference Takes Place in Chicago, Consumer Group Urges

Public Support of Water to be Priority in Coming Year

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM)

gathers in Chicago for its annual meeting, Public Citizen today urged

the organization to strengthen its commitment to protecting municipal

water systems with public oversight and accountability, and not to hand

control of the systems to private water companies.

 

In a letter sent to more than 40 mayors serving in the conference

leadership, Public Citizen urged support for proposals to establish

federal trust funds to finance water and wastewater infrastructure,

such

as the safe water trust fund that was recently proposed to the U.S.

House of Representatives. " Enthusiastic support from the USCM could do

much to assure safe and clean water service in homes, businesses,

schools and hospitals nationwide, " the letter said.

 

The group also sent the mayors a report it issued today detailing the

many examples of failed water privatization efforts around the country.

 

 

With many cities struggling to get the necessary funding to

maintain and upgrade existing water infrastructure, private water

companies are eyeing mayors as a new business target. They are lobbying

the USCM's water arm, the Urban Water Council, to convince it that

privatized water would be a cost-efficient solution to local budget

crises. And it appears to be working. Instead of enthusiastically

supporting the establishment of federal trust funds to address the

nation's massive clean and safe water infrastructure needs, the USCM

reserves its strongest support for a corporate-backed proposal to lift

the cap on private activity bonds, a tax-free financing option,

effectively encouraging privatization through cheap financing for

corporations at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.

 

" These private water providers are taking advantage of local

officials who are desperate to keep their water systems up and

running, "

said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Water for All

campaign. " But these companies exist to make money off our water

systems, not to help mayors or consumers with clean and affordable

water. "

 

In the report, Waves of Regret: What Some Cities Have Learned

and Other Cities Should Know About Water Privatization Fiascos in the

United States, Public Citizen details the pitfalls of privatization in

jurisdictions throughout the United States and its territories,

including not only better-known examples such as Atlanta, Stockton, New

Orleans and Puerto Rico, but in more than a dozen other cities from

coast to coast. The report also analyzes national privatization trends,

developments and policies in the context of corporate strategies and

track records.

 

Private water companies view federal financial assistance for

water and wastewater infrastructure as a " subsidy " that gives cities an

unfair competitive advantage over private water companies. They oppose

increased federal funding for water and wastewater systems, in the hope

that the more financially troubled a city's system, the more receptive

city leaders will be to ceding control over that system to a private

operator. But privatized water systems often result in higher rate

increases for consumers, backlogged maintenance and repair requests,

poor customer service and a loss of local oversight and control.

 

" So-called public-private partnerships don't exist on an equal playing

field. We've seen too many examples of private companies making money

and giving the city nothing in return, " said Hauter. " Privatization of

such an essential public resource is doomed to fail because water is

not

a commodity. "

 

To read Public Citizen's letter to the conference, go to

http://www.citizen.org/documents/mayorsletter.pdf. To read Public

Citizen's report, go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/waves.pdf.

 

###

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization

based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit

www.citizen.org.

 

**********

To to Water For All, send an email to

listserv with " Waterforall " in the

message.

 

 

For more information on the Water For All Campaign please visit

http://www.citizen.org/cmep/