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Mayoral forum this Tuesday at MLK Middle School
09/02/2016 6:18 PM by John M
The Richmond City Democratic Committee will host a mayoral forum on Tuesday, September 6, at 6:00 PM at MLK Middle School.
Ned Oliver reports on richmond.com that while all of the candidates on the ballot have been invited, the timing of the forum conflicts with a longstanding City Council meeting – meaning that Michelle Mosby and Jon Baliles will either be unable to attend or will have to arrive late:
“I do not think it was innocent,” Mosby said.
Baliles’ noted the committee’s chairman, James “JJ” Minor, already has endorsed a candidate in the race, former Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney.
“This goose got cooked a long time ago,” Baliles said.
Sounds rigged
We need our local elections to be more than just popularity contests. To that end, citizens need to demand more substantive discussion of issues and platforms. In the last six years or so, issues have been consistently raised by grassroots citizens in regard to reforming the City of Richmond’s water utility.
We point to the previous Change.org petition, “Reform Richmond’s Water Rates”, with over 1700 signatures. We reference the Sierra Club Falls of the James’ statement on how there are also significant conservation concerns with the City utility’s relatively high base rate for residents. We call your attention to the recent Washington Post editorial, with the headline, Richmond Is Ripping Off It’s Residents”. It is outrageous that small volume residential citizens can pay as much as 78% of their water/sewer bill for service charges, while some above average volume users can pay as little as 11%. Furthermore, we note that the City administration has broken its promise to list all charges on their billing.
We the undersigned feel that the Richmond water rates are a vital but neglected issue that should be addressed in this election in November. The undersigned request that all candidates address this issue and request that all debates include these 3 questions:
Will the candidate support removing the federal income tax surcharge on the water rates?
Will the candidate support lowering the base service charge that all customers must pay before receiving the first drop of water?
Will the candidates support discontinuing the use of the water utility as a cash cow for the city’s general fund?