Comments on Advance Indiana™: Yes, City Should Blow Up Veolia's Sweetheart Deal

I read your article on Advance Indiana this mornin...

2009-12-29T18:05:43.319-05:00

I read your article on Advance Indiana this morning " city should blow up veolia's sweatheart deal" I say privatization equals trouble.

I am a wastewater professional with over 25 years experience, both with a major municipality and with the private sector. And the main thing I learned was that privatization is nothing but a scam.

As a soon to be ex employee of veolia water I can only feel sympathy for a city that considers a company like veolia to tend to their water.

First thing they will do is whack two thirds of the work force and then instead of hiring state certified operators, they will hire so called utilities workers called O&M techs(with minimal certification)instead of bonified operators to tend to the plant. Then when things start to break down, good luck getting them fixed. veolia ran a plant without a grit chamber for almost a year if you can even imagine that, because of finger pointing and playing the blame game with the client. What a joke. And you don't even know what short staffing is until you work for veolia. One operator will be doing the work of 3. They even bring in people that are not even certified in California to run their projects.

Cheap (Veolia) is not the way to go. Best bet for any city is to run their own plant and instead of giving the 15% profit to veolia, reinvest the 15% back into the plant instead of sending it to france.

The business of water needs to remain in the public sector, then, management of these private companies can return to the business of selling womans shoes because thats all they are really good for.

Vote NO on any kind of privatization of water.

jim k

Don't you guys remember? Ballard was shipped ...

2009-11-20T14:43:41.414-05:00

Don't you guys remember? Ballard was shipped off immediately to Goldsmith's school of mayoring.

It sure seems like all those guys play out of the same handbook.

You say: "Instead of renegotiating the one-s...

2009-11-20T14:15:11.668-05:00

You say:

"Instead of renegotiating the one-sided deal after taking office and calling for a top-to-bottom investigation of what transpired under Peterson, Mayor Ballard took up where Peterson left off and hopped in bed with the contractors and lobbyists, even enhancing payments to Veolia at the same time we've seen water rates nearly double. Ballard is now looking for a way to sell the utility to a public benefit corporation like Citizens Gas & Coke."

That is the story of Ballard's administration. He time after time again falls on the sword for the sins of the Peterson administration. He takes a bad situation and makes it worse.