The following guest post was written by Dennis L. Green, a retired certified Professional Engineer from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). Dennis graduated from Cass Technical High School’s Electrical program in 1963 and received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Lawrence Tech in 1969. After graduation, Dennis went to work for the Detroit Water Department, Engineering […]

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has extended the moratorium on shutting off water to the homes of Detroiters with unpaid bills for another 20 days, until August 25th. City officials are working on an improved process for collecting unpaid bills and plans to announce the new plan later this week: Detroit’s moratorium on residential water shutoffs over unpaid water bills will […]

Depends on what your definition of “moratorium” is, I guess… Last week, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, bowing to pressure from Detroit bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes, instituted what they said was a 15-day moratorium on water shutoffs in Detroit. However, despite this, water shutoffs continue: The Detroit water department recently announced a temporary break in its campaign to cut […]

Sometimes not “everything” should be on the table

In a recent interview prior to assuming his new position as the Emergency Manager of Detroit, Kevyn Orr said that “everything is on the table” with regard to solving Detroit’s financial problem. Not only that, he specifically said that “everything is on the table” with regard to the future of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department. This could include, according to Orr, sale or privatization of the department.

This would be a HUGE mistake. Click through for why sale or privatization of the department should be taken OFF the table before any further discussions take place.