Temporary Restraining Order Filed Against DWSD

For immediate release:

See http://www.aclumich.org/sites/default/files/DetroitWater-TRO.pdf

Residents, Civil Rights Attorneys Urge Judge to Restore Water Services Until Litigation is Resolved

DETROIT – In an effort to preserve a moratorium on water shut-offs, a group of Detroit residents and civil rights attorneys filed court documents over the weekend asking a judge to immediately block the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) from terminating water service to any occupied residence, and to require the restoration of service to occupied residences without water. 

The moratorium is currently scheduled to end today. The ACLU of Michigan and NAACP Legal Defense fund are serving as expert consultants in the ongoing litigation.

“Without a continued moratorium on water shutoffs, thousands more Detroiters, mostly low income children, seniors, and disabled, will immediately be at risk for shutoff,” says Alice Jennings of Edwards & Jennings, P.C., counsel in the lawsuit, “A comprehensive water affordability plan, a viable bill dispute process, specific polices for landlord-tenant bills and a sustainable mechanism for evaluating the number of families in shutoff status or at risk for shutoff, is necessary prior to lifting the DWSD water shutoff moratorium.”

The motion for a temporary restraining order filed yesterday is part of a class action lawsuit, Lyda et.al v. City of Detroit, on behalf of Detroit residents affected by the mass shut-off campaign of DWSD, as well as organizations active in the fight for the restoration of and affordable access to water including Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, People’s Water Board, National Action Network-Michigan Chapter and Moratorium Now!. This suit is currently in bankruptcy court before Judge Stephen Rhodes as part of the city’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The lawsuit argues that the DWSD began water shutoffs without adequate notice and against the most vulnerable residents, while commercial entities with delinquent accounts were left alone. The suit also argues that this violates the plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights. 

“More than 17,000 homes have had their water cut off and water bills in Detroit are among the highest in the country and unaffordable to many Detroit residents,” says Kary Moss, ACLU of Michigan executive director. “The rush to resume shut offs when there are serious questions about the affordability plan, accuracy of bills, and issues with the water department's ability to process disputes, means that the City of Detroit should get its house in order before turning off anyone else's water.”

In March, DWSD began dispatching private contractors to begin shutting off water service to residents who are more than 60 days delinquent, or owe more than $150. Despite the fact that 38 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, the shut-offs began without a plan to help those who cannot pay. 

After public outcry and this lawsuit, the city implemented a moratorium and announced a 10-point plan to address the dysfunctions raised by the lawsuit and civil rights groups.

"The mayor's plan only consists of proposals and temporary fixes,” said Rev. Charles Williams of the National Action Network-Michigan Chapter. “Until actual policies are in place to ensure that residents have access to affordable water, the water shut-offs cannot be resumed. The current proposal for residents to enter into non-negotiable payment plans is only a short-term solution."

Last month, the ACLU of Michigan and NAACP LDF wrote a letter to city officials arguing that that the poorly implemented and uneven DWSD shut-off policy violates the civil and human rights, as well as the due process rights of residents because it often fails to provide them with adequate notice and a hearing that takes into account whether they actually have the ability to pay.

“DWSD must immediately restore water to all its customers,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, President of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. “In addition, they should create a reasonable timetable for a hearing and appeals process, pending resolution of these issues." 

Attorneys for residents are calling on Judge Rhodes to order DWSD to extend the moratorium to ensure that the most vulnerable Detroiters are not left without water. The moratorium on shut offs should be extended until DWSD has policies in place to ensure that collections are done in a way that doesn’t violate residents constitutional rights. 

Tawana Petty, an activist with the People’s Water Board Coalition, echoed these sentiments. "We are asking the Governor, Mayor, Emergency Manager and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to stop their assault on the citizens of Detroit and restore all water to residents. Water is life and without it, we perish.”

Reflections on the Anniversary of Dr. MLK Jr.'s assassination

Marching through Detroit, 1963. Photo from http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Dr_-Martin-Luther-King-Jr_-leading-freedom-march-in-Detroit-1963-smaller.jpg

Then, and Now…

Today marks the 46th year of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, April 4^th, 1968.  Many events have transpired since that bullet rang out just a short time ago that requires an analysis of our current situation.  Where does one start to understand the roots of the current crisis unless we compare and contrast what was then and what is now.

The attempts on Dr. King’s life are chronicled.  His pursuit of equal access throughout the South was highlighted by his relentless fight to stop the violence against Blacks in communities, on the farms, in schools, at work, and in all phases of everyday life.  In the grip of the Vietnam War, the country was torn by so many events, many of them aired on nightly national television.  Our existences were filled with bombings, attack dogs, demonstrations, and terrible violence with no end in sight.  Were those the “good old days”?

As we pause to remember the significance of this day, the new world reality has shaken us to our core.  President George W. Bush, V.P. Dick Cheney, and the Koch Brothers tricked the country into a war that was based on an absolute lie.  The World Trade Center bombings were attributed to Iraq and their allies, and after several months, said intelligence was proven to be untrue.  The impact of such an outrageous series of events that touched the lives of countless Iraqis and Americans injured or killed because of this gross un-truth has been mostly excluded from the pages of history…but it happened.

So, over a 46 year span of time, our consciousness includes both ends of this spectrum.  Dr. King was murdered because he wanted peace, freedom and equality for all.  On April 4, 2014, we still can’t find peace, freedom for all is questionable, and we are still reeling from the abuse of the 1% who will not tolerate economic equality.  How is corporate America working out for us, these days?  Miss you, Dr. King.

Maureen D. Taylor

State Chairperson – MI Welfare Rights Org.

Stand Up for Democracy vs MI Secretary of State

Local news stations have shared the correspondence that Michigan Governor Snyder has offered an opinion to the Appeals Judges who are about to render a decision whether or not to certify the signature process aimed at placing Public Act #4 on the November ballot. He asks in his memo that these Judges NOT impede his forward momentum by certifying this effort.

We have a position as well. We would ask that these Judges NOT impede the people's right to democracy. 

So bizarre are these events relative to the petition activity that even the attention of national newscasters (like Rachel Maddow) has been captured each noting that nowhere else in the nation has so little been written about so huge an event. Over turning elections has a history.

Public Act 4, the emergency manager act, is the crux of what we are alarmed about. It allows the Governor, so he thinks, to void state and local elections in places where the finances of that municipality are stressed, and a person of his choosing is seated who answers only to the Governor.  This "dictator law" has no successful outcome anywhere in the State and, in every example, has led to even deeper financial debt as the assets of the people are sold to the highest bidder at pennies on the dollar.

Benton Harbor had a deficit and after the emergency manager was seated, the deficit is three times greater. Pontiac had a deficit and has a greater one today. The Detroit School District had a deficit and it has grown to a much larger number under the forced emergency manager. So one would ask, what the real agenda is with this outrageous act?

Attacking democracy is no small matter. It starts small -- a little less democracy here, a little less there, and before you know it people are convinced that to appoint officials must be the right thing to do because it keeps happening! 

That pesky "democracy" is getting in the way of what corporations want, so efforts to sideline it are underway across the State.  How egregious is it that the once mighty Pontiac Silverdome, that was the "mecca" of sports and other major events costed out at $55 million when it was first built, was sold for $500,000 just months ago? This businessman has now named the same emergency manager in charge of that sale to his team as he prepares to retrofit the Silverdome for the newest casino owned by him!

We are heading into deep, dark waters and should prepare ourselves for street to street battle.

On Thursday, all segments of the State will learn a valuable lesson about what is taught in civics and  government class in local schools: Do the people have a right to redress? Maybe not anymore. Can the size of the print on a petition be enough to disqualify the will of just under 240,000 people?  Apparently yes. Can a representative of the Tea Party, the Republican party or any party be allowed to tamper with this American process in such a way that democracy is sacrificed?  Don't know yet. No lover of freedom and open government can stand by and let such an action take place.

If you are able, come to the State Bldg at Cadillac Place, 3020 W. Grand Blvd, Suite 14-300 (at Second St) in Detroit on Thursday, May 17th, no later than 9am. Stand and watch as we look to see if democracy still stands. "...oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Democracy has been stolen.  The outcome of this Appeals Court hearing will reveal a great message and will help clarify what stage of this battle we are entering. 
 
MD Taylor
MWRO State Chairperson

No End in Sight for Working People

Excerpt from Commentary by the editors of Fight Back!, March 2009

...In Minnesota, welfare rights, labor, student and other community groups have formed a People’s Bailout Coalition to make the rich pay and to protect the interests of working people. In California, high schools students have walked out of class to protest budget cuts.

Looking towards the future, we need to reject capitalism and fight for socialism. Is all that we can hope for is a return to what existed before the crisis? A return to a capitalist economy where millions go without health insurance even when the economy is growing? An economy where working peoples’ incomes fall in the long run while the rich get richer? An economy where we have to go up to our necks in debt to make ends meet while always having to worry where the next paycheck is coming from? An economy that is drained by one or more wars thousands of miles away to protect the interests of big oil? An economy where more than forty years after the civil rights act, African American, Latinos and women still earn less than whites and men? We can do better.

Working and oppressed people need a socialist system where political power is in the hands of the working class and the economy serves the people.

So as we fight for our needs and rights today, we should educate and organize for a socialist government and economy that will benefit us, and not Wall Street and big business.

See Fight Back News for the full editorial.