Water Statement to Michigan Rep Chang

MWRO/WATER STATEMENT

To: Rep. Stephanie Chang

From: Maureen D Taylor, MSW

Re: Status Report on Accessibility


Rep. Chang;

As the State Chairperson of the MI Welfare Rights Organization, know that we are humbled to present these words that outline our collective feelings on this sensitive and critical issue as thousands of residential customers in Detroit face new rounds of water shutoffs.

I am reminded that in the Lansing State Capitol, stands a bronze statue of a seven-year old Helen Keller, blind at birth, memorializing the moment of her historical enlightenment.  Her teacher, Ann Sullivan, and this story made famous in the Oscar winning movie, “The Miracle Worker” was trying to convey the essence of what words meant to a child born without hearing or sight. The bronze statue captures that moment as Helen put her hands under the pump while her teacher, Ms. Sullivan, used hand-to-hand sign language and spelled out the word…  W-A-T-E-R…to her.  Helen finally understood the relationship between the word and what that word represented.

June 1st marks the day the great Helen Keller passed away, so it is ironic that in June of this year, we are celebrating not an age of enlightenment, but instead we are a witness to a period of human darkness that will stain this State for years.

It is not necessary to recant the economic climate that residents of Michigan have been struggling through since the recession of 2005 and beyond.  Entire cities and communities scattered across the State continue to reel from the loss of financial foundations built by so many years of fruitful employment. In the US Census of 2010, it was reported that MI was the only state to have loss significant population.  In Detroit, we know this fact all too well, as do all elected officials that purport to represent the residents.

Over one million residents from just Detroit have left this City leaving us with just under 800,000 to fill the void created by such a dramatic population decline.  Factories that were the back-bone of financial stability for millions of families have been slowly phased out. Computers are taking the place of the American working class, and that trend is best seen here in Detroit and in surrounding factory-based counties. Technology that used to enhance labor, today has replaced labor leaving in its wake the skeleton of what was in neighborhoods all over Wayne County. 

We are slipping into the dark-side, shoved into this draconian condition marked by a false and divisive narrative, which covertly suggests Detroiters have resources but because of our criminal leanings, we don’t want to pay water bills. Poverty is being criminalized as the poor are held responsible for not having enough money to pay rising utility costs.  The economics of the low-income family profile is completely overlooked. Consequently, we learn nothing from past
civil uprisings, or the current uprisings in Cities across the country.    

Our calls for relief are mostly ignored. Our tears go unnoticed, and our prayers have been unanswered. We have hope, and try to hold on, but this latest assault against the most vulnerable is galvanizing a response that know one here wants to anticipate.

Welfare Rights and the Peoples Water Board have fought tooth and nail over these last 16 months, in every way possible to convince the City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept. that the path they had chosen was both wrong and not cost-effective. We have tirelessly offered solution after solution to this crisis demanding that a Water Affordability Plan be instituted, even if it is implemented at first as a pilot project to be tested.  Always the answer is “NO”, so we find ourselves again in this painful gap of pending defiance and civil unrest as we are unable to do anything but stop this by any means necessary.

We urge our elected officials to review this crisis and that they put the issue of mass water shutoffs at the top of the list as the deadline for continued tolerance approaches.  As MWRO is the recognized union for low-income families, we cannot turn from this struggle.  If our colleagues from the UNITED NATIONS are correct in that the US of America cannot deprive low-income populations of access to clean water and sanitation, we will then pursue the path of litigation as we seek to file suit against this violation of international law.

We will not stop there.  We will press you to create legislation that outlaws such practices now and forever.  We will not stop there.  We will demonstrate, we will picket, we will agitate, we will interfere with business as usual everywhere we can in an effort to erase forever the notion that water is a commodity to be bought and sold.  Access to water is a human right, and must always be held as a common trust never to be denied because people are too poor.  Shame on those who created this concept, and shame on us if we allow this “cancer” to exist without an all out battle against it.

Maureen D Taylor
State Chairperson

International Network ESCR files legal brief in support of Detroit residents against water shutoffs

For immediate release

International human rights network intervenes in case challenging large-scale disconnection of water supply to tens of thousands of low-income residents in Detroit

New York. February 9, 2015. The International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net), a global network of over 220 groups and 50 individual advocates from around the world working to secure economic and social justice through human rights, has requested leave from the U.S. District Court to be recognized as amicus curiae[1] in the case of Lyda et al. v. City of Detroit[2]in support of residents challenging the City of Detroit’s decision to cut off water supply to thousands of households unable to pay their bills.

As detailed in the plaintiffs’ complaint, by the end of August 2014 the City of Detroit had disconnected approximately 30,000 households of low-income persons and persons living in poverty from the municipal water supply and sewerage service, leaving them without access to drinking water and water for toilets and basic sanitation.

ESCR-Net, through its amicus brief, seeks to bolster the plaintiffs’ legal challenge by highlighting that the disconnections for inability to pay violate a range of legal obligations applicable to the U.S. under key international human rights treaties.

At the same time, ESCR-Net contends that Detroit’s City Charter, which includes a Declaration of Rights recognizing rights to water, sanitation and decent housing, must be respected. Pursuant to long-established principles of both U.S. law and international law, relevant domestic law must be interpreted consistently with treaty obligations. 

Chris Grove, Executive Director of ESCR-Net, said, “Access to justice is required for violations of human rights, and we welcome the opportunity to assist the U.S. District Court with material relevant to consideration of the issues at stake. These issues impact the health, security and human dignity of thousands of Detroit residents and implicate our vision of a just society.”

“A number of human rights are arguably violated by these disconnections, including rights to water, sanitation, adequate housing, health, life, freedom from cruel and inhuman treatment, and non-discrimination. The international human rights obligations of the U.S. also apply to the City of Detroit, and these obligations require that denial of access to water be reversed immediately,” he added.

The City of Detroit’s water disconnection policy has shocked the international community and has prompted, among other reactions, the visit of two United Nations Special Procedures human rights experts to assess the situation in October 2014.[3] Despite the onset of winter, local groups report that the City has continued water shut-offs at the homes of low-income families, the elderly, and the infirmed.

It is hoped that the application of international human rights law will help the plaintiffs achieve a just and effective remedy, including renewed access to water and an end to any further disconnections.

A copy of the amicus curiae brief is available at http://bit.ly/1ESJLdW

About ESCR-Net

ESCR-Net is the largest global network of human rights organizations, grassroots groups and advocates working to build a global movement to make human rights and social justice a reality for all. Please visit http://www.escr-net.org

This action is being led by ESCR-Net Strategic Litigation Working Group members Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (Dejusticia), the Global Initiative on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), the Social Rights Advocacy Centre (SRAC), and the Social Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI).

For information regarding this amicus intervention, contact:

• Susie Talbot. Senior Legal Officer (ESCR-Net) stalbot@escr-net.org

• Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director (GI-ESCR) bret@globalinitiative-escr.org. (Tel. +1-218-269-0214)

For information on the situation in Detroit or to speak with residents, contact:

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization http://michiganwro.blogspot.com

Marian Kramer, Maureen Taylor or Sylvia Orduño +1-313-964-0618

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[1] An amicus curiae (or ‘friend of the Court’) is a person or organization who, although not a party to a case, is granted leave to submit material to the Court relevant to the disposition of the case and not already brought to the Court’s attention by the parties.

[2]Lyda et al. v. City of Detroit, Case No. 2:15-cv-10038-BAF-RSW, before Hon. Bernard A. Friedman in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.

[3]See: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15188&LangID=E. 

MWRO Statement on UN visit to Detroit to investigate massive water shutoffs--Part 1

This is the first of a two-part statement from MWRO on the United Nations visit to Detroit by two Special Rapporteurs on Detroit water shutoffs.

On Oct. 20th, 2014, United Nations representatives Catarina de Albuquerque and Leilani Farha met with Mayor Mike Duggan and part of his staff to discuss the recent mass water shutoffs plaguing Detroit.

U.N. Special Rapporteurs. Photo credit: theguardian.com

The meeting was very frank and at times contentious with the Special Rapporteurs (SR) asking questions based on citizen/resident reports they had received from what they refer to as “civil society” organizations and direct visits to residential homes. The premise of the meeting was itself historic in that this was a session to discuss best practices, shared by the SRs, relative to how decreasing revenues might impact water access, distribution and sanitation specifically in low-income households. The two special investigators have amassed a myriad of expertise over the years after visiting many countries that have faced dwindling economies and transient populations.

Amid a flurry of “denials” and veiled attempts to discredit the intention(s) of these two specialists, the SRs continued to press for answers about recent water shutoffs. The session went back and forth until Mayor Duggan stepped up and suggested he would be interested in receiving detailed information about any current residents without water. The Mayor placed a call at the suggestion of the MWRO rep to the phone center and was able to get right through to someone without a long wait. This single act proved the City’s case that new practices are being put in place to address resident complaints — the problem is that these procedures aren’t reaching the poorest and most vulnerable residents. Long waits on the phone to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept. have been a frequent complaint and we hope, at least in this instance, progress is being made. In the end, what was suggested is that specific account information would be needed to examine any claims of denied water and the City would look into each case that was submitted.

Detroit Mayor Duggan with Alexis Wiley. Photo credit: clickondetroit.com

Since that historic session, several things have occurred. The City has issued statements that paint the Special Rapporteur’s visit as “nothing but a show.” One city employee, Alexis Wiley, the Mayor’s chief of staff, labeled their initial report as “sad” suggesting they were following a separate agenda that did not reflect the truth about water shutoffs in Detroit. Another City employee suggested that information gathered by talking with a few residents did not rise to actual truth, and that only through talks with the City were facts able to be put forward. Residential interpretations were not credible, in other words, and were not to be validated. There are none so blind than those who refuse to see!

In 2005, 2006, and 2007 — the Water Affordability Plan was submitted to the DWSD after is was tweaked and then accepted by the City Council and the then Mayor. Always, it is said there are legal reasons why this wonderfully crafted document can’t be implemented. And always when we ask, “Why not?” no credible answers are shared. The corporate interests that have lined up in great anticipation of receiving mega-infusions of cash is the logical place to search for the financial support needed to help shore up the City. Revenue sharing, unpaid commercial and corporate water accounts, so many places to look for untapped resources yet the then Emergency Manager’s only goal, it appears, was to inflict economic and physical pain on the most marginalized, most vulnerable, the poorest.

Over and over again, the City has suggested that those unable to find resources to help prevent shutoff or restore water already shut off were not truthful or that they were too dumb to find simple information. The old, tired, “people want free water” message was dragged out, a phrase that is repeated even though no one ever asked for that. It was revealed that the City has always practiced water shutoffs, and that was an established practice never before challenged. It was admitted that some 300,000 water shutoffs have happened over a period of years, a fact the City was not ashamed to admit. Must have felt the same rage and shock like those in the room in Nuremberg during that trial, listening to soldiers talking about how they were just following orders....

Shutting off water in Detroit. Photo credit: detroitnews.com

The Special Rapporteurs’ questions and the session ended in about 90 minutes, after which they traveled back to their hotel to prepare the press release for the media. Their specific UN conclusions are online, which include a strong recommendation that all residential water accounts be restored, which allows the City to investigate each address to determine if there are low-income families with children, the disabled, the elderly, or veterans living there who need supportive programs that structure payments they can afford. There are other recommendations the SRs offered, that have been published far and wide that address other ways of managing delinquent water payments that other nations routinely employ.

In closing, MWRO agrees with the basic, fundamental conclusion offered by our international guests. Because the population of Detroit has dropped, because the unemployment numbers have risen, because the good paying auto-industrial jobs have disappeared, and because many of the jobs available today are low-paying, the City still has a legal obligation to supply clean water and sanitation to all — even if only one resident is left! It is in fact a violation of international law to deprive residents of water if they are too poor to pay in the regular way. Ms. de Albuquerque and Ms. Farha were not daunted by Mayor Duggan and his staffs comments. Clearly, they don’t understand the UN reps’ mission.

This is not a popularity contest that is directed by who we like and who we don’t. It is patently wrong to disconnect water where low-income people live, and no amount of “American Exceptionalism” can alter that fact. There are millions of poor Americans who live in horrible conditions that are ignored daily while we act as if all is well; and Detroit has a large share of those families.

The responses coming from the City are at best shallow, defensive, ignorant, and at least, devoid of compassion. What kind of city is this and what kind of people are in charge who would countenance such demonic practices? Are our elected officials so drunk with power that they would choose not to find a way to keep the poorest residents safe and clean? Why didn’t someone in city government stand up when the emergency manager made this life-threatening recommendation and scream to the highest star how wrong it is and that as duly-elected officials, you would not force-march masses of Detroit residents into the crematoriums of poverty and torture?

Thousands march in Detroit against water shutoffs. Photo credit: michiganradio.org

Why did it take strangers, trained in recognizing violations against humanity, to shine a light on these dark-age practices and call them out for what they are? This is the best example of how the recognition of class differences have surfaced because we have different ethnic races of administrators, both men and women, both young and old who have been part of this sorry episode of residential infliction of pain. Our elected city officials would have found continued comfort in the torture of low-income people had they not had the covers of gross negligence pulled from them exposing what all knew but few had the courage to declare.

Along with our city officials stand many of the members of the clergy from all denominations, who have stood in silence while the torture of the most vulnerable has unfolded. The Spirit that many profess to serve has been waiting for you all to discover your courage or your voice or at least your crippled-hand gripped around a pen where you could author an anonymous note decrying what has been happening relative to these water shutoffs. I try daily to forgive your cowardice and hope only that when you make your transition to the afterlife, that the fires of “hell” are unkind to you.

We hope the legal violations identified by the two Special Rapporteurs find their way sooner as written charges to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and also to the U.S. State Dept. All nations should be alerted about these international violations so that sanctions might be discussed and even levied to make this practice stop. The U.S. government is ultimately responsible to secure the human rights of the most vulnerable and that task lies first with our ‘beloved’ mayor, then with the county executive, then with the governor, and lastly with all presidents.

As a field general in the army of social justice for vulnerable, low-income populations, it falls to me and mine to keep this battle in the face of all humanity and to take every opportunity to convince those in power that their salvation lies in distancing themselves from the “dark” side in favor of protecting, serving, and advancing the quality of life for all.

Maureen D. Taylor
State Chairperson, MI Welfare Rights Organization

U.N. Comes to Detroit on Water-Sanitation and Housing Crises

Detroit is in the midst massive water shutoffs, sanitation health concerns and large-scale tax & bank foreclosures tied to widespread homelessness. These grave problems have drawn international concerns about the crises affecting low income and poor people in Detroit. Victims of poverty across the state of Michigan are losing their very right to live. We have sought help from all levels of government, non-profit organizations and the private sector but no one has stepped forward to stop these violations on the human right to water, sanitation and housing.

It is abominable that government officials and the courts have allowed banks and corporations to dictate whether people can or cannot have affordable water in their homes, and keep a roof over the heads of children! Public resources that are intended to support programs for low income people are regularly diverted to investment programs for private profit instead of public good.

Along with the Detroit People's Water Board and Food and Water Watch, MWRO has asked the United Nations Office of Human Rights to hear testimonials from residents, and receive evidence of violations from advocates and groups on these human rights atrocities.

Please come to United Nations Detroit Fact Finding Public Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, October 19, 2014 from 4-6 p.m. (doors open at 3:00 p.m.), at Wayne County Community College District, 1001 W. Fort St, Detroit, MI 48226. For more info9rmation, contact MWRO at (313) 964-0618 or info@mwror.org Spread the word!

Statement on Court Denial of Detroit Human Right to Water

MWRO's statement on today's decision by the federal bankruptcy court NOT to stop residential water shut-offs, restore water to residential customers without water, NOR implement a water affordability based on fixed incomes for low-income seniors, families with children and persons with disabilities:

Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes

Of course, we are not surprised that our capacity to seek relief from the Federal Courts no longer exists! The fact that low income customers were ushered into court and testified how miserable their lives were because water was cut-off without an option for them to make arrangements with the DWSD could not have impacted the Court because the Court concentrated on what the 1% needed to continue their reign of terror tied to the Emergency Manager and this bankruptcy ploy. 

This is the humanitarian crisis of our times here in America, where every step we take is being analyzed to see which fights we launch as the corporate class encroaches on our standard of living.

Denying specific populations access to clean drinking water was today deemed legal even though rich and wealthy water customers receive a different standard of treatment. Millions are owed by these corporate pirates while $150 and two months behind is the rule applied to our constituency -- a position clearly supported by the Federal Court.

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder

Poor people, their children, seniors, the disabled, veterans -- it doesn't matter -- if you can't pay for water, you can't have it. Go to the river with a bucket and get what you need still remains the sentiment by this draconian class and they have no shame in taking this position.  This sham court-case was just that...a plot to look like justice would prevail if we just had a chance to plead our case.  The answer was always going to be NO!!!

So what are we going to do...give up the fight for social justice?  We think not! 

In the movie, The Untouchables, the question was asked, "What are you prepared to do about this??" When brilliant lawyers went to court to file suit against slavery, and against lynching, at first the Court said "NO"...there is no enforceable right to not be lynched if that is the custom in that area of the country!  The Court's explained that with the laws on the books at that time, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, women, children, and other oppressed folks should be able to manage their lives and avoid pain and suffering, and if not, they had every right to return to Court! Madness and Madness today! 

Our case demonstrated great attorneys, courageous plaintiffs, determined advocates versus conservative, corporate courts who prefer the company of the rich & famous and will not rock the "status quo."  We march on...

Maureen D. Taylor

State Chairperson - MI Welfare Rights Org

Photo credits: http://michigancitizen.com/mc/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/6-RHODES.jpg
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/07/24/stop-attack-say-detroit-workers-citys-bankruptcy-reviewed

DWSD Regional Water Authority Is an Assault on Democracy and Human Right to Water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 10, 2014

Contact:

Lynna Kaucheck, Food & Water Watch, (586) 556-8805

Tawana Petty, People’s Water Board, (313) 433-9882

People’s Water Board Coalition Calls Regional Water Authority an Assault Against Democracy and the Human Right to Water
Community calls for protection and representation for all region’s residents

Detroit, Mich. – The People’s Water Board decried Mayor Mike Duggan’s plan to create a regional water authority as undemocratic and a threat to the human right to water for many in the region. We have access to the largest body of surface freshwater in the world, so it would seem abundance and access should not be an issue. However the manner of governing this valuable resource as responsible environmental stewards for the world has left many communities without trust.

The deal was negotiated behind closed doors without any input from the public and is the next step on the pathway to privatization. It takes away the rights of both the Detroit City Council and the citizens of Detroit to have input on big decisions impacting the system.

“Suburban customers should not be fooled into thinking that this deal gives them more control or influence over the water system,” said Lynna Kaucheck of the People’s Water Board. “The new authority will be made up of unelected officials who are accountable to no one. People need to know that this deal doesn’t take privatization off the table.”

Veolia Water North America, the largest private water company operating in the United States, has been hired to evaluate the management of the system and clearly has a vested interest in privatization. Privatization typically results in skyrocketing rates, decreased service quality and the loss of jobs. In fact, corporate profits, dividends and income taxes can add 20 to 30 percent to operation and maintenance costs, and a lack of competition and poor negotiation skills can leave local governments with expensive contracts. In the Great Lakes region, large private water companies charge more than twice as much as cities charge for household water service. This is not the solution for Detroit or the region.

“The regionalization plan is unacceptable. We need a system that is accountable and transparent and that works for all its customers,” said Tawana Petty of the People’s Water Board. “We want an elected board of water commissioners. We want to reduce costs for the region through bulk purchasing and resource sharing. And we want to implement the Affordability Plan as passed by Detroit City Council in 2005. Detroit and suburban leaders need to protect residents and democratize the system.”

The People’s Water Board advocates for access, protection, and conservation of water, and promotes awareness of the interconnectedness of all people and resources.

The People’s Water Board includes: AFSCME Local 207, Baxter’s Beat Back the Bullies Brigade, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, Detroit Green Party, Detroit People’s Platform, Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Food & Water Watch, FLOW, Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Matrix Theater, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, Sierra Club, Sisters of Mercy, Voices for Earth Justice  and We the People of Detroit.

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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.”

UAW Local 551 Resolves to Support Detroiters In Water Crisis

First the shutoffs, now the floods

As the old saying goes: when it rains, it pours. And boy, did it pour in Detroit yesterday! Southeast Michigan streets were flooded yesterday as severe storms poured into the Motor City and surrounding areas. Backed up sewer systems and blocked drains along major streets forced vehicles to maneuver through nearly two feet of water. There was nowhere to go as cars were turned around in all directions -- many becoming stuck and water-filled at underpasses, on dirt roads, rail road tracks and interstate highways.

A local photographer, Joe Gall captured many of these scenes.

This is all while we are in the moral fight for our lives to defend the human right to water. At least since March 2014, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) has been shutting off water weekly to thousands of residents. Information about this international violation of human rights began to get out to allies and forces all over the country. With this support, local grassroots activists and attorneys were able to force DWSD, Emergency Manager and Mayor Duggan to revamp their customer service policies and institute a moratorium on shutoffs. The shutoffs are scheduled to resume on August 25 so we are bracing for new wave of despair. Meanwhile, local groups are delivering gallons of water to homes with newborn babies, seniors with serious medical conditions and persons with disabilities.

The People's Water Board, a coalition of over 20 Detroit community organizations, is supporting water stations, a hotline and canvassing efforts (led by We the People); challenging water shutoffs and DWSD debt in bankruptcy court (led by Moratorium Now). MWRO is still advocating for residents who've been shutoff that the water department won't assist.

How can a first world nation deny water to its residents? Follow what's happening in Detroit and we'll show you.

You can help by signing these water petitions or making a contribution to the People's Water Board. Thank you!

MWRO Statement on DWSD 10 Point Plan

Today in Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DSWD) Director Sue McCormick announced a new 10 point plan for water payments and shutoffs for Detroit residents. We note: it does not meet the needs of restoring water delivery and stopping shutoffs to ALL low income residents. Read MWRO's statement on the 10 point plan.

Since March 2014, DWSD has been shutting off water to residential customers -- mostly low income households -- at the rate of several hundred to several thousand per week. MWRO, along with the Detroit People's Water Board Coalition, called for a halt to the inhumane water shutoffs. With support from the Council of Canadians, Blue Water Planet and Food & Water Watch, international attention to this violation of human rights was sent by a letter from the United Nations to DWSD. Netroots Nation with National Nurses United, Robin Hood Tax and actor Mark Ruffalo, helped expose the crisis to wider audiences.

Detroit and Michigan residents continue to fight vigilantly for the right to fresh drinking water in their homes! We know of teachers who wash laundry of school children from homes without water. Our organizational partner, We the People, tells of homes where newborn babies have no water for formula and seniors have no water to clean wounds. This is an outrage that we must not allow to continue.

Canadians Deliver Water to Thirsty Detroit Residents

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization welcomes allies and friends from the Council of Canadians and cities across Ontario, Canada as they deliver dozens of gallons of fresh water to Detroit residents whose water has been shutoff. 

Please join us at 3:30pm as we gather to welcome a Canadian caravan of vehicles when they cross the border at 4pm! We'll greet them at the Spirit of Detroit statue in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Ave (at Jefferson) in downtown Detroit. Following the welcome rally, the caravan and local residents will deliver the water to a People's Water Board water station at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 1950 Michigan Ave (at Trumbull Ave) in Detroit -- only a few short minutes away. For more information see: Canadian Convoy to Detroit on facebook.

Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians; and Maureen Taylor, MWRO State Chair are among the featured speakers. Please spread the word!

Below reposted from Detroit Greens

Welcome the Canadian Water Convoy to Detroit

Wed, 07/23/2014 - 09:24 — Lou

Sign Petitions to Stop Detroit Water Shutoffs

You've heard about the thousands of low income Detroit residents whose water has been shutoff by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). These shutoffs have continued despite appeals from local residents, national groups and international organizations like the United Nations.

Please lend your voice and support to end these shutoff by signing one or more of the petitions below. Your actions will demonstrate to the DWSD, the Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and President Obama that people across the U.S. -- across the world! -- say water is a human right!

Without water, all life withers and dies within a few days. Babies, the elderly and people who are ill are especially vulnerable to disease and sickness. Whole communities are at risk of public health crises from a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene. Most of all, water is a natural resource that belongs to everyone and must be publicly managed by communities, not profiteers and corporations.

Thank you for defending the human right to water!


More Online Petitions:

• Oppose Detroit Water Shutoffs, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee -- Target: Mayor Michael Duggan, DWSD Director Sue McCormick, and Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, updated 7/18/14.
• Sign the petition: Declare a public health emergency in Detroit, Daily Kos -- Target: President Obama and Health Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, 7/16/14.
• Grant Emergency Assistance to Families Affected By Detroit Water Shutoffs!, White House Petitions -- Target: President Obama, 7/12/14. CLOSED
• Provide disaster relief to the thousands of Detroit residents without clean drinking water due to city water shutoffs, Color of Change -- Target: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit Emergency Manager Kevin Orr, 7/11/14.
• Tell Detroit to turn the taps back on: Water is a human right!, Blue Planet Project -- Target: President Obama and Gov. Snyder, Summer 2014.
• Sign the Petition to Keep DWSD Publicly Accountable, Food & Water Watch -- Target: Elected officials, Summer 2014.
• Preserve Water as a Human Right by Investigating Detroit Water and Sewage Department's Water Shut-offs., Change.org -- Target: President Obama and Governor Snyder, Summer 2014.
• Turn Running Water Back on for Thousands, ForceChange.com -- Target: Sue McCormick, Director Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Summer 2014.

Maureen Taylor at National Nurses Union Rally Against Detroit Water Shut...

Maureen greets Netroots Nations and the National Nurses Union on behalf of low income people in Detroit whose water has been shut off. It's time to hold "tricks" [politicians and water officials] and "their "hoochie mama girlfriends" [the banks] accountable!

This rally and was held at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Maureen Taylor has been State Chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Union since 1993.

Stop the Shutoffs, Turn on the Water! Rally and March

There's much going on in Detroit these days as MWRO with members of the People's Water Board and Food and Water Watch work to protect the human right to water. In the latest news, Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept. executives were told today by the federal bankruptcy court judge to come up with a better plan to help people whose water is being turned off.

To read more about this and recent stories, check out the links below.

We'll be at this Friday's, Stop the shutoffs, Turn on the water! rally and march at Cobo Center during Netroots Nation, led by allies from National Nurses United and the Robin Hood Tax. Join us there!!

• Judge Rhodes: Water shutoffs hurt Detroit's reputation internationally, on freep.com, July 15, 2014.
• Low-wage Detroit Citizens Fight for Basic Necessities of Life in the Face of Corporate Onslaught, in LaborRadio.org, July 14, 2014.

• “Shame on you”: Maureen Taylor rips WDIV reporter, in Michigan Citizen, July 8, 2014.

• Water Crisis in Detroit: Putting Corporate Profit Ahead of Human Rights, in Blue Planet Project, June 26, 2014.

• Water is a Human Right: Detroit Residents Seek U.N. Intervention as City Shuts Off Taps to Thousands, on DemocracyNow.org, June24, 2014.

International Appeal to Stop Detroit Water Shut Offs

Detroit residents and activists are calling global attention to the city's water crisis where the Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept is scheduling 3,000 shutoffs per week to low income families. This human rights violation is being condemned by national and international social and economic justice groups who believe water is life and can never be denied to human beings.

Maude Barlow's Blue Water Project with Food & Water Watch, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and the Detroit People's Water Board has drafted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur calling on authorities to stop the shut offs and restore water to those who have been cut off. Read the public announcement about this water shut off crisis.

Please help us in this effort by signing the petition: "Tell Detroit to turn the taps back on: Water is a human right!" directed to President Obama and Governor Snyder. 

More information can be found on the MWRO facebook and MWRO twitter pages.

Water Warrior Maude Barlow to visit Detroit Thursday, May 22

(Reposted from Detroit Greens)

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization members will be there and we know you will be too! Tonight at 6:30pm, Wayne State University, downtown Detroit. This event is co-sponsored by the Detroit People's Water Board -- a coalition of grassroots organizations committed to demanding affordable water, no shut-offs, no privatization and affordable rates for all Detroit Water and Sewerage Dept.residential customers

Water Apathy in Detroit

An Open Letter from MWRO member, Ann Grimmett:

In the past few months while collecting signatures in & around Detroit for the advisory question initiative for the water affordability plan to be put on the ballot in November, I've experienced a great deal of apathy, negativity and outright ignorance.

It's appalling that in these troubled times, in this (could be) great nation, that the response to something as vital as assuring that we ALL have water (which is a HUMAN right), that simply signing a petition is viewed by those who (think) that they are "alright", as an affront to their personal choices, while their neighbor is LIVING without the most essential element that GOD made!

What's more appalling is that without listening to or reading the information supplied by the petitioners, far too many Detroiters are opting to "pretend" that they aren't affected by the possible "Corporate Takeover" of the citizens of Detroit's publicly owned water department/system!

Shame on you residents of DETROIT for the lackadaisical attitudes and practices that have
allowed our great city to be pillaged raped and plundered!

Get offyour butts and get a petition from Welfare Rights, circulate it among your family and friends and return it IMMEDIATELY so that we the people can decide, since we obviously
cannot trust "OTHERS" to make sure our "behinds" are WELL covered!

DO IT TODAY!

DWSD Spends Earth Day Explaining Hooker Payments

We thought we'd spend some time today, on Earth Day, to talk about all of the beautiful ways that Detroiters try to improve their environment and communities.

But instead, we find that the local news is distracted by more nonsense at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). It turns out that DWSD employees are frivolously spending our public money from petty cash boxes to get back an impounded DWSD vehicle after one of their employees was busted on the job with a hooker. Thousands of other dollars in related funds have been spent for lavish retirement parties, in violation of City policies.

The nerve of these scoundrels! Every year DWSD officials come before Detroit City Council demanding that they need massive water and sewage rate increases and claiming that customers are delinquent. Meanwhile, they're also racing around town shutting-off water to low income Detroiters who are foregoing medications to pay what they can on their water bills.

MWRO, Call 'em Out, and the newly formed People's Water Board will continue to call out the snakes at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and demand these thieves be held accountable! Join us at the next DWSD Board of Water Commissioners meeting on 5/27/09 at 2pm at the Water Board Building (735 Randolph, 5th Fl, Detroit, MI 48226).

(Image from the DWSD)

People's Water Board Created In Detroit

By Gwendolyn Gaines and Sylvia Orduño, MWRO

We’re pleased to announce that the first meeting of the People’s Water Board in Detroit was a big success! Representatives from several organizations, including the Green Party, Sierra Club, Call ‘em Out, Moratorium Now, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, AFSCME Local 207, MECAWI, and MWRO, laid the groundwork for this coalition of water activists.

All participants were concerned about the need for clean, accessible water, plus shut-offs, privatization, and the Water Affordability Plan. The People’s Water Board is taking the first steps to ensure that local water remains in public hands, investigate who and where the threats are to this, and will act as an advocate for the people.

The People’s Water Board identified several short- and long-term goals such as ensuring access to water for all people (including getting the Water Affordability Plan on the November 2009 Detroit ballot); protecting water quality and water conservation; and opposing privatization of water resources.

The next People’s Water Board will meet May 26, 2009 at 6pm at MCHT (2727 Second Ave, Detroit, MI). Meanwhile, nominations are underway for Commissioners. For more information, contact Melissa Damaschke at the Sierra Club (313) 965-0055, melissa.damaschke@sierraclub.org

(Image courtesy of Michigan Sierra Club)

What Is To Be Done?

‘Cipients Speak!!
By Maureen D. Taylor, State Chair, MWRO

Many cities across the country are experiencing economic declines like Detroit is going through, but we have the distinction of being “first” on many painful lists. We are in the top five in housing foreclosures, in unemployment, in tax foreclosures, in infant mortality rates, in school closures, in dropout rates, etc.

Some things, however, you can’t make up. Highland Park, Michigan, was one of the most beautiful small cities located entirely within the boundaries of Detroit. The trees stretched across the streets to touch each other, providing shade in the summer and giving all residents a panoramic winter view of deep and lasting beauty that all of us enjoyed. Along the edge of Highland Park was one of the Chrysler auto plants that employed 1000’s. It gave both a solid standard of living and a tax base that helped operate the local government.

Chrysler moved to upscale Auburn Hills, Michigan and took that tax base with them. The decline in Highland Park started. The population dwindled from a high of 66,000 residents to less than 16,000 today. Tough times in H.P.

Knowing this history, knowing about the 1000’s of residents who lost their jobs, knowing that water was disconnected because residents couldn’t pay the rising costs, a series of no-vision politicians vied for elected seats until the juice ran out. A disappointing Governor Jennifer Granholm, not allowing H.P. to declare bankruptcy on her watch, instead appointed a financial manager who took the place of an elected body. The first pirate crew was lead by a now defunct Ramona Pearson & Associates who were dismissed after some 20 months. They took more than $1 million dollars out of Highland Park in salaries. No improvements to turn the crisis around during that reign of terror were made except to benefit themselves at the people’s expense. Now we come to this.

Native son Arthur Blackwell shed tears when he was appointed to serve as the next Financial Manager of cash-strapped Highland Park in 2007. He was so touched by this appointment, and declared his love for the city that raised him & his family. The ‘HONOR” was so great, he vowed to work for $1.00 a year. After a series of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests were filed, we find that he collected since 2007, $495,000.00. Of course, he has an explanation for this, suggesting that it may only be an accounting error, plus noting that he has written back to the City $66,000 that he may have collected unwittingly. He was fired two days ago, and a 3rd Financial Manager from an upscale community has been appointed. Wonder how this is going to turn out?

Just losing his job is not enough. Blackwell should be the focus of a citizen’s arrest, and taken from his nice home kicking and screaming and off to jail where we decide how long he should stay there after stealing from poor people. Class war continues. Who pays for destroying the lives of working people? No one!

(Image courtesy City of Highland Park)