The following is from Sam Bernhardt, the Long Island organizer for Food and Water Watch.
In blocking Nassau County's plan to privatize its sewer system, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) has taken decisive action to protect the pocketbooks of all county residents.
NIFA made clear its decision arose from the nature of this ill-conceived and ill-afforded privatization deal. This deal being pursued by County Executive Ed Mangano would effectively refinance the county's current debt at a higher interest rate, and pass that debt on to Nassau residents. NIFA has acted to keep Nassau's over-drawn credit card in its wallet, where it belongs.
Research from Food & Water Watch shows that the 10 largest privatizations in the country have increased rates on consumers by an average of 15 percent per year.
Both NIFA and the New York Comptroller's office have called this plan fiscally irresponsible. Now, it winds up where it belongs: flushed down the drain.
This decision also prevents the transference of a valuable county resource to United Water, a corporation that has demonstrated a long history of poor service and disregard for the environment.
In Gary, Indiana, United Water Services is facing felony charges for violating the Clean Water Act and conspiring to defraud the federal government by misrepresenting its compliance with wastewater treatment standards.
Nassau County residents won’t stand the profiteering corporate takeover of such a critical public service.
There may be reasonable arguments against privatization - I personally think a lot of those positions are overdone - but be that as it may, there is no reasonable argument in favor of the status quo. Not when that status quo involves even more environmental damage to South Shore bays and estuaries. Cedar Creek is a serial violator of enviornmental laws, and the damage Bay Park has caused to shellfish populations, vegetation and other marine life in the bays of Western Nassau has been widely cited by environmentalists. So for all our concerns about what a private party might do with our sewer systems, it's not as if Nassau County has distinguished itself. Lots of civic associations and local politicos have come out against Mangano's plan, but as flawed as that plan may be it at least identifies an option for how the cost of fixing a broken down system could be funded. As noted above, however, the silence among critics when it comes to how else we would then fix this broken system has been deafening.
One thing simply cant be denied or ignored There is going to be much needed repairs, modernization, upkeep and maint for all of the plants on LI. to insure the environment and the health and safety of the PEOPLE of LI are placed as THE primary concern. How this is acheivied may be dependent upon a consortium or joint effort of private and public monies combined with tighter management, oversight and accountability. The Status quo is not working,
Indeed, what I have found enormously frustrating with the entire public dialogue on this matter is the seeming indifference to the fact that our broken sewers are an environmental train-wreck. Seemingly the whole discussion has been about the financial engineering and whether or not rates are going up and nobody wants to talk about how we're going to fix this mess. It's unconscionable.
The problem I see is the following: assuming this plan is comprehensive in nature the estimates I've heard for what it would take to fix Nassau's sewer system are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which, as far as I can tell, would mean a siginificant rate increase. Yet a signfilcant rate increase is exactly what those who have opposed Mangano's plan have been presenting as the key reason to oppose a private-public partnership, while remaing relatively silent on the point that if we're going to fix this broken system rates have to go up anyhow. I'm neither for or againt a public private partnership per se. There are venues where this model has worked; and there are venues where it has bombed. But my simple point is that whatever we do has to acknowledge that this system has done some pretty serious damage to the South Shore and needs to be fixed, which will cost money. And ignoring this reality is both disingenuous and irresponsible.
The problem now is that we are somehow willing to accept that they can't, or won't govern, that we've rationalized accepting our elected officials selling off their responsibilities to the highest bidder, while they play us for fools claiming it is in our best interests. The solution is simple but would take the greatest amount of effort on the part of Nassau County residents which of course is the problem with the simple solution. Our elected officials and the County employees under their command MUST step up and manage our taxpayer assets. Until we do this, we will be paying, either through raised taxes to pay for the continued County mismanagement or by taking a real financial screwing in the manipulation of our taxpayer assets by Wall Street firms. It is not my responsibility to propose a plan; it is the responsibility of the people we picked to be our County leaders. They need to get it done or get out. Stop listening to your politicians, make them listen to you!