Community | December 14, 2011 | 28 comments

The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798

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ThirdSection
By Brian Wheeler
BBC News, Alabama

Banks stand to lose millions of dollars in debt repayments if the biggest municipal bankruptcy in American history is allowed to proceed.

But the real victims of the financial collapse in the US state of Alabama's most populous county are its poorest residents - forced to bathe in bottled water and use portable toilets after being cut off from the mains supply.

And there is widespread anger in Jefferson County that swingeing sewerage rate hikes could have been avoided but for the greed, corruption and incompetence of local politicians, government officials and Wall Street financiers.

Tammy Lucas is the human face of a financial and political scandal that has brought one of the most deprived communities in America's south to the point of what some local people believe is collapse.

She says: "If the sewer bill gets higher, my light might get cut off and if I try to catch up the light, my water might get cut off. So we're in between. We can't make it like this."

Mrs Lucas's monthly sewerage rate bills - the amount levied by the county to flush away waste and provide water for baths and showers - has quadrupled in the past 15 years. She says it is currently running at $150 (£97) a month, which leaves little left out of her $600 social security check for food and electricity.

"We need to keep the water running because we're women," she says. "We need to take baths. I try to pay the sewer bill and the water bill together and then what little I got left I try to put on my lights. I got to have lights."

More at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798
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    Community,   News and Politics,   Politics,   Culture,   26 more
  2. tags:
    Water,  Poverty,  Alabama,  99%,  3 more
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28 comments // The scandal of the Alabama poor cut off from water

  • MotherForTruth
  • Dagum
    • +1
      Dagum  

    • Remember if you don't have a well, you are dependent on Public water and the *good* governance of your local municipality .

    • 5 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • JanforGore
  • ThirdSection
  • artemis6
  • Mark701
    • 0
      Mark701  
    • JanforGore:

      I was thinking the same thing. Here is New England they cut back heating aid to the poor from $1200/season to about $350/season. A month later they pass a "defense" bill for over 600 billion dollars which doesn't even mention discretionary spending that could jack it up to close to a trillion. These idiots simply don't get it. Combined pissed off poor people with the pissed off middle class and it's an open invitation to revolution. Then, when it happens, the Government/Wall Street will be all over the airwaves with comments like "no one could've seen this coming." But then it'll be too late.

    • 5 months ago
  • nikonwilly
    • +2
      nikonwilly  

    • Message to the poor from corporate America.....give us everything until you die while we make you pitiful life miserable.
      Message to corporate America from the poor.....When we finally rise up against you there will be no hostages!

    • 5 months ago
  • crabbyoldguy
  • Buckeye_Bill
    • +4
      Buckeye_Bill  
    • Image

    • The MAIN issue here is...water is the new "gold"!

      How will all those politicians, both Democratic and Republican Parties in Alabama, Wall Street and the Birmingham Water Works going to spin this to blame the working middle class and poor?

      I can't wait to find out.
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      "There's a shitstorm brewing (literally) in Birmingham, Alabama, and unless something is done to resolve some of the problems that are currently being experienced by Jefferson County's poorest residents, you can look for an explosive situation in the near future.

      Back in September the county began negotiations with creditors in an effort to refinance some of the debt to avoid the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. JP Morgan Chase and other debt holders forgave a billion in debt, and offered to refinance another $2 billion, but negotiations fell $140 million short of solving the problem. A mandated sewer system replacement, the financial meltdown of 2008, and an on-going corruption scandal by local officials all combined to make bankruptcy inevitable.

      What this means for Jefferson County's poorest residents is something most of us can't even comprehend. Water and sewage bills have escalated to the point where people are unable to pay them, sometimes totalling between $150 and $500 a month. In an area where a lot of people are unemployed or on Social Security, those costs are the difference between buying groceries or keeping the lights on, or doing without running water and sewage services.

      Twenty one people, including four former county commissioners, have been convicted or have plead guilty to corruption charges related to the sewer project construction and bond financing. As the county's financial situation worsened, a tax increase was levied on water and sewage usage, making it one of the most costly luxury items on many family budgets.

      Here's a prediction: if people in poor communities are forced to choose between having running water and food, it will be a long, hot, violent summer in Birmingham, Alabama." - SQUATLO RANT
      (Source: http://squatlo-rant.blogspot.com/2011/12/birmingham-bankruptcy-might-be-catalyst...)
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------

      I'm praying for the average, ordinary Alabamians who have to deal with this fiasco on a DAILY basis!

    • 5 months ago
  • crabbyoldguy
    • +3
      crabbyoldguy  
    • Image

    • Them damn republicans they is killin us all.
      .......

      Larry Paul Langford (born March 17, 1948)[1] is the former mayor of the city of Birmingham, Alabama.[2][3]
      He previously served on the Jefferson County, Alabama, Commission, including four years as the first African American commission president.

      He also served as mayor of Fairfield, Alabama, and served one term on the Birmingham City Council. Prior to entering politics, Langford was a well-known television personality, having worked for then-local ABC affiliate, WBRC TV as the community's first African American TV news reporter.

      In 2010, Langford began serving a 15 year federal felony sentence, the result of a highly-publicized public corruption trial in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[2]
      Langford raised money and generated public interest and support for Visionland Theme Park (now known as Alabama Adventure Theme Park), located near Bessemer. The park was built largely by bond issues backed by a consortium of municipalities in the western part of the county, as well as the city of Birmingham and the county government. The park later declared bankruptcy, and was sold to Southland Entertainment Group for just over $5 million at auction.
      In 2007, Langford was investigated by the SEC on corruption charges. In 2008, a lawsuit was filed against him for illegally accepting $156,000 in cash and benefits.
      On December 1, 2008, Langford, along with investment banker William B. Blount and former state Democratic Chairman Al LaPierre, was arrested by the FBI on a 101-count indictment alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.[4] His public corruption trial ended on October 28, 2009 with convictions on 60 counts, and resulted in his automatic removal from office.[5]
      On March 5, 2010, Langford was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was also fined more than $119,000.[6]

    • 5 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • percipi224
    • +5
      percipi224  

    • the city manager should seize the sewer and water plants with the help of the county and city police. Seize it! Chase the corporate fascists out of town on the rail and re hire workers. Bankrupt the debt. Fuck them.

    • 5 months ago
  • Lisayou
  • ThirdSection
  • KB723
  • ThirdSection
  • KB723
  • kennymotown
  • cmc101
  • cherry5000
  • Buckeye_Bill
  • kennymotown
  • kennymotown
  • KB723
  • ThirdSection
  • KB723
  • ThirdSection
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