City Water Plan Under Fire From Critics

January 30, 2007
NBC San Diego

SAN DIEGO -- A watchdog group is urging San Diegans to take a closer look at a rather plain-looking piece of mail.

San Diego's water system is a mess -- decades-old cast-iron pipes are breaking in the cold weather, and treatment plants and reservoirs need improvements. It's a multimillion dollar job that is outlined in a recent mailer to residents that informs rate payers of a proposed rate increase.

The Utility Consumers' Action Network, a consumer watchdog group, claims that the mailer is confusing, convoluted and misstates the real cost.

"It's misleading," said UCAN's Michael Shames. "There's no way that an informed customer could look at this notice and say, 'I agree with the increase,' or, 'I disagree with the increase.' They can't do it."

Shames said that the city is hiding the most important piece of information: a form that lets residents protest the proposed rate hike.

"And guess what?" said Shames. "What the notice doesn't tell you is if 50 percent of the households in San Diego send this form back in, the City Council by law cannot pass the rate increase."

UCAN is sending out its own version of the mailer, highlighting what it says are the most important issues.

The mayor's office, however, said that UCAN's criticism is all wet because San Diegans know their water system needs repairs and are willing to pay for them.

"The alternative is for the federal government and the state government to go ahead and take over the systems," said mayoral spokesman Fred Sainz. "We don't need to let that happen. We can control our own destiny."

The mayor's office also said that the city's brochure clearly spells out the cost of the rate hike and that the new rate plan rewards homeowners and renters who conserve water by allowing them to pay less each month.