Call for better Portland water oversight

by Richard Leonetti

New elected officials, whose sole purpose would be the efficient delivery of water and sewer services, would give the taxpayers far better and closer oversight than we now have.

Now, whenever the city council wants to spend money without getting permission for a tax raise, all they have to do is run a water pipe to it, or assert it gets rained on creating run-off, and they can raise your water-sewer rates instead of getting permission for a tax raise. They have repeatedly shown their willingness to do that – including millions to buy undeveloped land and to give money to Tri-Met for sewer work that Tri-Met should have paid for, not to mention election spending and other shenanigans that it took a lawsuit to get back.

Hundreds of public utility districts operate across the US and in Oregon delivering excellent low-cost services to their members. We need to put water and sewers in responsible hands and the Portland City Council has proven it is not the responsible one.