Odd! I find
myself defending Adrian Garth this morning.
Even though Adrian has made it
his business to torment me at every possible opportunity over the past
year or two, I must come to his defense.
Our embattled Electric Department honcho must not be held entirely
responsible for the $300,000 + debt at the power company. I know that he
inherited much of this debt as did his predecessor Steve English and the
department head before him,
Donald Jackson. English was frustrated by this issue to the point that
he resigned last year. He was in a no-win situation and I admire his
unwillingness to take part in the perpetuation this monster problem.
The key words to take
from
Jeff Clark
's Journal story today are the ones describing precisely WHEN an
alderman may involve himself in Electric Department business. According
to official city policy they may take action only in "an unusual
circumstance." To aldermen Cloyd Garth and Alonzo Sykes and former
alderman Willie Cook, "an unusual circumstance" translates to
"any time I can find a way to wheedle a vote out of somebody
else’s misery." Hence the outrageous debt.
I don’t imagine this vote-buying process is a mystery to many.
During the municipal primary election cycle, candidates
complained to me that they were frequently asked this question by
voters: “Will you hold my electric bill like (insert alderthug’s
name here) do?” Further
evidence of this crime against voters and taxpayers was suggested during
the investigation of voter fraud which took place prior to the second
runoff election between Wilchie Clay and Cloyd Garth. Witnesses at the
hearing swore that no money changed hands to influence their vote for
Garth. They swore that they
were given nothing of value. Sadly, nobody thought to ask them if the
“nothing” they received was a power bill marked "do not
disconnect."
Two years ago I contacted the office of the State Auditor and
advised them of these issues. At that time I delivered evidence of
nearly $32,000 in unpaid bills upon which reconnect service orders were
authorized by aldermen. Since then I’ve often written about the
investigation of our electric department by the State Auditor’s
office. In today’s MOJO story, that investigation was confirmed to be
ongoing. The heart of that investigation is not only the obvious outrage
of the unpaid power, but also the graft it demonstrates in big red
negative numbers.
A full-blown, independent audit is in order and criminal charges
must be brought. But in the meanwhile, we must urge our city officials
to set a policy and stick to it. If they cannot manage to accomplish
this fundamental task, we have thoroughly misplaced our confidence in
them. Powergate slithers on.
