Lexington's Battle To Gain Control of Its Local Water Resources

(I removed Dr. Wrobel's contact info to keep him from being targeted by supporters of the water company, if you want to particpate visit the site linked below)

The message below is from Dr. Art Wrobel, who retired from the UK English Department a few years ago. The issue he discusses is of critical importance if you live in Lexington or use Lexington water. You can find out more about the issue here: FLOW

Thank you,
Andy


And now, Dr. Wrobel:


Good Friends, Present and Former Colleagues, and Graduate Students:

I need HELP!

Recently, feeling the need to practice civic responsibility or do community service, I succumbed to the call of FLOW (For Local Ownership of Water) for volunteers to help mobilize voters in Lexington's 7th District in preparation for this November 7th's referendum regarding local ownership of Lexington's water company.

Hence, the occasion of this letter. Now I need volunteers--people who similarly believe that Lexington's water supply should be free from the machinations and control of an international conglomerate (RWE, AG), headquartered in Essen, Germany. RWE invests widely in energy and waste disposal and sets its sights on controlling water resources world wide. It also siphons off from the Bluegrass $5 million annually for the benefit of its investors.

Clearly, this matter is of no small consequence either for RWE or Lexington. Records filed with the Kentucky Public Service Commission show that RWE spent $1.6 million in 2003 alone opposing our Urban County Council's efforts to gain local control of the water company. FLOW anticipates that the water company will spend considerably more on ads in the weeks leading up to November 7th. While FLOW cannot begin to match such resources, it hopes to convince Lexington's voters to vote "Yes" on the Nov. 7th referendum. A "Yes" vote would allow Lexington to investigate the possibility of purchasing Kentucky-American Water Company's assets.

Armed with compelling information, volunteers would help distribute literature that summarizes both the benefits of local ownership of water resources and services and catalogues RWE's well-documented record, both in this country and abroad, of price fixing, allegations of bribing government officials, broken promises, predatory rate increases, mismanagement, and its dismal environmental practices. Volunteers could also help in other ways, most notably in planting yard signs, distributing literature at different venues, manning phone banks before Election Day, or helping to enlist more volunteers.

For those of you are prepared to volunteer, I promise to keep organizational meetings to a minimum, both in numbers and length. We wouldn't hold an organizational and informational meeting until the end of September or the beginning of October.

I would appreciate your giving this appeal your consideration. You might think of helping FLOW as doing a kind of mitzvah, a meritorious act, or, to draw on Buddhist tradition, a gesture that places you on the noble path that leads to good karma. Another text, this one Arabic, reminds us that "God loves the doers of good."

Many thanks

Art Wrobel