Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

[Emily]

Lot's of politics in this, but cutting off water to prevent paying customers from footing the bill could have public health consequences causing an even greater burden on the health care sector, raising mandatory insurance costs and taxes for other paying customers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29185710

20 September 2014 Last updated at 19:30 ET

Detroit cuts off water for families - and hopes for future
By Aleem Maqbool BBC News, Detroit

...

For years, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen has opened its doors to the homeless. Now among those queuing to take a shower each weekday or to collect water from a tap outside are also families, even young children, who have had their water supply cut off.

"We're filling up our buckets to flush the toilet, to bathe with," says one woman, too embarrassed to want us to publish her name.

"We can't clean, we can't wash ourselves, it's really disgusting, and we need help. Half the people on my block have had their water turned off; we can't pay our bills...

[Dallas]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

I can tell you that the west side of the state are done supporting Detroit. Not much sympathy from this side of the state.

[Emily]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

Many people are getting fed up with the inequities of government social engineering. There is a distinct segment of the working middle class looking in through the window at beneficiaries of social programs enjoying better housing, cars and health care than they have.

But in this case, I just wonder if Detroit's water cutoffs could end up costing the general public more in health care costs than what is saved in water costs.

[MHSC]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

I agree with Dallas, as a Michigan resident I don't feel sorry for them and I'm tired of carrying them. I know that sounds cold, but I have to pay my bills, why shouldn't they have to pay theirs? They have been getting a free ride for far too long, now they are years behind in their payments. Detroit should have done this long ago.

[Emily]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

I don't understand how anyone who lives outside of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department served area would be paying the water bills of people who do live there? There is a voluntary way to pay their bills, if someone is so inclined:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/25/technology/social/detroit-water-shutoffs/

It does look like in the future surrounding towns might slated to be sucked into something called the ?Great Lakes Authority,? so perhaps that would change things?

I'm surprised no one else here is concerned that this could be a public health problem. The UN condemned DWSD's actions primarily as a human rights violation, but at least they mentioned sanitation.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/P...14777&LangID=E

Detroit: Disconnecting water from people who cannot pay - an affront to human rights, say UN experts

GENEVA (25 June 2014) ? Three UN experts* on the human rights to water and sanitation, adequate housing, and extreme poverty and human rights expressed concern Wednesday about reports of widespread water disconnections in the US city of Detroit of households unable to pay water bills. ?Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights,? the experts said.

?Disconnections due to non-payment are only permissible if it can be shown that the resident is able to pay but is not paying. In other words, when there is genuine inability to pay, human rights simply forbids disconnections,? said Catarina de Albuquerque, the expert on the human right to water and sanitation...
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/P....V1BrEbh4.dpuf

[mixin]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

I'm surprised that code enforcement would allow children to reside in homes with no running water. What about heat and electricity?

I wonder what portion of these homes are owner-occupied versus rentals.

In Indiana, when tenants leave a water bill unpaid, the landlord becomes responsible for payment of the sewer portion. If they don't pay it, the amount becomes a lien on the property and will be put into the tax sale.

I'm often surprised at peoples' priorities.

Edited: Ok, I read the article and children are being removed from the homes.

[MHSC]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

Demographics of Detroit City
700,000 total population
200,000 of which are children
70% of children have a single parent
60% of in single female households
10% in single male household
Welfare pays $29,000/yr, more than minimum wage which is $17,000/yr
>40% of mothers do not seek prenatal care
Infant mortality 15 per 1,000 (Monrovia, Liberia is 9.9 per 1,000)
7% are proficient readers by grade 8 (2011)
4% proficient at math by grade 8 (2011)
25% graduate high school (2008)
Estimates indicate 1% of the population has HIV/AIDS (3x the national average)
70% of the population is obese
Rate of diabetes is 35% higher than national average
27% of children have asthma, (3x national average), but most do not seek regular medical care
60% of the children in Detroit are on Medicaid
35% of households are on food stamps
72% of adult males are unemployed
46% over age 16 are unemployed
60% of adult males have been in prison
Rate of cancer is 20% higher than national average
Nearly half of kids in Detroit do not get all their immunizations.
Rated 2 on the safety scale for crime (100 is safest)
Crimes per 1000 people 30, national average 5
Crimes per square mile 396, national average 39
Estimated 20,000 homeless


One of the problems is that Detroit is corrupt on so many levels from the numerous political scandals over the past 75+ years down to the rampant crime on the street. Detroit has received so many grants/bailouts and after all of it they still file bankruptcy. Every taxpayer in the state and the country has helped the residents of Detroit several times.

Billions and billions and billions have been dumped into this city, both state and federal aid, year after year after year, and it only continues to decline. For many residents this is a learned existence, a way of life that is perpetuating itself generation after generation, with no incentive to improve. It's a city falling apart at the seams.

It's not that other Michiganders don't have compassion, but our patience is wearing thin. At some point we expect them to step up and take on some personal responsibility, pay their own bills, require their kids to do well in school, stop being criminals, eat right and stop acting like having babies is an income producing career. Detroit needs to grow up.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/03/detr-m30.html

http://www.datadrivendetroit.org/publications/D3_2012_SDCReport.pdf

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=popultion%20of%20detroit

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/detroit/crime/

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/only-7-detroit-public-school-8th-graders-proficient-reading

http://www.bet.com/news/national/2013/02/07/the-public-education-woes-of-detroit.html

http://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/16237-the-killing-of-detroit

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120212/OPINION03/202120303

[Emily]

Re: Thousands of families in Detroit have been living without water for months

It's not that other Michiganders don't have compassion, but our patience is wearing thin.

I want to make it clear that I don't view this as a 'Michigan problem' or think the state's residents lack compassion. What has happened to Detroit is unprecedented and complicated. It's sad and ominous that a once productive city like Detroit seems mortally wounded while a city like Washington D.C. is ever-thriving. From what relatives told me, there has been no recession in D.C. the past 7 years - just a never-ending run of prosperity.

But back to the worst of times in the worst of places:

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loca...umes/16393381/

Judge rules he can't stop Detroit water shutoffs
Matt Helms, Detroit Free Press 10:41 a.m. EDT September 29, 2014

Detroit's bankruptcy judge today said he lacked the authority to issue a restraining order to stop water shutoffs over delinquent bills, saying that there is no constitutional right to water and a moratorium would be a financial hit to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.

"Chapter 9 strictly limits the courts' power in a bankruptcy case," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes said as he read a ruling from the bench this morning.

...

Alice Jennings, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs who sought a moratorium on water shutoffs, said she is disappointed in Rhodes' ruling and will look to appeal his decision.

"No one ever said the water had to be free," Jennings said. "Our position is the water had to be affordable. We're still looking for affordable water."

Jennings said the most important part of Rhodes' ruling was his admission cutting off water service causes irreparable harm. Jennings pointed out the city does not have specific data on how often water has been cut off at homes with children or disabled people...

I don't know what the solution is. I know state's have no extra money and small to medium businesses everywhere are stretched thin, counting every penny.