By Harold Brummett

Denmark Star Route

 

Clay Deweese is an outstanding representative for the City of Oxford. Clay even lives in the city he represents. One could only wish for the same for Lafayette County. It has been said repeatedly there are seven partners who represent Lafayette County. Just one lives in the county and he does not represent the county, just the city. 

Look it up. Lafayette County does not have one representative that lives in the county. 

Districts 10, 13, 12, 5, 34, 8 and 23 (vacant but the candidates are all from outside the county) – none of them depend on the voters from Lafayette County. 

The legislators who represent bits and pieces of Lafayette County are not obligated to the residents for votes to win an election. Lafayette County just rounds out many of the less populated districts that surround us leaving the County with really, no representation at all. 

There has been controversy in Wellsgate subdivision for quite a while. 

For those few who don’t know, you will not find a single or double wide manufactured home in the whole place. The residents there are unhappy about the water and rates and have turned to government for help. At least they had a representative that lived there and was willing to assist. 

Rep. Deweese came up with two solutions. There is House Bill 943 and House Bill 1088. HB 943 authorized the Public Service Commission to intervene in, arbitrate and/or mediate rate conflicts between water associations and ratepayers. HB 1088 allows municipalities and counties to purchase water associations. 

Neither bill is useful. A water association is one that by definition and tradition is operated by the members. Having the Public Service Commission mediate rates would be pitting the association membership against itself. 

The solution would be for the membership to elect members to the board that more closely align themselves with the goals and management that the majority of members want. 

HB 1088 would allow municipalities and counties to purchase water associations. I was assured that this would not happen by eminent domain, but only if both parties agreed. I am sure no pressure would be applied to  sell out.

The other concern would be if a municipality purchased a water association outside the city limits. The water customers outside of the political boundaries would not have any representation or recourse except through the Public Service Commission and that gives little succor. 

Neither bill it appears covers the problem of customers unhappy with a privately owned utility. 

I tried to contact the Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown, but of the three people I talked to only one returned my call. I wanted to leave my name and number for the Commissioner to contact me at his convenience. The Commissioner’s representative wanted to know what the question was and I told him. The Commissioners representative attempted to convince me that all was right with the world. When countered with fact and reason he became argumentative. 

I remembered a quote from Mark Twain – Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience – and excused myself from the call. 

Clay is an excellent representative for Oxford, and from the first time I met him as he was being squired around by Phillip Gunn, I knew that Clay not only has the smarts for the job but the political connections to get things done. 

These two house bills as read are not the right vehicle for what he apparently wants to do.