Why are Governor Francis Farm residents vehemently questioning Warwick Sewer Authority (WSA) operations and policy?

After all a Department of Environmental Management official correctly pointed out at a meeting last week with residents that new proposed regulations mandating sewer connections would reduce pollution and lead to a clearer Narragansett Bay.

Who would object to that?

To understand, compare the WSA to American car companies – searching for bailouts to keep their inefficient operations alive. General Motors provides a perfect example of how high operating costs and mismanagement lead to products consumers simply could not afford to buy.

How would you react to new laws forcing you to buy overpriced American vehicles?

Would a reasonable person want to purchase sewer service that has increased 90 percent over the last five years, will increase another 14 percent next year, and may require double-digit annual percent increases far into the future?

Construction and connection fees alone for an average homeowner will be approximately $20,000 paid over twenty years. Two years ago, neighboring homeowners paid about half that cost.

This fact is clear – if it was a publicly run company, the WSA would be on the verge of bankruptcy – ranking up over $6 million in deficit spending in the last few years, relying on Warwick taxpayer-funded loans to meet operating expenses and facing tens of millions of dollars in capital improvement projects with no plans to pay for them.

Based on city leader responses, apparently, they don’t understand why resident are fuming or maybe they simply don’t care. Councilman Steve Coluntano, who represents the Governor Francis area, did not provide any substantive solution when he proclaimed he “favors mandatory hookup for all”.

Mr. Coluntano, Mayor Scout Avedisian and sewer board members believe the answer to WSA problems are simply – ignore the structural problems associated with the authority and throw more money at it by forcing homeowners to purchase unaffordable sewer services and impose expensive penalties on anyone who defies the connection order.

Governor Francis residents think that plan “stinks”. They didn’t contribute to the financial mess and shouldn’t be required to bailout the authority.

With over 40 percent of homes eligible for sewer service in the city not connected, it’s simply; those homeowners should be required to connect first. According to sewer officials, that plan would take approximately five years to implement, permitting Governor Francis residents ample time to plan for their own connection expenses.

To galvanize the group’s anger further, the sewer board has canceled the final phase of the Governor Francis project, instead substituting another project to maximize usage revenue collection.

Catcalls and angry outbursts by residents quickly pointed out the paradox of previous rationale by officials – mandatory sewer connection to protect the environment or mandatory sewer connection to save a financial inept organization?

Instead of answering this criticism directly, Mayor Avedisian deflected it by laying the blame for WSA problems on the City Council’s decision two years ago to reject mandatory connection legislation.

Under the watchful eye of the mayor, the level of incompetence, mismanagement and poor decisions at the WSA have only multiplied. A 2007 report commissioned by the mayor described the sewer authority as a “floating iceberg” with no direction.

On two separate occasions, the city council approved my legislative request to perform an audit of sewer authority management and operations by independent expert consultants. Mayor Avedisian rejected both requests.

I guess the mayor has forgotten that during his twenty years in city office, including the last ten years as mayor, he alone was responsible for the revolving door appointment of inexperienced directors and non-qualified individuals to the sewer authority board.

The real cause of today’s problems are two fold – a lack of timely rate increases and the failure to develop a coordinated policy to connect homes eligible for service rather then spending millions on new construction projects.

Unlike the mayor, city council or even the school committee, the sewer authority board is not accountable to Warwick voters. That was evident at the meeting when three board members in attendance cowardly lingered in the back of the room rather the sitting up front supporting Executive Director Janine Burke and her staff defend the policies they approved.

As is, the WSA is a doomed entity. Before it becomes Warwick’s bailout abyss, its management should be restructured to protect consumers from inevitable continued double-digit rate increases and require millions of dollars more of taxpayer-backed loans that may never be repaid.

Instead of giving the authority more power as suggested by Council President Bruce Place, the mayor and city council should request that the General Assembly revoke the state enabling legislation that created the authority and move to place control of all policy and financial decisions with the executive and legislative branch of city government.

That way if Warwick residents are not happy, they have an opportunity to change management every other year instead of being ignored at community meetings.

Robert Cushman is a former Warwick City Councilman and former Chairman of the Warwick School Committee. For more information on this topic, contacted him at CushmanR@cox.net.