Articles

Indiana Alliance for Democracy

To Realize Democracy’s Potential

Articles written by IN AfD’s Jack Miller

In April 2002 the city purchased the Indianapolis Water Co. The following month USFilter (now Veolia) took over management of the city waterworks with a $1.8 billion, 20-year contract. Indianapolis is the biggest U.S. contract of Veolia Environnement which is headquartered in Paris, France. Veolia touts Indianapolis as a huge success in its sales pitch to other cities, but as watchdog Public Citizen warns in a recent report: "Communities, and the public employees that communities trust to deliver safe and clean water, don't need a success like Indianapolis." The following reports, published in award-winning NUVO Newsweekly, are an attempt to chronicle the ongoing problems involved when a vital public service is turned over to a self-monitoring, profit driven corporation headquartered far from Indianapolis.

Sources for these articles are available upon request.

More bad news for Veolia

Demand for investigation grows Jack Miller Charges of inadequate oversight, possible fraud, conflicts of interest, lack of maintenance, reduced water testing and the risks to Indianapolis’ drinking water have brought Veolia to the attention of state regulators. ... http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2005/07/27/more_bad_news_for_veolia.html

Veolia over troubled water Water company springs leaks Jack Miller Last January, a boil-water emergency in Indianapolis led to class cancellations for 40,000 students and cost schools, restaurants and hospitals thousands of dollars for bottled water alone. http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2005/07/06/veolia_over_troubled_water.html

More troubled water Problems plague Indy's water company Jack Miller

Nearly two troubled years have passed since Indianapolis purchased the waterworks and turned over management to a French-owned company, USFilter (USF). Those two years have seen cuts in employee benefits, two pending lawsuits, sell-offs of corporate divisions, labor unrest with the federal labor board (NLRB) issuing an extraordinary 16 complaints against the company, frozen hydrants, billing errors, customer dissatisfaction and declining employee morale. Most recently, a $6 million sludge facility designed and built by USF was shut down for safety reasons. Critics charge that the facility was poorly designed, has never worked properly and now represents an explosion hazard... http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2004/04/07/more_troubled_water.html

Six more questions About the privatized management of the City waterworks Jack Miller

Since NUVO’s first article on the topic (“Troubled Water: Six Questions About the Indianapolis Water Company Deal,” June 4) and in light of growing opposition to the privatized management of the city waterworks, USFilter and the Dept. of Waterworks have circled the wagons. But their reactions to criticism have led to more questions... http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2003/09/03/six_more_questions.html

Troubled Water

Six questions about the Indianapolis Water Company deal Jack Miller

In April 2002 the City of Indianapolis paid $515 million to purchase the Indianapolis Water Co. (IWC) from utility holding company NiSource. Some observers, including members of the City-County Council and the Indianapolis Waterworks Board, along with employees of the Water Company, still question the deal... http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2003/05/28/troubled_water.html

Since 1992 Indianapolis has been a brimming petri dish of privatization experiments. During his eight years as mayor, Republican Steve Goldsmith laid off 40 percent of the city workers and privatized dozens of public services while funding his campaign with contractor donations. Goldsmith's successor, Democrat Bart Peterson, has taken the Goldsmith agenda to new heights. Peterson has opened charter schools, hired USFilter (Veolia) to run the city waterworks for $90 million/year, and given the Indianapolis Colts a $600 million taxpayer funded stadium while continuing Goldsmith's style of trading contracts for campaign contributions. If privatization is judged by the quality of life in Indianapolis, it's in big trouble. Lack of investment in infrastructure and cuts in public services may have contributed to the city's poor ratings in various quality-of-life surveys. Tax abatements and other massive incentives to wealthy businesses and team owners have also strained the budget while thousands of good jobs have been lost. The following describes how the public suffers when politicians lavish public resources on contractors (campaign contributors) and wealthy businesses.

Business as usual

Bart Peterson is a kinder, gentler Goldsmith Jack Miller

Bart Peterson became mayor of Indianapolis in January 2000, vowing to run the city like a business. Of course, that’s exactly what his predecessor, Steve Goldsmith, had been doing the previous eight years. Let’s see what differences exist between a business Democrat and a business Republican.

Read this story at http://www.nuvo.net/archive/2003/10/29/business_as_usual.html

Read a review of To Market, To Market: Reinventing Indianapolis