Judge Rhodes to Decide on Detroit Water Shutoff Issue
By Matt Helms
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes said he would decide later today on a request by critics of Detroit’s water department who asked him to issue a restraining order against additional shutoffs of customers with unpaid bills.
People need water “to live, to survive, to thrive,” lawyer Alice Jennings told Rhodes in a hearing this morning. “The inability to flush a toilet quite frankly, your honor, creates a health problem.”
Jennings represents a number of groups opposed to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s aggressive program of going after unpaid water bills. The department has cut off water to 19,000 homes in recent months, with about 5,000 remaining without water, Jennings said. The groups include the National Action Network, Moratorium Now, the People’s Water Board and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization.
Jennings said the shutoffs endanger low-income families and particularly children and vulnerable seniors. The groups are seeking the restraining order until the city has a more comprehensive plan for helping the poorest Detroiters with financial help to pay for a critical service, much the way there are resources to help against electricity and heat shutoffs.
But a lawyer for the DWSD, Tomothy Fusco, said the department opposes the move because it would be an unprecedented effort to prevent it from following through on its duty to properly run the department, including going after customers illegally hooked into water service.
Fusco also said that under the federal bankruptcy code, judges aren’t authorized to instruct local governments on how to operate.
“This is not the forum or the way to deal with this issue,” Fusco said.
Rhodes had questions for both sides and said he would respond to the request sometime today.
The issue first arose in bankruptcy court in July when Rhodes heard from individuals objecting to the city’s bankruptcy plan, with many saying the water shutoffs were exacerbating problems. Rhodes chastised the shutoff program as a black eye to Detroit’s reputation and demanded that the city better address the problem, even as he acknowledged that he was unsure whether the issue was within his authority.
Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthelms.
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| Representatives of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund outside federal court at the opening of the confirmation phase of the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history in Detroit. The lawyers for the people have filed a motion to impose a restraining order on the emergency manager to halt all water shut-offs. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe) |
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes said he would decide later today on a request by critics of Detroit’s water department who asked him to issue a restraining order against additional shutoffs of customers with unpaid bills.
People need water “to live, to survive, to thrive,” lawyer Alice Jennings told Rhodes in a hearing this morning. “The inability to flush a toilet quite frankly, your honor, creates a health problem.”
Jennings represents a number of groups opposed to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s aggressive program of going after unpaid water bills. The department has cut off water to 19,000 homes in recent months, with about 5,000 remaining without water, Jennings said. The groups include the National Action Network, Moratorium Now, the People’s Water Board and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization.
Jennings said the shutoffs endanger low-income families and particularly children and vulnerable seniors. The groups are seeking the restraining order until the city has a more comprehensive plan for helping the poorest Detroiters with financial help to pay for a critical service, much the way there are resources to help against electricity and heat shutoffs.
But a lawyer for the DWSD, Tomothy Fusco, said the department opposes the move because it would be an unprecedented effort to prevent it from following through on its duty to properly run the department, including going after customers illegally hooked into water service.
Fusco also said that under the federal bankruptcy code, judges aren’t authorized to instruct local governments on how to operate.
“This is not the forum or the way to deal with this issue,” Fusco said.
Rhodes had questions for both sides and said he would respond to the request sometime today.
The issue first arose in bankruptcy court in July when Rhodes heard from individuals objecting to the city’s bankruptcy plan, with many saying the water shutoffs were exacerbating problems. Rhodes chastised the shutoff program as a black eye to Detroit’s reputation and demanded that the city better address the problem, even as he acknowledged that he was unsure whether the issue was within his authority.
Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/matthelms.
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