I was among those of you who were shocked when you read the Wednesday story in the local paper regarding LaSalle pumping treated water into the canal. THIS WAS THE MAYOR ACTING ON HIS OWN ONCE AGAIN! The Council never approved any formal action to use city treated water to fill the canal. My first thought was what part of stupid doesn’t the Mayor understand?
I called the City attorney and was informed he knew nothing about this. I called several aldermen who also were in the dark regarding this action. Our Superintendent of Public Works disclosed to me that no one on the water department was in favor of this action. Mr McNeilly also said he advised against the action as well. Not good enough for our Mayor…damn the torpedoes..full speed ahead!!!
The costs of this action are in the conservative range of $5,000.00 for the water itself. Add to that the labor costs of setting up and overseeing this action and the bottom line increases. The only good news is that we did not pump a half million gallons into the canal as first reported by the local paper. This action was stopped by the end of Tuesday after 100,000 gallons were disbursed.
Now lets look at the fact that pumping treated water into a natural water basin does nothing to help the health of the fish who reside there. I am not sure that the EPA won’t investigate and possibly fine the City for polluting a waterway.
But lets get back to the real issue…the Mayor deciding on his own to give free water to a private enterprise and letting you the taxpayer pay for it! I’m sure your first question is….where’s mine? And I don’t blame you! It’s just another example of this Mayor shooting from the hip and acting as if the city funds are his personal checking account. Let’s not forget his personal deal to house equipment in a heated building last winter and not inform the Council. He agreed to pay $500 a month to a former alderman for the use of a building in north LaSalle when I know we could have moved some equipment around and used buildings we already own!
You as a taxpayer and citizen of this city need to let your Mayor know that enough is enough…I have tried and will continue to point out that its the taxpayer’s money not his. Please let me know what you think and better yet let the Mayor know. Its time to take a scene from the movie “Network” and say publicly “We’re mad as Hell….and we’re not going to take it anymore!”
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