12 years ago...
Twelve years ago as a city hall whistleblower I informed the Greensboro News & Record numerous times that public water use was declining. And, to make the story even more newsworthy I added, "The news of the decline is being suppressed by the city's managers."
Two years later I told the N&R I was certain that the decline would continue. This information was important to the citizens because I discovered the city's case for the Randleman Dam was a fraud. I took the risk of blowing the whistle because the city was being terribly dishonest about its claim of water scarcity and the Randleman Dam being the only solution. I felt that taxpayers deserved to know that water use was declining so they could make informed decisions about the Randleman Dam.
It would not surprise me if the N&R called my bosses at city hall and told them what I was reporting. I was between a rock and a hard place. I was hired to reduce water demand—I was succeeding—I was winning awards—and yet I could sense that my bosses, the dam scammers, wanted nobody to know. While calling for conservation they actually wanted water use to increase sharply to justify the dam. I was ruining their secret plan.
Editor John Robinson wasn’t interested in them. He didn’t think a decline was news. Robinson said, “Well, we have a water conservation program now, so water use should decline.”
But John, the City of Greensboro projected that future water use would skyrocket even with my water conservation program in place. The CHART proves it!
The decline in water use began during a booming economy. It baffled the water department. The News & Record was not interested. I was fired in 1999 after two years of high tension caused by the success of my program.
False Statement in video
In 1999, the year I was fired, the city made a false statement in a water video it released. Water use had declined 4 years in a row. However, the city's new video approved by City Manager Ed Kitchen stated that "water demand was increasing." The water department and Ed Kitchen lied to support the case for the Randleman Dam.
Click on CHART to view full size
Public water use has declined since 1995 (Blue trend line). It never did skyrocket like the dam scammers projected (Dotted line) The Greensboro News & Record has never reported the city's gross over-estimation of its water needs!
Here are the results......
97% of citizens are misinformed
I was not at all surprised to discover that 97% of citizens incorrectly believe that water use has increased since 1995. That’s exactly what the City of Greensboro and the News & Record wants them to think! The brainwashing has been successful and it's no wonder why citizens continue to support the Randleman Dam.
You tell me. If 97% of citizens think water use has gone up since 1995 ...and 97% of citizens are wrong, is that NEWS? Where do they get their ideas from?Of course this is news! Why won't any area news agencies report this story?
FACT: Greensboro had the lowest priced water among NC cities while its reservoirs were running dry. Its water price was 47% lower than the average for North Carolina cities!
FACT: Greensboro kept its water rates very low for several years so water use would remain high and the reservoirs would appear as inadequate.
FACT: As soon as Randleman Dam was approved, Greensboro raised the price of its water. The summertime peak demand problem caused by irrigation was solved.
Only those like you who have found their way to my blog know that Greensboro is using less water today than it did 15 years ago.
Randleman Dam is the City of Greensboro's greatest scam. Do you believe that taxpayers have a right to know all that is being concealed from them? Will you join me in this fight? Will you take action to see that the truth gets out? Will you write a letter to the editor? Will you distribute my CHART to residents of Greensboro?
I poured my heart into my job in Greensboro. I received national awards for my unanticipated success. Citizens saved 2 billion gallons of Greensboro water following the programs I instituted. Then I discovered an enormous fraud in the making—the Randleman Dam.
As the city's water spokesman I was expected to participate in this fraud. I refused because my faith leaves no room for such dishonesty. I was fired and never replaced. I am Greensboro's only water conservation manager.
Nobody came to my aid in 1999 because nobody believed my predictions that water use would go down and that he Randleman Dam was not necessary. I paid a price higher than you can ever imagine. None of the numerous water-saving programs I began are in place today. Greensboro downsized its water conservation program after my termination in 1999 and then ended the WC program around 2004.
Do you care if the dam scammers win? Do you care if water rates rise annually to pay for 53% of the Randleman Lake? Do you care if this fraud is never uncovered?
What will you do to help?
Posts
You're criminally insane.
ReplyDeleteWhat Fec said.
ReplyDeleteFec and Lex:
ReplyDeleteHow sophomoric it is to dismiss the entire water fraud issue by simply tossing invective without offering any arguement.
What is your take on my water use history chart? Do you dismiss it because it's fiction?... or are my numbers correct? You didn't say. Did Greensboro's forecast of future water needs come true?... or was the forecast a fabrication to justify the Randleman Dam? You didn't say. Has water use declined over 15 years?... or has it increased? You didn't say. Are citizens informed? ...or are they misinformed as shown in my survey? You didn't say. Has Greensboro eliminated it water conservation program?... or expanded it? You didn't say.
It's not my fight (Mike sent me the link in a e-mail), but the first two comments on this thread made me sick.
ReplyDeleteLex Alexander, the N&R's former medical blogger makes a "diagnosis" equivalent to journalistic malpractice. Nice.
And Fec, I don't know why I expect better from you. But I do.
The Randleman Dam is a joke. Locals spent years in Court fighting over the land (lake-front property being perceived to be a big deal - and greed being a primary motivating factor). Even the US Army Corps of Engineers withdrew support for the project as it was originally conceived because the cost did not justify the imagined benefits.
As far as I know, nobody is getting water from it - especially not the small town that hosts it. Fishing and boating are severely restricted.
Maybe, just maybe, Mike Baron was treated CRIMINALLY.
Around here, he's in good company.
It's pretty amusing that someone can call you criminally insane when all you are trying to do is protect the people in your community. Hmmm, let's see, who is the insane one???
ReplyDeleteMost of us knew this Dam project was a farce from the beginning, and to add insult to injury it's not even a recreation area.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Fec goes, if you say black he will say white - he's a Rebel Rouser! :)
Some people allow their emotions and/or special interests to obscure the facts and reason.
ReplyDeletewaterpro
Dear Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteIt is unclear to me and to others if your comment was intended to describe me....or intended to describe the dam scammers who profited in money and in pride for getting an unnecessary project permitted, financed and built by hook or crook.
Since I know the truth, I will assume that you are referring to Greensboro's "special interests" (growth, profit from $150 million projects, promotions, salary increases, real estate profits, etc.) that obscured the facts and reason and caused city officials to deceive the public, the state and the feds.
Of course you do. The thing is, a lot of folks around here have no use for what you have to say.
ReplyDeletePlease note, Mike left your comment up.
You're criminally insane.
ReplyDeleteYou're evil, evil I say.*Fec
So how long have you been missing Ed Cone's reverse therapy sessions Fec?
You do understand that the Net is for information and not the raving of psychopath like you!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete