Marc on Water Quality

A few months ago, frustrated residents of a specific neighborhood contacted me. They had been dealing with brown water for some time, and contacting the Town hadn't gotten them very far. Council documentation showed that the replacement of their deteriorating water main had not been made a priority. Once I helped the residents publicize the issue, meaningful action was finally taken.

But it shouldn't have come to this. The mayor knew about this situation for months, but did not take steps to correct it. The priorities of the current mayor and the council have been out of balance for a long time now, and residents tell me they are tired of it—they are tired of being told it will take years to see an upgrade. That's inexcusable.

To add insult to injury, while this has been going on, the Town has been planning to spend millions on an unnecessary water line on the west side where there is already adequate, modern service. Like many other issues, we can see that the current council's priorities have been misplaced.

Finally, the Town has identified dozens of properties with supply lines made of lead, and a plan has been put into place to replace those lines. But the Town is asking residents to pay for the replacement of the portion that reaches their homes—this will cost the residents thousands of dollars each. I feel the Town should absorb this cost in the interests of health and safety. Again, when we see Town leadership taking extraordinary steps to cater to new business development, yet charge their residents for the mandatory replacement of these water lines, it's one more sign to all of us that Normal needs better priorities. This is a huge reason why I am running.