Water is important, as is keeping control of Trenton Water Works
Water matters.
As lifeblood and elixir for life, water remains a most valuable commodity which is why the City of Trenton and Mayor Eric Jackson should not sell the Trenton Water Works: no matter what.
The Trenton Water Works utility remains crucial to the city’s future. Simply, file an emergency order and put in place experts who can assure that the facility dispenses clean, healthy water to Trenton residents and its suburban homes.
Water safety, whether being imbibed or even swimming in it, remains crucial to healthy lifestyles. Every person, not just suburban dwellers owns a right to clean, safe water.
Still, this turmoil and dismay regarding drinking water receives an amazing amount of complaints from suburban voices, delivering a distorted message, almost as if urban dwellers have no interest in whether their natural drink contains lead or haloacetic acids.
While suburban mayors and residents shout concerns, minimal opportunities are availed to city residents and leaders. Speaking in terms of preparing children for school, boiling water to start a day presents a challenge for suburban and urban parents.
However, a reality exists that suburban needs seem to galvanize media members and politicians more than people who live in cities.
A shooting in Trenton receives minimal attention, almost as if that’s what should be expected while a discharged firearm in the suburbs causes significant alarm and response.
A Hamilton Twp. woman having two cars stolen from her driveway somehow rates more important than a Trenton teen being gunned down in cold blood.
We can see similar responses regarding the opioid crisis as politicians and government officials responded immediately to children dying in Hamilton, Lawrence and Hopewell.
Millions of dollars poured in across the state as leaders declared the opioid problem a national crisis. Meanwhile, during those crazy days of crack, criminals and crime in Trenton, Camden and Newark, politicians stood around talking about how bad things were in those cities.
Their inaction represented a betrayal of trust. In fact, Trenton suffers as elected leaders rarely deliver the kind of public service that breeds positive change and solutions.
The message remains clearer than good water, suburban life should deliver perfect weather, perfect teeth and perfect water while urban dwellers, specifically blacks and Latinos, deserve daily struggle.
Mr. Jackson, do not allow suburban mayors and state officials any opportunity to force a sale of the city’s water utility.
Politicians consider this moment an opportunity to display leadership but check news reports dating back to 2013 during some stressful days at the TWW when contaminants were found in water issued to local homes.
Hamilton Twp. Mayor Kelly Yaede hosted a meeting with local officials and TWW about the crisis. The mayor then released a statement about that meeting.
“This sign of increasing cooperation between Trenton Water Works and the towns it serves instills a greater degree of confidence that should any issue arise in the future, the proper officials will be notified promptly so that the issue can be dealt with immediately and the residents of Hamilton Township can be ensured that their water is safe,” Yaede said in a statement.
Hosting that meeting showed initiative although the next TWW water violation should have prompted a guttural response by Yaede and every other attendee.
Maybe it’s me. Perhaps it’s the water being taken in. If someone betrayed me about a crucial item like water and being charged with distribution of this valuable liquid to 90,000 residents, well, phone calls, screams, press conferences and every other communication would be used to make my point — water has no equal.
Stop the politics and grand stands. Deliver solutions so that everybody can enjoy safe drinking water. Then fix the opioid crisis and suicide crisis and the suburbs can enjoy tranquility.
When this water crisis subsides, all politicians that serve Trenton and those disenfranchised neighborhoods in the suburbs, should be as vocal about our inner city violence, murder, crime, closed libraries and a litany of other issues.