Do people take better care of what they rent or what they own? This is a question that Vancouver’s sewer ratepayers need to ask as the city plans to “rent out” the wastewater facilities to a private company again.
Taking shortcuts on maintenance is a way these big businesses make lots of money. Making a profit is first in their minds. Skimming on maintenance or slipping things by an inexperienced, docile contract manager makes for bigger profits. It’s estimated over a million dollars a year has been leaving our community and our nation to go to private corporate headquarters, which could result in tens of millions of dollars over the life of the contract. A private company operates and maintains the multimillion dollars’ worth of city equipment, but the city ratepayers pay for needed equipment replacements. See the problem?
With our national economy as shaky as it is, that is something Vancouverites may want to stop. How? By hiring qualified city employees through competitive interviews. There are many competent workers eager to do the job.
Let’s do what is right for our community. Let’s operate and maintain our own wastewater treatment facilities and keep our money here in Vancouver and in the U.S.A.
