Below are some excerpts and quotes from the article “Troubled Water” by Kate Bradshaw of The Almanac. For the complete article, go to https://paloaltoonline.atavist.com/troubledwater.Troubled Water
The day he left East Palo Alto to attend his grandmother’s funeral across the country, Justin Turner’s water was shut off.
He had to leave his wife, nine months pregnant and due to deliver any day, at home without water, after trying fruitlessly for months to have a simple question answered by his water company, the private nonprofit Palo Alto Park Mutual Water Company: Why is my bill so high?
“They’ve probably been the least cooperative of the water districts we work with as far as being forthcoming with information,”
– Harold Schapelhouman, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief
“I don’t think staff is working for improvement. I think they’re primarily showing up and doing what they’ve always done,”
– Eric Lacy, State Water Resources Control Board
“I think the City Council has been very concerned, but we don’t have jurisdiction … I personally hope that the court will intervene in a way that they do help that entity to become more responsive to the needs of their customers,”
– Ruben Abrica, East Palo Alto City Councilmember