Hitch Up More Horses
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Hitch Up More Horses
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 31, 2009
An honest local headline could read: CRIME SPREE BANDIT STEALS FROM 500 HOMES, BUSINESSES and CHURCHES.
Verizon is the bandit. The plain fact is that Verizon is charging about 500 customers for telephone service that they did not deliver. Common sense calls this theft and fraud. If telephone bills average around $100 a month, those customers pay $50,000 a month to Verizon. This month, Verizon has stolen at least a fourth of that service, so Greenbrier County Verizon customers are being defrauded of at least $16,000.
The headline’s subtitle could be STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA GAVE BANDIT ADVANCE OKAY.
You’d think that the State of West Virginia would represent citizens versus the “regulated” utilities like Verizon. You’d be wrong. The legislature and governor of the State of West Virginia authorize Verizon – and Allegheny Electric, and Mountaineer Gas, and many other utilities– to steal from us.
The legislature and governor hide behind three appointed Public Service Commissioners.
Three can be a holy number. I learned as a child that Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three aspects of the inexplicable God. That trinity helps me understand the mysteries of my faith.
In human affairs, though, three-person groups are not holy. In West Virginia and in Greenbrier County, three-person government groups are decidedly malfunctioning.
Changing the Public Service Commission from three to five Commissioners, and electing those Commissioners, is a good firs step toward protecting citizens. Only the legislature can authorize that change.
Greenbrier County citizens have the power to change another unholy threesome – the Greenbrier County Commission.
It has been obvious for at least a decade that two of the three Greenbrier County Commissioners run the county. It is easy to believe that the problem lies in individual personalities. The solution, many thought, was to elect different individuals as County Commissioners. Election after election, the County Commission still malfunctioned.
The problem is not with individual elected County Commissioners. The problem lies in the fact that for the past decade, two of the three Commissioners have allied in ways that do not serve the public. Essentially, we have a two-person county commission.
Greenbrier County citizens can add two more Greenbrier County Commissioners.
The process is nonpartisan. Independents, Republicans, Democrats, Mountain Party, no party, everybody – all may participate. It starts with a petition to add two more Greenbrier County Commissioners. Then a courthouse cabal would take a conspiracy of at least three Commissioners.
Adding two more County Commissioners will not be easy. Here are the steps and a hurry-up calendar.
By December, about 2,500, or 10 percent of Greenbrier County’s about 25,000 registered voters sign the petition.
The Greenbrier County Commission verifies that the petition is signed by 10 percent of the legally registered Greenbrier County voters.
By January 23, 2010, the Greenbrier County Commission forwards the petition to the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates.
Before adjourning in March or April 2010, the legislature verifies that the petition meets constitutional requirements and passes a law authorizing the issue to be placed on Greenbrier County’s next General Election ballot.
November 2, 2010, a majority of Greenbrier Countians voting in the General Election approve the change.
Election cycle 2012, Greenbrier Countians elect more County Commissioners. They take office in January 2013.
At the request of dozens of readers, I will post a petition on my web site, www.joanbrowning.com.
The unholy trinity Greenbrier County Commission can be replaced with a five-person governing body. It is up to Greenbrier County voters.
Verizon Horror Stories
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Verizon Horror Stories
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 24, 2009
I’ve heard from many of the 500-600 telephone customers in southern Greenbrier County who were abandoned by Verizon. They related horror stories about Verizon’s callous contempt during a week-long telephone outage.
A 94-year old woman lives alone because her life-line devise connects to the telephone. If she needs help, the devise tells the telephone to call for help.
My life line batteries are good so I’m okay without the telephone; she told neighbors who checked on her. The neighbors did not have the heart to tell the elderly woman that without a functioning telephone, even good batteries made her lifeline useless.
Callers connected with Verizon meaningless mechanical voices. They got Verizon people who poke unintelligible English. Most Verizon staff were downright rude. None were helpful.
For example, one customer finally yelled “agent, agent” at the mechanical voice long enough to get a live human. The Verizon human didn’t understand the problem. “It appears your phone line is out,” the human said. “There is a problem with your line. I will dispatch a technician. The first available technician will be there eleven days from now.”
Verizon does not have enough repair people in the whole state of West Virginia to repair one telephone pole. They would have to bring in people from Texas. A Verizon truck that finally parked on Maplewood Avenue was labeled “Durham, North Carolina.”
Sometimes Verizon suggested that customers route their phone calls to cell phones. One customer did, and it cost her $50 in additional cell phone minutes
Some callers discovered that Verizon does have a West Virginia Customer Care Center. That telephone number is 304-351-4000. The Verizon people there were, one caller said, plain—well, in a family newspaper, let’s use the word rude.
Tricia Cunningham is the best source I heard about for helping customers not pay Verizon for telephone service they did not receive. Call her at 800-483-7988 between 9 am and 5 pm. Ask for Option # 3. Or write Verizon Customer Relations, Attn. Tricia Cunningham, PO Box 1804, Marion, Ohio 43302.
What did government do about these horror stories from Verizon customers? Verizon is, after all, a publicly regulated company.
West Virginia government was no help. The West Virginia Attorney General sent citizens to the Public Service Commission.
The Public Service Commission was lacking either the will or the authority, or both, to force Verizon to treat customers with respect. The PSC Commission staff could only send complaints to Verizon. PSC regulations gave Verizon thirty days to respond.
Why, many of us asked, wouldn’t the PSC require Verizon to automatically issue credits to everybody whose telephone went dead? We can’t do that, the PSC staffers told us. The legislature does not allow the PSC to protect citizens against defrauding utilities.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission will serve the West Virginia public only when the Commissioners increase from three to at least five.
And the Public Service Commissioners must be accountable to us, the public, instead of to the Governor and the utilities. We must elect Public Service Commissioners.
We have had enough of these horror stories. Let’s turn our righteous anger into determination to make our government work for us. Let’s support those Delegates who are trying to reform the Public Service Commission. See last week’s Plain Facts & Common Sense commentary for their names.
Don’t Pay Verizon for Nothing
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Don’t Pay Verizon for Nothing
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, October 17, 2009
Last week, I reported on Verizon and the West Virginia Public Service Commission responses to inquiries about the area-wide Verizon telephone outage.
This week, I tried to find a human at Verizon who could tell me that Verizon would not charge me for the week without service. Machine voices and a couple of human beings didn’t know.
Since this was not an individual telephone problem but rather one that affected a whole area, wouldn’t Verizon just automatically reduce everybody’s next bill?
Finally, on late Thursday afternoon, a Verizon person called and said that my next Verizon bill would show a credit for nine (9) days without service.
Fine, I said. And is that true for my neighbors? All 400-500 of them?
Well, no, the Verizon person said. Each person needs to have called the Verizon 1-800 line as soon as they discovered that they had no dial tone.
(This person finally said that the “major area outage” was caused by damage to 1,200 pairs of cables. He suggested that I call my “local manger” at the “repair center.” I asked for a name and phone number, which he didn’t have!)
So once again I turned to the West Virginia Public Service Commission. Although presumably the “public” service commission exists to serve all of us in the “public,” in 1981, the West Virginia legislature authorized Public Service Commission to set up the Consumer Advocate Division to advocate “ primarily on behalf of residential customers, striving to obtain the lowest possible rates for gas, water, telephone, and electric services.”
What, I asked Mr. Byron L. Harris, Director of the PSC’s Consumer Advocate Division, will the PSC do to assure that Verizon does not bill customers for a week of no service?
Mr. Harris wrote back: “Verizon submits Abnormal Service reports to the Public Service Commission. I believe this may be the report for your area. Location: Lewisburg’ Exchange: 645; Date & Time of Initial Report: 10/3/09 @ 5:00A’ Nature of Event: Auto Accident; Approximate Number of Customers: 517/236; RESTORAL: 10/11/09 @ 10:57A.”
Mr. Harris wrote: “Verizon will provide credits on customer bills for extended service outages, but I believe the customer has to request the credit, it doesn’t happen automatically.”
So there you have it.
If you did not telephone Verizon to report your telephone outage last week, Verizon will not reduce your next bill.
And in the legislature’s wisdom, the West Virginia Public Service Commission, even its Consumer Advocate Division, will not help you.
This is outrage piled on top of outrage. .
If your do not want to pay Verizon for a week when your telephone was dead, register a complaint with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. Call 1-800-642-8544, or write to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, 723 Kanawha Boulevard, East, Union Building, Suite 700, Charleston, West Virginia 25301.
All this dealing with Verizon and the Public Service Commission is a lot of work. It demonstrates the need to change the Public Service from a government agency of three utility persons appointed by the governor back to its original purpose of serving the public.
Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates who are trying to make the PSC serve the public are: Delegates Linda Sumner (R-Raleigh), Robert Beach (D-Monongalia), Stan Shaver (D-Preston), Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D-Monongalia), Linda Longstreth (D-Marion), Tim Manchin (D-Marion), Mike Caputo (D-Marion) and Larry Williams (D-Preston), and Joe Talbott (D-Webster). Let these Delegates know you support them.
Runaway Troikas
Plain Facts & Common Sense
Runaway Troikas
by Joan C. Browning
Mountain Messenger, Saturday, July 11, 2009
Local telephone calls in Virginia’s seven area code zones are local. The West Virginia Public Service Commission ignored citizen comment and common sense. It created a two-area code overlay. Now, we have to dial long distance to call our neighbors. The WV PSC gave Appalachian Power a 17% rate increase last fall and is now considering another 48% increase.
The three Public Service Commissioners have dictatorial authority over the other two million of us Mountaineers.
This three-some reminds me of the Russian three-horse sleigh called the troika. The “master” driver sits at the front of the sleigh and holds the middle horse’s reins. Two back seat drivers guide the outside horses.
The middle horse, the “leader,” must trot slowly and steadily while the two outside horses gallop. The sleigh moves forward only when all three drivers work together.
The Greenbrier County Commission is another three-some. It worked well during the 1990’s but those halcyon days are gone. The Greenbrier County Commission, like the Public Service Commission, is functioning like an out-of-control troika.
Consider a recent Greenbrier County Commission meeting, aired on Channel 5.
The Honorable Debbie Fogus, elected to represent the 2,500 citizens of White Sulphur Springs, appeared before the County Commission for pro forma approval for bond preparation as last step toward financing the Village’s sewer project.
White Sulphur Springs supplies water and sewer services to its citizens and to The Greenbrier and to the Greenbrier Sporting Club homes.
The Village’s utilities are antiquated, as are those in Ronceverte and Alderson and Rupert and Rainelle. The WV Department of Environmental Protection has fined the village about $300,000 because of its inadequate sewer system. White Sulphur Springs has already spent about $50,000 in attorney fees to contest more DEP fines.
Upgrading White Sulphur Springs utilities will cost tens of million of dollars. For at least eight years, they have chased down every possible source of funding. They have borrowed a million dollars and raised rates twice.
The West Virginia legislature created Tax Incentive Financing, TIF, to allow places like White Sulphur Springs to borrow money for infrastructure projects. The legislature required counties to sell the bonds for small places like White Sulphur Springs.
The Greenbrier County Commission created the White Sulphur Springs TIF six years ago. The White Sulphur Springs TIF fund has grown to $6 million. It adds about $2 million every year.
Greenbrier County Commissioners Lowell Rose, Betty D. Crookshanks and Brad Tuckwiller signed off on White Sulphur Spring’s sewer project in January 2008. Two of the county commissioners who signed off on the project last year are still commissioners.
At this recent meeting, Commissioner Tuckwiller moved to approve preparation of bond documents. Commissioner Crookshanks and Commissioner Lobban voted to delay the project, even at the risk of causing higher costs.
“Today is pushing the deadline for beginning bond documents,” Mayor Fogus to the Commissioners. Actually, she said, it is probably optimistic to think that bond attorneys can meet the first of August deadline.
Commissioner Lobban was opposed to the county issuing the bonds at all. Commission President Crookshanks voted to delay the White Sulphur Springs project while she tries to get some of the new “stimulus” money.
“Stimulus money is going to shovel-ready projects that are already in the grant application pipeline,” Commissioner Tuckwiller said. “White Sulphur Spring’s sewer project is not even in line. If stimulus money is available later, it can always replace some of the borrowed money.”
Fifty-nine projects are on the West Virginia Clean Water State Revolving Fund Priority List. Fifty projects are ahead of the White Sulphur Springs # 51 ranked WATER, not SEWER, project. Greenbrier PSD #1 ranks 4th (failing septic systems) and the City of Ronceverte is #35 (direct discharge). The FY 2009 budget funds 13 projects statewide – and none are in Greenbrier County.
The Greenbrier County Commission treated Mayor Fogus as if she were a beggar, come with hat in hand to her superiors. When the Commissioners disrespected Mayor Fogus, they disrespected the 2,500 Greenbrier County citizens who reside in White Sulphur Springs and all the 35,000 citizens of Greenbrier County.
White Sulphur Springs deserves respect. We all deserve better.
