Management targets elderly retired water plant operator

BY LISA STAYTON
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Martin County Water District’s pursuit of a 50-year-old security deposit last week unraveled a plot to require all customers to pay deposits or show proof of payment.

Water workers showed up at 83-year-old Rosemary Blackburn’s home in Davella to disconnect her service last week after the billing office mistakenly transferred her meter number to another person’s account. Blackburn says she owes the March and April bills that she did not receive, but Alliance Water Resources told her to pay a security deposit or she would lose her service.

Blackburn, a retired Martin County Water Plant operator, says she always pays her bills and did not understand the situation.

“I’ve got the receipts where I paid January and February,” Blackburn said. “I pay everything by check. Even when I worked at the water plant, I always paid by check so people couldn’t say they let me have my water for free.”

Blackburn’s son, Dean Blackburn, was at his mother’s home when the workers showed up to cut off her service. He went to the water district office and was told Rosemary’s neighbor had paid the bill “the last couple of months.”

“They said Mom had a zero balance but would have to pay a security deposit,” said Dean.

Rosemary’s son, Doug Blackburn, went to the billing office Friday.

“She’s 83 years old, upset,” Doug told the clerk. “She’s just had a pacemaker put in. Mom worked for the water plant 40 years ago, and she’s just really upset.”

The clerk expressed her sympathy.

“What I tried to tell her, they’re getting ready to do a security deposit audit anyway,” the clerk stated. “Any account that don’t [sic] have a deposit is gonna have to pay a deposit anyway. If she’s upset about that, there’s nothing I can do. I can only do what they tell me to do.”

Doug told the clerk that his mother had paid her deposit years ago. The clerk advised that the water district did not have a record.

“We’ve got a lot of records of deposit,” said the clerk. “I don’t have one for that account.”

Doug then said his mother would pay the bills for March and April, and the clerk offered to set up a payment plan.

“But they’re not going to let me do anything without the security deposit,” said the clerk. “My supervisor came in today and said, ‘There’s nothing we can do about it.’”

Doug also spoke with Alliance Water Resources employees JJ Ridings and Jason JD Damron, expressing his concern about the stress the situation was causing his mother.

“If something happens to her, if she has a heart attack, I will go see a lawyer, I’ll go to the newspapers, I will do it all,” Doug said.

“First off, we don’t care about the newspaper, lawyers and all that stuff,” Damron replied. “If we did something wrong, I’m sure we’ll make it right.”

Martin County Water District chairperson Jimmy Don Kerr called Rosemary Monday afternoon.

“I asked Jimmy Don, ‘What if I called and told them to shut the water off at your house — got your address and called them in and told them to shut your water off?” said Rosemary. “He said, ‘Oh, they know me.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve had water for 50 years down there, and they should know me.’”

Kerr told the Mountain Citizen that the water district “was wrong.”

“We will make this right,” Kerr said Monday.

When asked why Alliance was making a policy without the water board voting for or directing it, Kerr said the board had not taken formal action on the adoption of a new policy.

Kerr stated he would conduct a series of individual consultations with board members about the security deposit audit and Blackburn’s situation, so they would already know the plan when people show up to talk about it at the next public meeting.