A diary by Homogenius told the story of an aged vet who froze after failure to pay his electric bill in Bay City. I just received and email from the Mayor of Bay City regarding Mr. Schur, the 93 year old veteran, who froze to death because of the limiter on his electric service. Email below the fold.
After reading the diary by Homogenius, I sent a not very nice email to the Mayor of Bay City:
Subject: Mr. Schur
Dear folks at Bay City,
I just read a heartwarming story about how your municipal electric
utility helped a very old vet freeze to death.
Heartless now has a new name for me: Bay City, Michigan.
Sincerely,
my name here
By the way, I hope Robert Belleman gets to freeze in the same hell he
consigns others to. He can hope for his neighbors to rescue him.
Cheers.
Maybe that was too harsh. However, I just received this response from the Mayor of Bay City:
Mr. name here
The death of Mr. Schur was truly a tragedy. We in Bay City feel awful and
are deeply saddened that this happened. The use of the limiter on electric
meters has been discontinued and no one else's power will be shut off. We
are being investigated by the State Attorney General and the Michigan State
Police, which we welcome. Our State Representative and State Senator are
working on legislation to deal with this tragedy as well. We will make sure
this never happens again.
Charles M. Brunner, Mayor
City of Bay City
This event was a tragedy, but it seems to me that Mayor Charles M. Brunner is responding in exactly the way one might hope. They will no longer use limiters, and no one else's power will be shut off, and they are welcoming an investigation and working on legislation to prevent future incidents . That is a very direct and responsive action, and I applaud Mayor Brunner for it. As such, I will be sending him a thank you. Perhaps others could do the same if you feel it is warranted. His email is:
Mayor Charles M. Brunner cbrunner@baycitymi.org
It seems that sometimes efforts here, and no doubt elsewhere, do sometimes have positive results. Please let Mayor Brunner know that you appreciate his response if you feel so inclined.