WESTMINSTER : Water-Rate Increase Spurs Recall Threat

Furious over a 100% water rate increase approved by the City Council in March, a group of residents has kicked off a recall drive against Mayor Charles V. Smith and Councilmen Frank Fry Jr. and Craig Schweisinger.

At a council meeting Tuesday, Howard Jones, 62, made a brief statement announcing the drive, after which two dozen members of the audience burst into applause.

Jones said that the recall was necessary because the councilmen had repeatedly refused to reconsider the increase, even after 200 angry residents jammed a previous council meeting and demanded a public hearing on it.

Smith reacted to the recall drive after the meeting by saying he is “always concerned about anything like this, (but) I think the people behind it are misinformed.”

He added that the water rate increase is necessary for the city’s financial well-being, and that “everything I do or have done, I felt was in the best interests of the community and Westminster and I stand on my record.”

Fry called the recall drive a “credible” threat but warned that fire and police protection would suffer if the cost of water was returned to its earlier level, the lowest rate in the county.

The council contends that city services, especially police and fire services, would have to be cut $3.4 million if rates are rolled back, a position that Councilwomen Joy L. Neugebauer and Lyn Gillespie dispute.

The council unanimously approved the rate hike six months ago, but the councilwomen said they approved the increase originally because they believed it called for a doubling of the rate only for excessive water use.

However, the rate increase doubled the price of water for everyone, from 63 cents per 748 gallons to $1.26. Even with the increase, Finance Director Brian Mayhew said, the city still subsidizes water delivery by 18 cents per 748 gallons.

The monthly water bill has increased from $11.37 to $23.29 for the average family. The county average for such bills is $24.25.

Westminster resident Doug Willingham, 33, said Tuesday that he supports, and will seek signatures in favor of, a recall because of the councilmen’s “arrogance” in refusing to reconsider the increase.

“What you have to say just doesn’t matter to them,” he said. “I hate to have to go through that, but it’s our only recourse.”

City Clerk Mary Lou Morey said that under state law, the council members have seven days to respond to the recall notice. After they do so, recall proponents will then have 10 days to submit a copy of the wording to appear on the recall petitions.

Once approved by Morey, the petition must be signed by 20% of the city’s registered voters within 120 days to force a recall election, she said.

According to the county registrar of voters, recall proponents must get 6,614 signatures for each of the three council members.