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Residents, labor and business leaders urge keeping Lansing Board of Water and Light’s current governance
Summary
Dozens of speakers at the Lansing Charter Commission meeting on March 4, 2005, urged the commission to preserve the existing charter language that keeps the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) as an independent, publicly run utility; speakers cited service reliability, employee protection and economic development.
Dozens of residents, retirees, union leaders and business representatives told the Lansing Charter Commission on March 4 that the Lansing Board of Water and Light should remain a publicly run, independently governed utility.
Curtis Hertel, a former state senator and BWL ratepayer, told commissioners the city should “keep a strong, public utility here,” saying independent governance has helped protect employees, ratepayers and service. “A good publicly run utility has become rare in the state, and we are lucky to have them,” Hertel said.
Several other speakers echoed that point. Tim Damon, president and CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the BWL is a “city asset” that supports economic development and that the current…
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