The Storm Water Mafia A/k/a The Gary Storm Water Management District Mafia members: Jewell Harris Jr.: Attorney for the GSD Board (father still in federal prison for bilking the Gary Sanitary District through a double-billing scheme) Lauren Riga: Heads the Department of Green Urbanism and is Coordinator for the City of Gary on all matters pertaining to Storm Water (mother was a Schererville Town Judge and was indicted for extortion and fraud based on kickbacks received from more than 1000 defendants) Karen Freeman-Wilson: Acting Special Administrator of the GSD; has no engineering experience whatsoever (was the attorney for the disgraced GUEA organization throughout the entire period during which millions of dollars were stolen. Nearly everyone involved with the organization was convicted by the feds—except her, somehow. I guess that Harvard education paid off after all: it didn’t make her smart enough to notice any of the malfeasance, but it helped her negotiate her way out of going to prison with all of her cohorts) Dan Vicari: Director of the GSD (Scott King’s surrogate) The Gary Sanitary District/Gary Storm Water Management Board: (a bunch of mindless zombies that are just barely conscious enough to do exactly as they have been told) Curtis Whitaker: Does accounting for the GSD/GSWMD as an outside contractor (the accountant that helped cook the books for the completely corrupt GUEA organization; hides behind a white collar; performs his miracles [financial sleight-of-hand as directed by his clients] and claims it is all done in the name of God.) Roosevelt Powell: (freshly out of federal prison for fraud; no formal position with the agency but is always around giving advice. Was Rudy Clay’s right-hand man and Clay’s proclaimed best friend.) Has anyone recognized a pattern here? Mary Brown: Sitting councilwoman and works for the GSD. Shirley Stanford: Former city councilwoman that still works for the GSD as a compliance officer. The Gary Sanitary District/ Gary Storm Water Management District are flush with cash. While the city’s budget has been shrinking, the GSD’s has been growing. And just as of last year, the GSWMD has begun taxing the crap out of all property owners. This year, they ratcheted up the fees by as much as 400% in many cases. This has become their newest cash calf. But what the heck do they do with all of the money they collect from property owners? Every time it rains, I see all of the storm water just sitting in puddles and collecting on the streets. They really aren’t doing anything. They are just collecting these taxes, or “fees” as they call them, and paying their own salaries. They are also able to hire their friends as consultants. The Mayor was able to get a gig for her friend the City Judge, Deidre Monroe. She is the one they send you to if you have a complaint about your bill for storm water. Surely this guarantees the ratepayers an objective hearing! This is how a mafia works: a small group of individuals work as a conspiracy to defraud others. This group meets the definition with every test. So when you pay as much as 100 times more in Storm Water fees that you did two years ago when you were simply billed a small amount on your tax bill; and when you drive around the city after an average rainfall and see the same water standing in the same places for just as long as it used to, thank the Storm Water Mafia. And take comfort that they are all living large at your expense. This is all part of the plan in the New Day Administration. And don’t forget that the entire GSD and many of its operators and subcontractors have been, and are still the target of federal and IDEM scrutiny. Several United Water employees were indicted by the feds. Not that long ago the feds seized all of the records of the GSD in a big raid. The investigation is still ongoing. All mafias don’t look like the one portrayed on the Sopranos. Some mafias look just like this—and are just as dangerous and damaging. So if you want to see some real, live Mafioso in the flesh, turn off your TV and just go to the next GSD/GSWMD meeting!
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 04:59:14 +0000