It may surprise those who have followed the ongoing disagreements between the city of Chester and the Chester Water Authority (CWA), but I agreed with much of Chester Water Authority Board Chair Noel Brandon’s recent op-ed in The SPIRIT.
First, Mr. Brandon expresses concern about preserving public ownership of the water system. On that point, we agree. We have consistently stated that CWA must remain publicly owned, even in the face of litigation.
Second, Mr. Brandon is right that public trust is earned through responsible stewardship, not rhetoric. He is right that transparency extends beyond public meetings. He is right that public institutions should be judged by consistent standards of accountability. And he is right that the people of Chester deserve to understand how the institutions that serve them manage public resources. Those are important principles, and, in fact, they are the very principles that have guided the city’s recovery during the past six years…