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Many Agree There Is An Element Of Trust Between Public

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Many agree there is an element of trust between public elected officials and the people they serve. The United States has stringent environmental protection laws protecting it’s citizens against undue harm within basic human comforts, as drinking water. Moreover, public elected officials are charged with the responsibilities using public tax revenue to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their district. Although some areas are more challenging than others, elected officials go to great lengths to seeking election understanding their responsibilities to the public which they serve. This paper is a casual analysis on the infrastructure of public water supplied to the greater Flint, Michigan area. Specifically focusing on public officials and …show more content…

Water from the Detroit water source was expensive and Flint city officials were forced to find alternative water sources, “even though Flint 's water supply fund was $9 million in the red, officials were using some of this money to cover shortfalls in its general fund.” (CNN, 2016) The Flint river was to be a temporary water source, as Maher and McWhirter explain in the Wall Street Journal entitled: Series of mistakes tainted Flint water; blame for water crisis is spread among Michigan city 's emergency managers, state environmental officials, the mayor, the governor and the EPA, “by using the river instead of the high-priced water from Detroit, at least until a new pipeline to Lake Huron could be built.” (Maher and McWhirter, 2014) The impact on the consumers of this temporary shift would have dire results on both the City managers of Flint, moreover on the users of the tainted water source. In July 2013, Flint City Council approved leaving the Detroit system because rising water costs were draining the city’s budget. It was one month later, the council proposed a new pipeline making Lake Huron their water primary source. The treasurer would approve a transfer of 81 million dollars to finance the project. Questionably, the decision to use the Flint River was never officially voted on. By the same token, as the expense of water rose, the City council needed an interim fix to offset costs of the budget already operating in the red. One of Flint 's emergency

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