There’s a second part of Whitewater’s budget that deserves special mention – the purchase of additional insurance in the event of municipal sewer backups.
I wrote at length, months ago, of the unfortunate situation of a homeowner who experienced an expensive sewer backup while serving in Afghanistan.
There was a meeting of the Whitewater common council at which the topic was discussed at length, and the city agreed to pay, through a third party, for a portion of the damage.
I thought that the city should pay, in large part because insistence that the city’s insurer’s determination settled the question of liability was confusing and self-serving. Anyone can see as much: an insurance company has an interest in the determination of claims against its insured. To hold an insurer’s determination up as conclusive of liability is misleading and, candidly, laughable.
The continued insistence of the Whitewater City Manager, Kevin Brunner, on the point only caused the city embarrassment in the press.
What to make, then, of purchasing insurance from the same insurer that insisted the city has a fine program, and has never once paid on a homeowner’s sewer backup claim (to my knowledge)?
Whitewater’s city government has learned nothing from the recent sewer backup. Absolutely nothing – we are a city that cannot spot a conflict, will not acknowledge a bad decision or poor argument, and rewards those who have only caused the city embarrassment in the past.
I understand that there’s a question about whether the city should provide insurance, but it’s secondary to the question of whether the city administration understands that coverage does not determine liability.
There’s an expectation of deference to authority that underlies the city’s approach: we said so, our insurance carrier said so, and so you should accept our determination. If you don’t, it’s proof of how very wrong you must be, to reject our position. How dare you question us.
Well, why not? Why accept a poor or ill-considered municipal position? The city’s analysis on liability and municipal sewer backups has been flimsy and embarrassing. See, Anatomy of a Municipal Bureaucrat’s Explanation.
In many ways, Don’t You Know Who I Am? is worse in our small town than many large cities. There, a vigorous press would take a self-important politician to account.
Here, residents have set aside their American heritage for a third-rate servility found only in second-rate European countries.
At least in those small and arrogant European principalities, there’s a well-tanned leisure class aristocracy to provide beauty and occasional charm along with their inveterate arrogance.
Whitewater, Wisconsin cannot say the same.
A nearby newspaper has the details at