views

New Merchandise
Arriving Daily

STONE'S

continued from page 5

JEWELRY

6881 Orchard Lake Rd. on the Boardwalk

(248) 851-5030

stonesfi nejewelry@gmail.com

2168400

8

December 7 • 2017

jn

The findings of a 2016 task force
appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick
Snyder include:
• 5.7 billion gallons, on average,
of untreated raw sewage that flows
into Michigan waterways annually;
• 64 rivers that drain the vast
majority of land in the Lower
Peninsula (84 percent) tested posi-
tive for human sewage;
• 1 in 10 of the state’s 1.3 million
septic tanks are experiencing opera-
tional problems.
The task force estimates the cost
of upgrades at $60 billion and ris-
ing. The city of Detroit Water and
Sewerage Department owns and
provides water and sewage services
to Detroit and 126 municipalities in
seven counties, including Oakland.
Since 2016, the Great Lakes Water
Authority has been leasing and
operating that water system. DWSD
remains responsible for repairs to
that same system. Funding of those
repairs is dependent on a viable
DWSD; however, with insufficient
revenues due to decreased water
consumption and continued delin-
quent accounts due to lack of a sys-
temic affordable water plan, neither
DWSD nor GLWA are positioned to
deal with the infrastructure crisis.
Last year, I had the privilege
of assisting Detroit clients who
were experiencing water shutoffs.
These were women who paid their
water bills as best they could, but
given the myriad of circumstances
they faced — including bills based
on huge errors regarding arrear-
ages, ridiculously large balances on
account of broken and unrepaired
pipes, and that Detroiters bear an
unconscionable burden of the cost
of the regional water system — these
women and their families faced long
bouts of periods without water.
One woman shared with me
how her water had been shut off
just before her daughter was to
celebrate her 13th birthday with a
sleepover for three friends. With no
water, the mom had to cancel her
daughter’s birthday party at the last
minute — one of the lowest points
she had felt as a mother. (Far more
heartbreaking are stories of parents
reluctant to negotiate payment
plans, knowing that by law, a child
can be removed from a home that
goes without water for more than 72
hours.)
As a white, college-educated
(without debt), employed Bloomfield
Township resident, I enjoy hosting
sleepovers for my daughters and
their friends knowing that even if we
lose power or water, the municipal-
ity will make the necessary repairs. I
don’t have to choose between paying
the water bill or the electric bill this
month, and I know if I inadvertently

skip a bill, I can call the utility com-
pany and ask to have any penalty
waived; and even if they don’t, I
know I have the means to pay it. I
know that arriving late at work (as I
did in October) won’t jeopardize my
job. What to me seemed like a tem-
porary inconvenience averted is just
the tip of the iceberg when it comes
to so many families in Detroit (and
Flint) having to figure out how to
make it through the day without the
certainty of accessible and afford-
able water.
From my volunteer work with
Detroit Jews for Justice, I have
learned a Hebrew proverb: Bli
mayim ein chayim — without water,
there is no life. I hope the jolt more
than 300,000 Oakland County
residents received in October on
account of the watermain break is
the impetus for a true, fair and equi-
table regional solution to what is a
regional water crisis.
One place to start: Call your state
legislator and ask him/her to sup-
port HB 4393, 4389 and 4390, three
bills introduced by Reps. Stephanie
Chang and LaTanya Garrett
designed to offer basic protections
for those experiencing water shut-
offs. For more information on what
you can do, go to
detroitjewsforjustice.org/water. •

Lori Lutz is a resident of Bloomfield Township.
She has been a core leader of Detroit Jews
for Justice for two years.

Yiddish Limerick

CHANUKAH

We add ein lichtl yeder nacht
It’s ein un tzvay and then it’s acht.
Mir zingen di brooches again
and again
Di menora on the fenster is
zayer shayn.
Yetzr kum ess di latkes ich hob
gemacht.

Ein lichtl yeder nacht: one little
candle each night
Ein un tzvay: one and two
Acht: eight
Mir zingen di broches: we sing
the blessings
Fenster: window
Zayer shayn: very pretty
Yetzt kum ess: now come eat
Ich hob gemacht: I made

— Rachel Kapen