As we reported on Monday, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has now named an internal task force to look at "service level improvements" within the city of Tampa's Water Department, after hundreds of complaints have been registered about extraordinarily expensive water bills, and the customer service (or lack thereof) that residents who have complained about the bills have received.
In a letter sent out to City Council members this afternoon, Iorio said she is naming Chief of Staff Darrell Smith and include officials with Revenue and Finance, Technology and Innovation, Internal Audit, Purchasing, Water and Administrator for Public Works and Utlities (Steve Daignault, who has been the subject of intense criticism for saying that he didn't believe the city has been at fault).
The mini crises, in which approximately 500 citizens say they have received water bills five to ten times the normal rate over the past couple of months, led members of the City Council last week to contemplate putting a freeze on all water bills, as angry citizens descended upon City Hall.
On Friday a town-hall meeting on the subject in New Tampa, one of the jurisdictions of the city strongest hit by the problem, some citizens called upon Iorio to fire Daignault, which led the Mayor on Monday to tell CL that if people are upset, they should be upset at her, and not her staff.
This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2011.