Saturday, October 15, 2011

KUB Keeping Us Broke...KUB is all in a twit over this column

Talk of the Town September 23

Remember to vote in the City's Primary Election to be held Tuesday, September 27. If you did not vote in Early Voting, you still have time to make your choices.

Joe Hultquist, candidate for city mayor, is asking a question about KUB, “How do we end an Unaccountable Monopoly?” Hultquist says: “KUB butchers trees, but fails to prevent power outages. After 25 years of neglect, KUB repairs sewers only after federal court mandates a fix. KUB cuts up fresh paving because it fails to coordinate with the city. KUB builds an unnecessary water tank eyesore against resident’s wishes.”

Talk to just about everyone and they will tell you that their power bill keeps going up, up, up--no matter if they cut back on use or not. During the big wind storm back in June, our power was out for almost 4 days. We were expecting that our power bill would drop at a considerable rate; it did not. Our bill went down by $8, or $2 a day. Strange that they charge us far more than $2 a day. Something odd is going on.

I recently spoke to a businessman whose bill jumped from $500 to $1,600 for absolutely no reason. He said his office building uses the same amount of electricity every month and he has no idea why the sudden increase. “It is just as if KUB decides what they are going to charge and they just charge it,” he said. We have had the same situation at our house. We continue to try strategies in order to cut back usage, but see no difference in the power bill. It seems like the more we cut back, the more we pay.

It seems like whenever there is a local disaster, like the most recent wind storms in June, our power bill goes up. We were charged $89 this month for KUB to clean up the clutter left when trees blew down. We can’t help but wonder if those in charge of KUB will take a pay cut or, at least, not take such a huge bonus this year due to those wind storms and downed trees? It is time for the CEO to act like a man and stop giving big bonuses to those in cushy jobs while the rest of us are stretching our budgets to the max in order to pay for things that should be already included in the budget.

I’m calling on everyone who gets a power bill to write or call KUB and demand that NO SALARIES BE INCREASED AND NO BONUSES GET PAID THIS YEAR due to the wind storms. We need to all share in the expenses caused by the disaster instead of putting it all on the backs of the working men and women.
KUB's main line 865 524 2911

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

from There's More to Knoxville

The Historic Homes of Knoxville are pleased to invite the public to a luncheon to celebrate the founding of the City of Knoxville 220 years ago. First Lady of Tennessee Crissy Haslam will be the featured speaker. Knoxville's key leaders will come together to celebrate and promote the city and its most precious properties, including Blount Mansion, Crescent Bend House & Gardens, Historic Ramsey House, James White’s Fort, Mabry-Hazen House and Marble Springs State Historic Site.

The luncheon will be held on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 from 11:30am – 12:30pm at The Foundry, 747 World’s Fair Park Dr., Knoxville, TN 37902. WBIR's Robin Whilhoit perform the duties of Mistress of Ceremonies. Tickets are $50 per person or ($400 for a table of eight). Purchase tickets through www.knoxtix.com, or by calling 865-523-7521 or RSVP to the Arts & Culture Alliance of Greater Knoxville at 865-523-7543 by Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011.

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First Lady Crissy Haslam to speak at Foundry Oct. 17