"Is it really too late for a compromise?" asks Justin Kimich of the Daily Herald.
The
recent article highlighting Doug Krause's proposal for an analog meter option has received much criticism from council, including statements that other members of council quickly disregarded it.
Doug Krause has been
vocal about the smart meters for the past two years and there is nothing in here that should be of surprise to the rest of the council.
For other council members to suggest they have no idea where this came from is quite frankly.....well....we are at a loss for words on that one.
Click
here to see newsletters dating back to August 2011. And review additional links in the side bars of these newsletters for more discussions on the issues by
City Council Watchdog.
"This was a great plan two and a half years ago when we could have negotiated such a program with the U.S. Department of Energy," Fieseler said.
Here are the facts:
- Over the past 2 years, multiple residents met individually with council members (particularly Wherli and Fieseler) and publicly at council meetings to discuss options for residents on the controversial project.
- Most of these meetings took place in 2011 and early 2012, with some of them originating from long term Naperville residents in 2010. All of them took place before the meters were mass deployed.
- In those meetings privacy, health, security, and cost concerns were discussed.
- In addition to the meetings, multiple email exchanges took place in which residents concerns were quickly and in many cases rudely dismissed.
Many, many members of the community, in addition to NSMA supporters, requested the council consider multiple options including:
- Enact the 12 month no penalty extension allowed in the DOE contract before installing any smart meters so that as a community we can determine if the controversy surrounding the meters could be avoided.
- Make the program an opt in program as is written in the US Energy Policy Act.
- Consider a hard wired solution for the meters.
- Install Smart Meters at the junction boxes and allow residents to choose if they want a smart meter on their home.
- Provide a no cost opt out for residents who are concerned about the risks.
- Put it to a vote.
The council has systematically disregarded any options for compromise...ANY.
And no, the non-wireless meter alternative with its extortion fees is not a compromise. Its a penalty for not wanting to assume the widely substantiated risks of smart meters and many residents have been forced, under duress, to sign up. See the discussion in September 2011 and October 2011 by clicking here.
Finding common ground has been a difficult process with this council.
How can you find common ground with an entity that does not care about the concerns of it citizens, goes to many lengths to silence the discussions, and is willing to break the law to do what they want. (ie Open Meetings Act Violations and breaking their own code to enter residents property.)
What Doug Krause proposed, should've been proposed two years ago - by any of the council members and especially when that small group of residents grew from fifteen to thousands. And it should've been given due consideration back then, just as it should be given due consideration now.
Is it too late to compromise?
The city has done what they want so far, our estimation is they could make any reasonable compromise happen, if they wanted to.
And at this point, they probably wouldn't have the break the law to do so.
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If you continue to be disappointed by the behaviors of our council, we recommend you join us at the next council meeting to share your feelings, contact the media, and continue to comment on blogs and Facebook. The Court of Public Opinion is a powerful tool for effecting change!
Whether you're on the left or right of the political aisle, a Naperville resident or not, the issue of personal property rights and freedom of choice have always been at the heart of this issue.
For Naperville Residents:
Now more than ever we must come together as a local community and
Take Back Our Power on April 9th by exercising our right to VOTE.
There are 4 council seats open with approximately 11 candidates running for them.
We don't need an upgrade to our utility meters - we need to upgrade our council.
We need a council that will truly represent the will of the people.
For Residents outside of Naperville:
Continued letters to state and local government officials, news media, and posts on your Facebook pages are all contributing to increasing media coverage on this event. We request that you keep them coming.
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