The ongoing issue of not having access to safe drinking water is unacceptable. How many times do we have to go through this?

While the City Council debates the use of plastic bags, more urgent matters, like addressing the recurring failures at the water treatment plant, are being overlooked. It feels like the city is prioritizing the wrong problems.

Perhaps it’s time to bring in an external investigative panel to determine why we can’t seem to get this right. It’s shameful that residents and businesses must deal with these disruptions while City leaders focus their attention elsewhere.

City officials must allocate the necessary resources to ensure this problem doesn’t keep happening. These ongoing water issues are an embarrassment and cast the City of Richmond in a negative light. If it takes new leadership to solve this, so be it.

Businesses should receive full compensation for the income they lose each time the water system fails—especially when the fault isn’t theirs. Some business owners say they were only partially reimbursed after the last incident forced them to shut down. 

City leaders, do the right thing. Don’t forget the people and businesses affected. Richmond deserves better. No more excuses.

ERNEST PARKER JR.

Richmond