Missoula questions sale of Mountain Water Co. - The Missoulian
Even describing the Carlyle Group as "corporate crooks," a skeptic public told the Montana Public Service Commission to guard Missoula's water during a hearing Monday on the proposed sale of Mountain Water Co. to a global investment firm.
"Our water here is a precious resource, and we are a small community," said Teresa Jacbos at the afternoon public comment session. "I don't like the idea of Carlyle Group coming into our community and changing the way that we do business. And if Mountain Water is doing such a good job, and I have been told that they are, then we don't need the expertise of the Carlyle Group. We don't need anything. We have wonderful, pure water."
Speaking in a full City Council Chambers, some members of the public opposed the proposed sale of Mountain Water's parent company Park Water to the Carlyle Group.
One Missoula man called for a city takeover of Mountain Water by condemnation. Others questioned the validity of the separate agreement among the city of Missoula, the Clark Fork Coalition and the Carlyle Group.
The agreement ostensibly gives the city of Missoula first dibs in bidding for Mountain Water in the future should Carlyle sell, and it also aims to protect Missoula water.
But Robbie Liben was one of several people who questioned whether the agreement was legally binding. He described it as "flowery" but without substance, and he asked the Public Service Commission to turn down the sale for the good of the community.
"If there is a conflict between what's best for the city of Missoula and the profit of Carlyle Group, Carlyle Group will always choose the profit. It will never choose what's best for the city of Missoula," Liben said.
In unusual testimony, Austin Epley read a poem that described Carlyle officials as "corporate crooks."
"We've all become slaves sold to the highest bidder ... we're in a world water crises. ... The world is not yours to be taken," Epley said.
27 Sep, 2011--
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