2008 Woodie Awards
Local, federal government must refocus priorities
Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: Dear Editor
Dear Editor,
It is 2007 and my neighbors are living without some of life's necessities. It is not because they are lazy; they have worked so hard that their bodies have betrayed them at an early age.
Right now as I type this letter on my computer, my neighbors have no natural gas, no electricity, no water and no sewage uses. I personally feel that is wrong in this era and I wish I had the money to fix their problems but I don't. I am poor too. I know what it is like to do without and I am not lazy but I have been sick for 13 years now. Should I be punished because when I was in my late 20s I was diagnosed with a chronic disease? Should I be forced to live without what most people in this country consider a basic need? I hope you will agree that the answers to these questions are "no."
Every winter I read stories about entire families who died in house fires because their natural gas had been shut off and the people were trying to keep warm by other means (space heaters, candles, makeshift fireplaces, etc.). Every summer hundreds of people die because of the lack of air conditioning. Some must refuse to use their air conditioning because how much money it will cost. This is not right; it's heartbreaking and it happens all too often.
In this area and as far as I know, all of Kansas, city governments are responsible for the electricity, water, sewage and often the trash service for people living inside city limits. These city governments control people's lives and often control the quality of a person's life. There are laws in place that keep privately owned companies from disconnecting natural gas service to a person's house during the coldest time of the year but these city governments have no restrictions on disconnecting electrical service or water supply to the people. They can and will disconnect service on the coldest or hottest day of the year.
Our government can find the money to finance war, it can spend $40 million investigating claims of oral sex and it can award the contracts for government projects to its already rich friends while the poor get left homeless and doing without. I honestly don't know how to change the situation so I am hoping to bring enough attention to it that others will do what needs to be done to make things better and somewhat right in this country.
Robin Kivett
It is 2007 and my neighbors are living without some of life's necessities. It is not because they are lazy; they have worked so hard that their bodies have betrayed them at an early age.
Right now as I type this letter on my computer, my neighbors have no natural gas, no electricity, no water and no sewage uses. I personally feel that is wrong in this era and I wish I had the money to fix their problems but I don't. I am poor too. I know what it is like to do without and I am not lazy but I have been sick for 13 years now. Should I be punished because when I was in my late 20s I was diagnosed with a chronic disease? Should I be forced to live without what most people in this country consider a basic need? I hope you will agree that the answers to these questions are "no."
Every winter I read stories about entire families who died in house fires because their natural gas had been shut off and the people were trying to keep warm by other means (space heaters, candles, makeshift fireplaces, etc.). Every summer hundreds of people die because of the lack of air conditioning. Some must refuse to use their air conditioning because how much money it will cost. This is not right; it's heartbreaking and it happens all too often.
In this area and as far as I know, all of Kansas, city governments are responsible for the electricity, water, sewage and often the trash service for people living inside city limits. These city governments control people's lives and often control the quality of a person's life. There are laws in place that keep privately owned companies from disconnecting natural gas service to a person's house during the coldest time of the year but these city governments have no restrictions on disconnecting electrical service or water supply to the people. They can and will disconnect service on the coldest or hottest day of the year.
Our government can find the money to finance war, it can spend $40 million investigating claims of oral sex and it can award the contracts for government projects to its already rich friends while the poor get left homeless and doing without. I honestly don't know how to change the situation so I am hoping to bring enough attention to it that others will do what needs to be done to make things better and somewhat right in this country.
Robin Kivett
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brandon
posted 5/14/07 @ 10:37 AM EST
I agree with Robin wholeheartedly, I would not consider myself poor to say the least but I do know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck. With Westar Energy & Kansas Gas Service, they have what is called the "cold weather rule" which allows for a person who is not able to pay their utilities to continue service from Oct. (Continued…)
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