Here we go again! Decades old problems with West Madison Water District again rears it's ugly head.

The issue of bad pipes, pumps, and a poorly managed Water District in Kearney Park and Magnolia Heights is decades old. For years Supervisor Karl Banks has used West Madison Water District to his benefit to keep poor and underpriviledged people in his pocket when he needed their votes. Banks has promised grant money and improvements so many times over the past 25 years that most of the residents have lost count. Yet somehow he has a new solution just in time for his reelection every 4 years. If only those voters put him back into office, he'll get it done for them. When he needs a scapegoat, he blames the whole problem on residents that refuse to sign a survey for the grant.

Watch the Water Board Commissioner at 1:01 of THIS VIDEO FROM WAPT trumpet yet another call for the illusory grant that never materializes. They have been in the "process" of getting this grant for years. Also, watch around 1:33 when the report quotes Banks using the survey excuse. Also, note that Mr. Banks doens't bother to provide a statement on camera.

During the last election cycle, I and the now Flora Mayor Leslie Childress were walking the streets of Magnolia Heights talking to folks. Childress was challenging Banks for Supervisor, and I was writing an article on the water problems in Kearney Park and how residents have had to deal with it for decades. One of my interviews was with Evelyn Brown, seen in the video above. She's been fighting this fight a long time. At the time of our visit, the residents were going through yet another water problem, with pipes busting and water heaters exploding in homes. Within 45 minutes of our first visits with residents, a car drove up full of Banks supporters to argue with us in the street about what a good job Mr. Banks was doing, and how a grant was available if he was re-elected. It became obvious that residents are being watched to ensure their compliance in the ongoing charade.

Same Old Story.

It's right out of the Bennie Thompson playbook. Keeping his district poor and black means Ole Karl stays in power. Too much infrastructure improvement might lead to investment from people with money and resources; people who wouldn't put up with this crap. Of course, in his bid to remain in power, ethics or the appearance of impropriety have never really concerned the longest seated Supervisor in Madison County.

Concerned citizens have tried to attend board meetings to see how they could help, and local contractors have offered assistance. But the West Madison Water District Board wouldn't know an Open Meetings Law if someone hit them in the head with it. When confronted with the fact that they haven't been doing their job, they simply go into executive session, and have even called the cops on residents who refused to leave the meeting.



Report from WJTV:




And from the CL

Flora water system to be out for days

Madison County is supplying water to residents around Flora who normally get their supply from the West Madison water district.

The 500 or so residents in the Magnolia Heights and Kearney Park areas went under a boil water notice Friday and the water system failed on Sunday, Butch Hammack, the county's emergency operations director said.

Repairs are being made to the system, but the well could be out of working order anywhere from three to 10 days, Hammack said.

The county has taken a 6,000-gallon tanker to the area for residents to use for household purposes and cases of bottled water for drinking, he said

This problem won't be fixed until people in Kearney Park come together and decide that Mr. Banks politics is not worth the price they are paying.