citizen13's Point of Skew

First let me say that Lee had the power to overturn any MLGW policies that were in place before his tenure. Then I must say that just because Ford has now paid off his past balance doesn't make things all better. In my opinion both have done the wrong thing. The only reason that things seem to be right at this point is because both were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. If they hadn't been caught, then this would probably still be going on.

Let's say that you owned a pizza place, and that Lee was the manager. Let's say that Ford would come in month after month and receive pizza from Lee without paying for it. Let's say that this went on for a year or two. Let's say that you, as the owner, finally realized what was going on. Does Ford finally paying for his pizza make everything okay? Does Ford paying for his pizza mean that Lee didn't do anything wrong? If Ford was poor and hungry it might have been understandable, but Ford is neither. It's a matter of principle. It's a matter of morals. Trying to make things seem right doesn't mean that the wrong thing wasn't done in the first place.

The "On Track" program was meant for people with limited incomes to pay off their "home" utility charges over time. The charges in question are for Ford's "business" not his home. On page 17 of the indictment, it states that before June 2004, when Lee was appointed President and CEO of MLGW,  that the utilities at Ford's mortuary had been cut off several times for non-payment, and that Ford had complained about it at City Council meetings.

Lee became the head of MLGW in June  2004. By the end of 2004, Ford's unpaid account balance was $1000 without being cutoff for non-payment. There seems to be a clear dividing line between when Ford's mortuary would have it's utilities cutoff, and when his account balances began to soar out of control.

In September of 2004, within months of Lee's appointment, Ford opened another account for services on which NO payment was made for over two years. By the end of 2006 the balance on that account was over $10,000. Again this is not for home services but for business service. How can this possibly qualify for the "On Track" program which is for people with limited incomes to pay off their "home" utility charges over time.

This is a matter of principles and morals. It the people of Memphis allow this kind of behavior, what message does that send to not only our leaders, but also to our citizens, and children? It would seem to say that whatever you can get by with is okay as long as you don't get caught.