To the Editor:
This letter is about Carroll Electric. This letter is not intended to bash the electric provider, but it is intended to air some issues that I think need to be addressed by the powers-that-be who run this company. In actuality, I contacted the powers-that-be by phone this past week. I thought it best to go directly to a decision maker with the hope that the concerns of several customers would be of interest to the decision maker, but that dream faded away fairly quickly, and a clearer picture emerged. It's hard for me to understand why people in charge tend to take things personally. But then, if it's your way or the highway ... and you can't see the forest, but for your own trees, etc.
Listen, sometimes contracts are misunderstood by all of us. A contract is an agreement. It can be between two or more individuals and it comes in various forms with various stipulations.
But, let's zero in on the agreement with our electrical provider. Here goes: Carroll Electric agrees to provide service to its customers and its customers agree to pay Carroll Electric for those services. If, I, the customer, do not live up to my end of the bargain, sure as shootin', I, the customer, will be eating my Big Mac in the dark. Conversely, if I do pay for the service and Carroll Electric does not provide me their service, then what is it that I, the customer, get to take away from them? One of their trucks? A grid?
Having said that, we all know neither the customer nor the company is always 100 percent on the mark. Sometimes the customer has uncontrollable circumstances that generate a delay in the payment of their bill and sometimes a well-advertised, 48-hour-in-advance, snowstorm is going to play havoc with our electric. If the customer has the means to pay the bill, but decides they would rather go to Chucky Cheese instead, then that's not keeping the faith of the agreement. In return, if the company has the manpower and information to service the customer, during a power outage resulting from those acts of Mother Nature and they do not fulfill those services to the best of their ability with all the knowledge and tools at hand at that time, then they have sold their customer short. If they have sold their customer short, then they get to be questioned on that issue, just as they get to question you when you didn't give them the service of your money.
Let me say that I clearly, clearly understand how hard all crews work, the long hours they work and bravery they exude in getting our power up and running, including the office personnel and their families. I also understand they are fully aware how miserable everyone is and how badly they want power on for every single customer. This letter is not directed at them. Everybody has a set of marching orders and those marching orders are set forth by the marching-order powers-that-be. It is to the marching-order person I ask the following questions:
1) The latest snow storm watches and warnings came 24 to 48 hours in advance. Did CE have all personnel notified, on call, scheduled and ready to go if needed at a moment's notice. There has been speculation that not all crews were utilized.
2) This latest storm outage was 80 percent heavy snow on tree limbs that affected the lines. It appears CE has subbed out tree assistance to qualified local tree-service companies in the past as needed. Did CE have every available qualified local tree-service company available to assist the crews in removing those troubled areas or did they turn away qualified local help.
3) Crews who work days in a row have to eat sometime. Does CE admonish those who take that break. And do the powers-that-be eat?
4) CE services six counties, 12,000 customers. In times of distress, customers want information. One of the greatest fears is not knowing something. In responding to phone calls from their customers' questions, does CE know any other response other than "I don't know" and is CE using outside phone centers to field the calls.
5) It does not appear that CE has any plan in place for keeping their customers informed as to progress in time of crisis. Per my inquiry via phone, it doesn't look like they are receptive to any suggestions either; i.e. designated call centers in each county whereby a CE rep can call the center and give their update and then the centers can disburse that information to their residents. That would, at least, alleviate some of the 12,000 calls to CE. Why would CE not be receptive to ideas from their customers?
6) Is it true CE call responders are directed to not forward any information to their customers.
The powers-that-be I talked with on the phone said he conducted a meeting of his employees and asked them how they thought things could have run smoother regarding these outages. I suggested to him it might be a productive idea to ask the customers that question. I suggested he utilize the Carroll Electric publication and present his question to its customers, plus providing the customers' responses in a future publication.
Here's the deal: Carroll Electric knows exactly how many crews they have, how many tree services are qualified to work around electric, how many counties they service, where the power grids are located, which power station serves which area ... etc.
They know where they dispatch their crews, they know when they dispatch their crews and, eventually, they know what the problem is. Therefore, they have information. They can parcel that information to you and to me and they can determine, with fair accuracy, when power may be restored. It is true it will not be to the minute and second, but, in this day and age, it is not unreasonable to hit it within 12 hours. And if they can't hit it within 12 hours, then that alone is information you can share.
Outages in the summer are one thing. Outages in the sub-zero winter are another. There is a big difference in two hours versus two days. CE has customers who are disabled, elderly, newborn babies, and so on. Cold can kill. It is one thing to not have information. It is another to have the information and not share it. I just cannot wrap myself around a customer asking, "How long until our power will be out?" and the answer being "I don't know." If you know the power is out in Jefferson County, you know where Jefferson County is, you know how to get to Jefferson County, you dispatch X amount of crews to Jefferson County, you know when you dispatched those crews, you discover where the problem lies and you have the knowledge of how to fix it. You've had these hurdles in the past and you had a clue as to the time-frame to fix it. Then you have information to pass onto the customers of Jefferson County. Only under the scenario of not knowing your territories could you generate a "I don't know" answer.
Lastly, we are not finished with summer and winter storms that result in power outages. We all should have a plan. God bless the generator. God bless the woman who invented it.
But not all can afford such a necessity. If I won the lottery, I would buy myself a year's worth of gift cards for Big Macs and then I would buy as many generators as I could for those who need them. But in the meantime, we need to check on our neighbors, our friends and our families to make certain they are OK. Get those snowmobiles and four-wheel drives out and about. Go buy a lantern for the sole purpose of putting it in your window, so someone knows you need help.
If you read this letter and can't afford additional blankets, tell someone. If you can spare a few dollars, go buy food for the animal shelters.
I'm not crazy about Hillary ... but sometimes it does take a village.
Terry Vahila
Malvern
Why no outrage from Stark officials about missing money?
Pertaining to the missing money from the county treasurer's office: Where's the outrage from our elected Stark County officials?
I know it's under investigation. I've heard all of the excuses and rhetoric. I have talked to some elected county officials and employees about this, but nowhere have I seen or heard any outrage over what could be millions of dollars. Why?
As most of us have felt that nauseating feeling when we lose money from our possessions, may it be a $10 or a $20 bill, we take notice. But when it comes to our local government with the so-called "trusted names," I see no such response. Why?
There should be an outcry from all county officials and workers, demanding an explanation why taxpayers' money allegedly is being used for personal and self-interest. If there is no objection to accountability in the way Stark County is operating its business, then one can only assume that:
* They are not managing our money in a responsible manner. As stated in The Repository, the bank asked Treasurer Gary Zeigler to come in to review bank statements. "We saw everything and saw the problems. I called the prosecutor's office," Zeigler said.
* If the county can "misappropriate" taxpayers' hard-earned money, then the county is operating a budget well above and beyond its means. This then becomes one of many symptoms of a corrupt government.
* When average folks are losing their jobs and homes in a major recession, if not depression, as we are experiencing now, and to compound it with local, state, and federal government losing touch with "we, the people," this becomes a justified reason why we should overthrow the yoke of an oppressive tax and vote against the quarter percent Stark County sales tax renewal this year.
Steve Fronimo Jr.
Canton
One year ago this week, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or "Stimulus Bill") which passed the U.S. Congress with a "yea" vote from Zack Space. The bill was supposed to bring jobs to an ailing economy in Ohio and elsewhere. Today, I ask if you have seen the jobs that were promised. I haven't.
Before President Obama was even inaugurated he was insisting on the need for a federal stimulus bill. Unwilling to stand up to the political pressure of the time, Zack Space fell right into line saying, "Voting for such a large expenditure was a difficult decision," but that "doing nothing was simply not an option." It was not the last miscalculation Space would make.
Today, it's hard to tell what the difference between passing so-called Stimulus Bill and just doing nothing would have been, as the only thing that's happened to unemployment in Ohio is that it's gone up to near record levels - 10.9 percent at last check. Zack Space and the rest of the Congress have some explaining to do for going along with this boondoggle.
Promises of "millions" of jobs kept being pushed on Americans to swallow the enormous cost. You remember the rhetoric - "shovel-ready jobs," "energy independence," "create or retain," and even a "three to one return on our investment" were being touted as the reasons to pass the $862 billion plan.
Criticism of the plan grew as states, like Ohio, started using the stimulus funds as a one-time budget stop-gap, instead of creating jobs. Our governor used the stimulus dollars to spend state money on entitlements and other programs, instead of making real cuts or even trying to create jobs. When it became clear that Ted Strickland only cared about "creating or retaining" one job - his own - I voted against the catastrophic budget plan in the Ohio Senate.
Zack Space criticized those of us who thought this kind of federal spending was foolish, lashing out at opposition he accused of being "partisan." Now, he and his cronies in Washington are bragging that by passing the Stimulus Bill they "rescued" the country from economic disaster. As Space and administration officials now begin fanning out across the 18th District, to praise the "unquestioned success" - as Joe Biden said recently - of the Stimulus Bill, remember that their promise was jobs. Jobs that never came.
Bob Gibbs
Candidate for Congress, Ohio's 18th District
Lakeville, Holmes County
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