Madison Water: Asleep At the Wheel

My friends at The Capital Times editorialized on the Madison water situation:

Editorial: The water pressure

It may not be fair to blame Mayor Dave Cieslewicz for the rising concerns regarding the quality of Madison's water.

In many senses, the mayor is a victim of circumstance. He happens to be in charge at a point when problems with the city's water system have been revealed. Those problems appear to have a lot to do with old wells and old pipes, rather than with mayoral missteps or misdeeds...

...The mayor has acted aggressively, and we think appropriately, to address problems with the water supply and an aging water system.

I disagree.  The problem was known to city officials for two years.  It has been at least a year since Nakoma area residents have expressed real concerns about the matter.  The test is the classic standard: "When did you know it; what did you do about it?"  The answers (two years ago; nothing) are not very satisfying. 

As I said in a previous post:

My focus is on how this was handled. It is symptomatic of a larger problem. Knowing there was a deadline for refinancing Overture, the mayor waited until the last few weeks before coming up with a plan. Those delays actually killed his own plan. He did not leave adequate time to study it and compare it to other options. Then we have this manganese issue. And finally, after years of escalating violence, just this last month we get a task force appointed to address gang issues. I didn't say it, the mayor did:  "Out of sight, out of mind."