More than 800 protest sewer hike

Cars parked along the side of the road, hundreds of people standing in line, while others camped out in folding chairs - these people weren't waiting to buy concert tickets, they were Far West customers responding to the proposed rate increases at a meeting with the Arizona Corporation Commission Thursday night.
 
It was standing room only Thursday night when ACC Chairman Kristin K. Mayes, and Commissioners Paul Newman and Gary Pierce came to Yuma to listen to residents' concerns about Far West's proposed rate increases.
 
Hundreds were left outside when the meeting started at 6 p.m. because there wasn't enough room in the cafeteria of Sunrise Elementary School.
 
Commissioners came to Yuma to hear customers because the ACC is responsible for deciding if Far West can increase its rates, which if passed, will have residents paying 242 percent more then they do now over the next three years.
 
And the 800-plus Far West customers that attended the meeting had a unified response to the proposed increases: no.
 
Jackie Benedictson, who lives in the Foothills for about five months out of the year, said she thinks the increase is unnecessary.
 
She said the Benedictsons live on a fixed income, and if the rate increases happen, they'll have to stretch their budget.
 
"There would be other things that would have to go," Benedictson said. "I guess we'll just have to watch our spending.
 
"If you're paying it all in sewer rates, you wouldn't be spending it all going to movies or restaurants ..."
 
The response from customers was so great, the doors were shut by 5:30 p.m.
 
Foothills resident Wally Starz said he showed up at 4 p.m. to help set up chairs for the meeting.
 
And the cafeteria filled up fast.
 
"We got to 560, and that's when we shut the doors," Starz said.
 
To accommodate those left outside, the ACC brought a speaker so customers could hear the meeting, and like inside, representatives provided the crowd with forms to request to comment at the meeting.
 
Foothills resident Linda Clarkson, who was one of the hundreds left outside when the meeting began, said the ACC's decision to put a speaker outside was a good one.
 
"(Without it) everybody would be a lot more unhappy then they were already," Clarkson said.
 
Clarkson said she said the proposed rate increases is like "asking for the moon."
 
"That's just ridiculous," she said.
 
About an hour after the meeting started, the Yuma Fire Department responded to several calls that there were too many people in the cafeteria.
 
Members of the fire department notified the ACC, who then called a break in the meeting. Many people decided to leave on their own during the break, which allowed for the fire department to let some of the overflow crowd come inside.
 
When the break was over, only a handful of Far West customers were left outside.
 
Commissioner Paul Newman said he was "very, very impressed" with the turnout.
 
"We're here to listen to you," Newman said to the crowd before the meeting started. "Know that we take our jobs very seriously."
 
Jane Rodda, the ACC Administrative Law Judge that will ultimately preside over the case and give a recommendation to the Commission, said she hasn't made any decisions about the emergency request for rate hikes yet.
 
A hearing is scheduled for April in Tucson. 
 
She said a hearing on the original rate increases could be as far off as November. If Far West's emergency rate increase is approved, she said it would be deemed an "interim" rate increase until the final hearing.
 
Starz, who said he's been helping pass out petitions door to door and at the Fry's in the Foothills, said he's confident that the ACC will hear the evidence that's presented and "do the right thing."
 
And he said he hopes it's in the customers' favor.
 
"And we shall prevail," Starz said.

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Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.