General (15)
Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Mercadante <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, July 28, 2026 5:44 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] On Behalf of Marc Herbert
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
For public comment on July 28, 2026:
Since March 24th of this year, multiple residents have raised concerns about Anaheim's drinking water.
Instead of asking the questions residents were asking, this Council requested a presentation. Craig
Parker gave an overview of how the water system operates.
We returned on April 21st and raised those concerns again. That same evening, Mayor Aitken referred to
her own constituents as the "disinformation brigade."
Think about that.
Residents take time away from their families and careers because we care about this city and want to
ensure our leaders are doing right by its residents. Yet, simply for asking legitimate questions, we're
portrayed as spreading misinformation.
Since then, residents have continued asking those same questions at meetings on May 5th, May 12th,
May 27th, June 9th, June 23rd, June 24th, July 22nd, and again tonight.
We have not made vague accusations. They are detailed questions that deserve detailed answers.
Am I an expert in drinking water?
No.
Is this City Council made up of drinking water experts?
Also no.
But do you know who the experts are?
The licensed Water Systems Operators who operate Anaheim's drinking water system every single day.
The professionals responsible for producing and delivering safe drinking water to more than 300,000
residents.
So, when three licensed Water Systems Operators who work for the City of Anaheim raise concerns
about the very system they manage, shouldn't that at least prompt questions instead of immediate
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denials? Were the Water Systems Operators even interviewed by the Division of Drinking Water? If you
don’t know the answer to that question, perhaps you should ask why not?
Instead of requesting an independent investigation into concerns raised by your own licensed
professionals, this City Council and the Public Utilities Board have repeatedly interrupted residents,
dismissed concerns, or simply ignored them.
Now, Public Utilities Director Craig Parker has declared the matter "closed."
But that's not how transparency works.
You don't declare a matter closed because you've stopped listening.
You declare it closed only after the questions have been answered, the evidence has been independently
reviewed, and the public has confidence in the outcome.
None of that has happened here.
And until those questions are answered, this issue is not closed; it is very much unresolved.
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