Letter: Shining a light on government inefficiency

To the community,

OK, so I really don’t want to be “that old guy,” but I’m having a problem getting something taken care of and at this point I think the only way is to go public.

Months ago I noticed that a streetlight was out across from my house. I pay an addition fee to STPUD for this light. I contacted STPUD to tell them that the light as out. The person I spoke with there told me to contact Liberty Utilities to have it fixed because I guess STPUD has a deal with Liberty Utilities about our street lights. I mentioned I pay STPUD for the light and asked if they could forward the issue to them because of their working relationship. I was told no.

Next I contacted Liberty Utilities about the streetlight. The contact at Liberty Utilities replied that they let the “South Lake Tahoe Engineering Department” know about the issue.

OK, I was told it was Liberty that was responsible for the light. No worries as long as it gets fixed.

Well, here we are months after my first contact and the light is still out. Also, I just received my current STPUD bill and they want me to pay a “streetlight fee” again even though I haven’t had the service for the last four months.

Now call me crazy, but I think I should receive a service if I pay for it. I will also mention that all my neighbors also pay a “streetlight fee” and they also have not received services that they pay for.

Would someone please fix the streetlight.

John Spinola, South Lake Tahoe