Mayor Lisa Wong: Shedding the Light on Waste
“As your Mayor, I am fighting to protect your tax dollars. I am standing up for Fitchburg against corruption, against unchecked spending and against Unitil, who is significantly overcharging the city for streetlights and who has been billing us for lights that DO NOT EXIST! My opponent wants to turn back the clock and rather than fix the problem, just spend, spend, spend - continuing to send your money to Unitil. I want to continue to fight wasteful spending and protect your tax dollars!!“
Unitil charges us $500,000/year for streetlights
Mayor Wong’s plan will cut the cost in half AND put the money back in YOUR pockets - where it belongs!
“Over $3 million of your hard earned tax dollars have been lost in the last 15 years to Unitil! I am outraged and you should be too! Join me in my fight against waste!”
Shedding the Light on Waste
- Mayor Wong investigated and found that Unitil has deceptive practices.
She is fighting them on behalf of the city. - Unitil has been charging Fitchburg (and Lunenburg, too!) for lights that DO NOT EXIST and for lights that were NOT WORKING!
- Mayor Wong made the tough, but necessary decision to turn off overpriced streetlights and force Unitil to the table to negotiate.
- Unitil still has not provided an accurate inventory of lights and is trying to pass on costs from the 2008 Ice Storm and the 2011 Hurricane Irene UNFAIRLY to us.
- Mayor Wong requested Unitil convert the existing high pressure sodium lights to LED lights, which would product energy savings of 71%.
Unitil wanted to keep the savings and NOT pass them on to you. - Now, Mayor Wong is forcing Unitil to turn over the streetlights to the city, saving the city over 60%, or over $250,000 per year.
Mayor Wong is moving this city forward, and getting the city back on track after decades of poor financial decisions that were leading the city towards bankruptcy. Lack of action on the streetlights prior to Mayor Wong cost the city more than $3 million that went to Unitil’s pockets instead of the residents. We cannot afford to go back to the same old ways that wasted our money. Let us keep moving forward with Mayor Wong!
“My plan will turn all the streetlights back on AND save the city over $250,000 every year. My opponent’s plan is to spend, spend, spend and give our hard earned money to Unitil. Re-elect a leader who is actually fighting on behalf of the city, not someone who will promise anything.”
A great MAYOR and MANAGER -
Protecting your tax dollars
