‘Uh, Mr. Councilman, about my water bill ...

If we lived in City Council President Billy Jackson’s district, we might be asking him questions about our water bills.

Specifically, we’d want to know if the water contract he rejected between Decatur Utilities and Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority is going to cause our water bill to rise.

One reason the Municipal Utilities Board negotiated the failed contract was to keep that from happening. Officials said the contract would mean $1.4 million in annual revenue for the utility and $147,000 to the city.

We might even ask the other members of the city’s triumvirate, Councilmen Ronny Russell and David Bolding, the same question, if, of course, we lived in their districts.

From the way Mr. Jackson reacted at Monday’s council meeting, his constituents must be asking that pocketbook question. It’s a legitimate one, regardless of whether the terms of the proposed contract were in the city’s best interests.

Mr. Jackson defended the closed negotiations on the water contract as “the most above-board way possible.”

That, of course, doesn’t square with earlier comments from Councilmen Ray Metzger and Gary Hammon. Mr. Metzger said he wasn’t in on the talks and Mr. Hammon said Mr. Bolding asked him to not attend. That was to prevent a quorum of council members from showing up and forcing the participants to give notice of the meeting to the public and the press.

The three council members decided long ago that, if they stick together, they can run City Hall without the mayor and Mr. Metzger and Mr. Hammon. But they can’t keep constituents from asking about their water bills.