Community Leadership: Investigate, Federalize And Technologize To Solve All Problems

On the topic of grandstanding, Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr. shows us how it’s done:

Astoria and Western Queens are slowly emerging from a hellish nightmare. We have stepped out of the Dark Ages. But of course Con Edison still remains outside the age of reason. Just like Baghdad Bob, they continue their laughable public misinformation campaign by trying to grossly minimize the extent of the damage they caused. First, they insisted that it was a minor problem with only a few hundred “customers” without power, then they raised that number to 1,800 and finally five days into the crisis they admit that 25,000 are without power.

That is why, my fellow citizens, I am calling on the district attorney to investigate the matter, requesting federal oversight of the utility and urging the power company to “use technology” to prevent this from happening in the future:

On Tuesday night I stood and watched electric power lines burn and fall to the ground. The fact that this was caused by two hot days in the summer is outrageous. I’m frightened to see what will happen in the hot summer days of August. Con Ed has assured us that they will be conducting their own investigation into this calamity. If this isn’t a case of the fox watching the henhouse I don’t know what is. That is why I along with Assembly Member Michael Gianaris and Council Member Eric Gioia have called for an investigation by District Attorney Richard Brown and will be conducting hearings at the City Council and the Assembly. Hopefully the “Con” in Con Edison will take on a new meaning.

Additionally, I am working with Congressman Joseph Crowley to get a federal monitor placed over Con Ed. The next few months will be crucial to rebuild our fragile network and ensure that this doesn’t happen again. I think we have all learned we can’t trust this irresponsible corporate neighbor, which provides us with stray voltage in the winter and no voltage in the summer, to do the right thing.

I am also demanding that Con Ed, like every other major utility provider, use technology that can show where service is down. It is embarrassing that in the 21st Century our utility provider must ride through the streets like a modern day Paul Revere looking for lights to see if power has returned.