Bunner

Dear Editor,

While SDG&E, along with PG&E, have taken the fall for not maintaining their equipment in order to cut short on man-hours, not that they charged us any less for the profits they were pulling in, we're all too aware of Big Business racketeering.

But I feel there is another guilty party hiding behind the power companies. In our case, that would be the San Diego County Water District and the Fallbrook Public Utility District for Water.

The newbie homebuyers are beginning to yelp about their high water bills.

This issue goes back farther than just the new ones. In the 2007 fire, for which all of Fallbrook was required to evacuate, my daughter had purchased their dream home on a 6-acre piece of property that was just beautiful.

The entire property was fitted with a sprinkler system. No Avocado trees, but lots of oaks and some tall palms and meadow areas that were planted in bulbs and many other flowers. The whole piece was one complete garden, including a vegetable garden.

We lived on Almond Street, she was on Wilt Road, we drove to her house in order to be able to evacuate together. At her house, I told her to turn on her sprinkler system. She just looked at me and said, "Mom, who is going to pay that water bill?" I told her I would, but they chose to opt on the side of frugality because they knew how high their water bill already was with using only a part of the sprinkler system.

Their two-story home burned so hot that even the chimney crumbled to the ground. Even thier cast-iron woodchip stove melted into mush. They lost absolutely everything they had; every cherished collection, furniture, books, clothes, original oil paintings. Everything.

Try that on for size, just because we are all charged too much for our water.

Ann Bunner