Getting Hosed victim testifies before Chicago City Council committee
CHICAGO (CBS) -- CBS 2 Investigators have been reporting for four years on Chicagoans getting hosed by bogus water bills.
In many cases, the victims were on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars. That included a 90-something year-old retired Chicago public school teacher.
In 2021, CBS 2's Streaming Anchor Brad Edwards introduced us to Beatrice Ritchie and her son-in-law Russell Cochran. Their water bill: nearly $60,000 for water they never used.
On Monday, Cochran testified before a City Council committee.
"The Water Department's plumber concluded that the meter was defective," he said. "The meter was replaced. The only resolution the Finance Department offered was to put Beatrice, a 93-year-old woman, on a payment plan. I need to make you aware that the Water Department has a pattern of making mistakes."
The City Council is considering a proposal to expand "relief" for utility billing. Ald. Gil Villegas (36th) pointed to CBS 2's Getting Hosed reporting as proof that the city needs to fix the system.
"We need to find out how we can work with our residents to make sure that we're not gouging them," Villegas said. "I'm sure some folks have seen the series [Getting] Hosed on CBS around how some of these folks are just being taken advantage of."