To The Editor:
On January 15, 2015, the City of Bayonne experienced a sudden loss of one of the most precious commodities we use on a daily basis: water. It was truly a moment that harkens back to the phrase, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”
Calls quickly flooded city hall phone lines with residents, business owners, and community groups looking for answers—and rightfully so! The first few moments of what would eventually become a six-to-seven-hour city-wide outage were puzzling and somewhat unbelievable.
These moments, these types of situations prove what people can offer in a time of crisis. I write today incredibly proud and thankful for the absolute professionalism and expertise of our team at city hall.
Our Office of Emergency Management was immediately activated, and all public safety personnel were assembled. My office and all city agencies had full cooperation with the Municipal Utilities Authority, and received a constant flow of information with a “boots on the ground” perspective from United Water. Within minutes the problem was identified and a solution that would restore the flow of water to local homes and businesses was proposed. Contingency plans were made in the event of a secondary emergency. The city and its more than 65,000 residents were safe.
Quick thinking on the part of several key individuals like Public Safety Director Robert Kubert, Fire Chief Greg Rogers, and Deputy Fire Chief Keith Weaver made the situation bearable and stable instead of dire and unpredictable.
I also want to sincerely thank all the residents who patiently endured the outage. Your patience and cooperation in moments like these are paramount to our resiliency as a community.
So, while we all hope that these types of emergency situations do not resurface, we cannot ignore the possibility that they may and likely will in one form or another as time goes on. It is important to know, however, that we stand at the ready to face whatever may arise, and together we stand infinitely strong.
JAMES M. DAVIS
Mayor, City of Bayonne