Two candidates, Elizabeth Sexton and incumbent Joe Waggoner, are vying for the Greeneville Water Commissioner at-large seat in the June 2 municipal election.

The following is information submitted by them in response to candidate questionnaires prepared by The Greeneville Sun.

Elizabeth Sexton, 68, of 376 Viking Place, is a graduate of Greeneville High School and a graduate of Greeneville Business School.

She is retired from the accounting office of the Greeneville Water Department.

She is a member of St. James Episcopal Church and serves on the board of directors of the Viking View Home-Owners Association.

Joe Waggoner, 61, of 205 Susong Lane, is a graduate of Greeneville High School and attended two years at East Tennessee State University.

For years he operated the Joe Waggoner Hardware store and now lists his occupation as a bus driver at Ottway Elementary School and North Greene High School and a janitor at Camp Creek Elementary School.

He has served two consecutive six-year terms on the Water Commission, beginning in 1997.

Waggoner was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Martha Layne Collins in 1985.

His community involvement includes: St. James Episcopal Church; Main Street: Greeneville; Order of the Eastern Star, Baileyton Chapter 319; Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge 692; member, Free & Accepted Masons.

1. Why are you a candidate for water commissioner?

SEXTON: I feel I can contribute to the Water Commission and its customers since I have 35 years' experience in the accounting field, 17 years of this experience specific to the Water Commission's accounting office.

As a result of the experience in the office, I have general knowledge of all financial and daily operations of the department.

WAGGONER: To continue to provide abundant, affordable, safe drinking water and a reliable and sufficient supply of water for fire protection for the city taxpayers of the Town of Greeneville.

2. What are the two or three most serious problems you see facing the Greeneville Water Commission, and how do you plan to address them?

SEXTON: The most serious problem facing the Greeneville Water Commission is the age and condition of the existing water and sewer lines.

Much of Greeneville's original sewer infrastructure is close to 90 years old and will need to be repaired and/or replaced to help reduce the amount of inflow and infiltration of ground water into the sanitary sewer system.

Funding for these and other capital projects will be a large capital expenditure and will need to be phased over many years to ease the financial burden on the customers of the Water Commission.

As a member of the commission, decisions regarding this or other issues/problems would not be made by me alone, but by the entire commission.

WAGGONER: Waggoner chose to combine his answers to Questions #2 and #3. Please see his response to Question #3.

3. What are the two or three biggest opportunities you see for the Water Commission, and how to you plan to pursue them if elected?

SEXTON: To be able to expand water and sewer services into newly-annexed areas in order to promote the continued growth and prosperity of Greeneville.

To be able to stay current or ahead of changing or new regulations which are being adopted by federal and state governing bodies.

To continue to foster cooperation between utilities, municipalities and other service-providers for the betterment of the entire community, such as the cooperation that was involved in acquiring the GIS Mapping System that is currently in use.

WAGGONER: I will combine Questions #2 and #3 since the answer is the same to both questions. Yet, instead of a problem, it is a challenge, as well as an opportunity. The answer is annexation.

When our city annexes land that adjoins its limits, in exchange for new property taxes that the city will receive, the city's departments (police, fire, streets and sanitation, now called Public Works, and Greeneville City Schools) and the Greeneville Water Commission must provide services to the newly-annexed land.

The package of amenities the city residents receive is truly a bargain when weighed against their new taxes. Garbage pickup alone is worth the price of admission.

New city residents are usually most impressed by our police and fire departments. The immediacy with which they respond to a call is amazing. It's as if they are there before you put the phone down. It's almost instantaneous.

Both the police and fire departments are composed of the most professional and conscientious men and women imaginable.

Of all the new services, the most expensive is the laying of water and sewer lines.

The Water Commission is not a city department.

We do not share in the city's tax revenue, nor do we receive any money from the city. We are self-sustaining through our own revenues. We are owned by the city taxpayers of the Town of Greeneville. This is where the challenges come in.

Often we must expend large sums of money to extend water and sewer lines with little or no prospect of seeing a return on the money. We do this because of our obligation as a public utility.

We are on the same team with the city, and to be the most useful to the taxpayers, we pull together and in the same direction.

In 2001, the Greeneville Water Commission, the Greeneville Regional Planning Commission, and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, working together, lengthened the time frame for providing "A Plan of Services" from two years to five years to newly-annexed properties.

This enables new taxpayers time to save up the $800 required for a sewer tap. Cooperation is the key to the success of any endeavor.

This is where the opportunities come in. By increasing the tax base and population of the city, the town becomes more attractive to businesses searching for new locations.

When an industry, restaurant, or retailer chooses Greeneville, we all benefit with the prospects of a better quality of life.

4. Should the Water Commission consider increasing sewer and water rates to generate additional income? Why or why not?

SEXTON: The Greeneville Water Commission is a separate, stand-alone entity of the Town of Greeneville, and, as such, receives no funding from the town.

All operating revenues of the department are generated from water sales and sewer services.

Therefore, consideration must be given to adjusting rates to compensate for the continual increases incurred by the department to treat and produce a safe supply of drinking water, i.e., rising fuel costs, increases in chemical costs and electrical costs.

Ultimately, the goal of the commission should be to keep water and sewer rates as low as practical, while continuing to provide the best service possible; maintaining and improving the current and aging infrastructure; and providing services to newly-annexed areas.

WAGGONER: Since we have had three sewer rate increases in the last three years, a sewer rate increase is off the table.

Rate increases are regrettably a fact of life, but to my thinking are to be implemented only as a last resort, after exhausting all other avenues, i.e., cost- containment and belt-tightening.

There are times when a rate increase is unavoidable. There will be those times in the future. I contend the Greeneville Water Commission's rates compare favorably with any community in America, and are in fact lower than any surrounding county or municipality.

5. Do you support merging the Water Department with the Greeneville Light & Power System to create one utility system for Greeneville? Why or why not?

SEXTON: Not at this time. Although this type of arrangement has worked in some larger metropolitan cities, and has failed in others, I do not see this as a pressing issue and do not foresee it as being beneficial to either entity.

Also, the Greeneville Water Commission has a board of commissioners, elected by the voters within the Town of Greeneville, and serves primarily customers within the town; whereas, the Greeneville Light & Power System has an appointed power board and serves the residents of the entire county.

WAGGONER: I have long opposed a merger. This ill-conceived idea was first floated by a Greene County Partnership Community Action Team (CAT) team in 1998.

The proposal called for abolishing the five-member, appointed GL&PS board, as well as the three elected Water Commission Commissioners.

The CAT team suggested the merged utility would be governed by a new six-member board, three of which were to be appointed by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and three who were to be elected.

This would result in half the board being held accountable to the taxpaying voters. The other half would be answerable to five people. The whole notion was flawed from the beginning.

The CAT team acknowledged that "creating a common payment due date for the merged utilities may be a hardship for some customers."

That is the ultimate understatement. Like most people, I budget for an electric or water bill, pay it, then wait for another paycheck and pay the other one.

The only beneficiary of this scheme would be the merged utility, as it would reap the increase in penalties, late fees, disconnect, cut-off, reconnect and turn-on charges.

These costs really mount up if one needs service during other than "normal" business hours, such as at night, on weekends or holidays.

The CAT team surmised a great cost savings in combined meter-reading.

At the time, GL&PS had 32,000 customers; the Water Commission, 8,900. GL&PS used eight trucks and eight employees. The Water Commission used two trucks and four employees to physically go to each meter once a month and "read" the meter.

Over a decade later, GL&PS has 39,000 customers; the Water Commission, 9,800.

Today, GL&PS has no meter-readers as their billing data is transmitted from the meter, through the power lines, to GL&PS's central office at Church and College streets.

In 2005, the Water Commission adopted an Automated Meter-Reading system whereby a truck and driver ride down a street and a customer's water usage is collected electronically into a receiver from an antenna affixed to each meter.

Rather than through a disastrous merger, the cost savings were achieved organically through technology.

In 1998, the CAT team pointed to savings in engineering as a result of a merger since GL&PS had five engineers on board. The Water Commission was "engineerless" and had to "farm out" our engineering work.

The Water Commission now employs two state-certified, licensed civil professional engineers. So much for those savings.

The CAT team conducted extensive polling in hope of generating momentum for the merger. Even after being presented only one side of the proposal (the "for" side), the poll results never went above 38 percent of the polled citizens who thought they would see lower utility bills or that the level of service would improve if the utilities were consolidated.

If the goal is lower utility bills and better service, the solution is simple and much more seamless than a merger. Just convert the GL&PS board from appointed to elected.

You learn a lot when you knock on a thousand strangers' doors.

Please provide a short closing comment, if you wish:

SEXTON: (Chose not to include a closing comment.)

WAGGONER: I enjoy being a water commissioner. I take the position seriously and appreciate the trust the voters have placed in me up to now.

I encourage every eligible voter to go to the polls and vote. It would be nice if you voted for me, but if you can't vote for me, then vote for my opponent.

It's important to vote. There are places in the world where citizens can't vote. They envy us. Many have died for the right to vote. Don't take this right lightly. Vote for someone.

I plan to vote for myself, but if my opponent gets more votes than me, I pledge to assist in an amicable and helpful transfer of the seat to the victor.