Gipson defends response to storm

Holly Springs Mayor Sharon Gipson took to the microphone at a press conference called by public service commissioner Brandon Presley to defend the city’s response to concerns about the reliability and operations of the Holly Springs Utility Department.

She said the crews worked non-stop after the April 12 storm to restore electricity.

An estimated less than 200 customers were without power on day seven following the storm, she said.

To criticism that the city did not call for adequate assistance to get repairs made in a timely manner, Gipson said Tupelo spent two days and New Albany and Memphis Light Gas and Water were also called in to help. Gipson said restoring power in Benton County was more challenging due to its rural nature and difficulty in getting to the areas, sometimes requiring bulldozers to get to lines.

She complained that there was no press conference called after the December 23, 2015, tornado that swept across the area.

Gipson asserted that politics was involved in the calling of the press conference.

“Politics has no place in service,” she said. “To see these types of allegations is a disgrace. The storms were an act of God. People did not have phone service the next day.

“The idea we put preference on some areas and not others is an insult to the City of Holly Springs. The issue of communication is also a lie.”

New Albany crews took a day off to rest and Memphis Light Gas and Water arrived on day seven “to help close it out,” she said.

She laid the issue that customers could not get calls through at HSUD to other factors such as the general manager being out with the crews.

“It is a problem I inherited,” Gipson said.

She cited Facebook and WKRA radio as the method the city used to get information out to the public about the response to the widespread outages.

Some other measures she said the city has taken is to start right-of-way crews to help with the cleanup.

A Tuesday, April 19, city board meeting resulted in a motion to bring in IMS Engineering group as a consultant on what the city needs by way of preventative responses, Gipson said.

The mayor alleged that Presley called “to criticize, not to offer help.” Gipson said she is not going to take calls when she is out working with the crews.

“The important thing is to get the lights back on,” Gipson said. “It’s not about show boating. It’s about getting the lights back on.

“What’s different is that I’m the first woman mayor of Holly Springs. Donald Warren is the first manager of color to be general manager of HSUD. There is no neglect. People are working hard.”

“I said to him (Presley) instead of criticizing me, you should ask me what do I need.”

When Gipson said she needed transformers, she said Presley instead asked, “Why don’t you have inventory. I challenge him to check each utility to see their inventories.”

On the suggestion by Presley that the legislature be brought to bear on HSUD’s license to operate, Gipson said, “I wish the legislature would have held a press conference to ask how can we help.”

She said she could not say exactly how many smart meters are not working over the system in response to a complaint from a resident that his bill was escalating and perhaps being estimated rather than his meter read.

Gipson brought up honesty twice during the press conference, in respect to Presley’s intentions for the press conference.

“A lie does not care who tells it,” she said.

“And the truth will set you free,” responded Ashland resident Tony Farese. “All we want is electricity.” When a resident asked the number to call to reach the utility, Gipson provided her office number, 662-252-4280, but not the utility’s number 662-252-4411.

“Would you concede the city’s response was inadequate to the storm of April 13. Would you concede that?” Farese asked the mayor.

“No. We are proud of our response,” Gipson said.

“You have to have a response team,” Farese said. “We understand what you inherited. You were not prepared for this storm.”

His comment drew applause from the audience.

Farese said electric meters should be read, not estimated.

“I will concede there is an issue with right-of-way,” Gipson said. “We have an adequate staff.” “There is really no defense,” said Presley.

(Editor’s note: A source at HSUD said all customers had electricity restored at press time Tuesday.)