The elected officials and staff of the City of Rock Island are continually looking for ways to provide high quality and cost-efficient services to its citizens.  For the past 18 months, the City has gathered information related to the potential privatization of the City’s water and sewer utilities.  The intent of this exploration was to determine if a possible sale of the water and sewer utilities could provide a long-term benefit for the citizens of Rock Island.  During the exploration period, many citizens of Rock Island spoke out against privatization of the City’s water and sewer utilities.  After considering the available information, as well as other major pending projects such as the distribution of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and the city manager search, the Rock Island City Council is suspending further exploration into the privatization of the City’s water and sewer utilities.”

For the past year-and-a-half, the city has been exploring the option of selling the services to American Water.

The consideration of such ignited an outcry amongst a large number of Rock Island citizens, prompting protests and demonstrations outside and inside City Council meetings.

QuadCities.com, in looking at all the available evidence, was likewise against the privatization. We laud Mayor Mike Thoms and other city officials for making what we feel is the right choice in the big picture for the city.