- A “cybersecurity incident” shut down city systems starting Aug. 16.
- The investigation into the incident remains ongoing with the assistance of third-party specialists, and it is not yet known what personal information, if any, may have been affected.
- The city posted Nov. 20 December water bills would resume after three months of a billing outage.
- An initial 25 percent charge was meant to help with balance owned on missed billings, though the city announced Nov. 21 the “usage adjustment” charge would be removed from residents’ next bill.
- Tuesday, the city announced December bills — estimated or actual — would not sent out.
- Any payments made during the outage should be credited to accounts.
- There will be no water shutoffs in December.
- Traditional, actual usage billing will be restored in January.
William Knauber, organizer of the Change.org petition, wrote, “While the city of Middletown has issued a statement on Facebook that the additional 25% will not appear on the next bill, families remain frustrated and stressed over estimated charges that lack clear explanations, verified meter readings and an itemized breakdown of back-billed amounts. Residents have not been properly notified, as some elderly that do not have social media and have been entirely left in the dark about the entire situation.”
The petition had five requests, listed below. Journal-News sent these requests to city staff and asked for clarification on plans moving forward.
Their answers are bolded:
- Pause of all water billing until accurate meter readings are restored. Billing from actual meter readings will resume in January.
- Full transparency about the cybersecurity incident and its impact on billing. There is not a timeline for the release of the results of our investigation due to the investigation still ongoing.
- Clear itemized breakdowns for all estimated and back-billed charges. The next bill will show all usage since the last reading and will include back-billed charges for flat fee items (i.e. stormwater and trash) since the last billing cycle.
- Temporary suspension of water shutoffs while billing accuracy is restored. There will be no water shutoffs in December, and traditional, actual usage billing will be restored in January.
- A public meeting to answer residents’ questions directly. While there is not a public meeting currently scheduled to directly address the cybersecurity incident, residents are always invited and encouraged to speak and voice their concerns at regular meetings of the Middletown City Council during “citizen comments.” Residents are given four minutes to speak and a card with their information is given to city staff to respond to at a later date. Oftentimes, concerns can also be addressed directly in the city council meetings, either under council comments or city manager reports. However, that is at the discretion of city council and the city manager.
As for the restored bill in January, a city release said earlier this week: “While the first bill may be sizeable due to not billing in recent months, the city is currently working on a plan for a grace period and/or payment plan that will allow residents to catch up on payments over a period of several months.”
More information on that plan is expected to be released soon, but had not been, as of the publishing of this article.
Middletown Mayor Elizabeth Slamka also posted a public response to the petition, saying, “Speaking as mayor and for myself: First, this has been — to say the least — frustrating for our residents."
“City staff is working diligently on this issue,” she wrote. “It is one of the highest — if not the highest — priorities at the moment."
Slamka explained there are plans moving forward to stay in routine communication with Middletown residents in the form of press releases on the city’s website and social media accounts.
“Some things can be communicated quickly; other things take more time,” Slamka wrote. “Some things may never be able to be shared, but reasons as to why that is, can be given, and that is something I am encouraging as part of the city’s communications for our residents.”
The Journal-News asked city staff why certain information cannot be released.
“If certain information is not released, it is typically because we have not yet confirmed the information to be 100% true, or releasing the information could hinder the investigation into what happened,” said Communications Manager Clayton Castle.
When asked if the city staff felt they had effectively communicated with citizens since the cybersecurity incident, Castle said, “Our collaborative approach to effective communication has at times been difficult and tricky. There is a fine line between trying to be effectively transparent and allowing the investigation to continue without hinderance. We have released information as we know it to be true without speculation or uncertainty in fact. While that can be frustrating for some, the city is confident in its ability to not share information that is not true or speculative.”
Slamka thanked Knauber for creating the petition, saying the petition is “very useful.”
“We’ve been talking about communication for a couple of years, and it’s a two-way street from us to them, from them to us,” she told Journal-News. “So, yes we can always improve. I’m very grateful for this communication from the people so we can do a better job as a city.”
“The city is listening to (residents), and the city is working on this right now.”
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