This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I just received a nice letter from the director of Salt Lake City Public Utilities promoting a private insurance company plan "to protect you from unexpected home repair costs."
I assume the same letter went out to everyone who gets water and sewer service from Salt Lake City. To be sure, I am constantly bombarded with solicitations to buy all kinds of insurance, but this one, coming as it did from a governmental agency, was particularly offensive.
Where does the city come off promoting a particular private business over other similar businesses? What special relationship exists between Salt Lake City and HomeServe? What special benefits did HomeServe provide to the city, or perhaps to the director of public utilities, to entice the city to spend my tax dollars (or is it my utility payment dollars?) to advertise a service provided by a private company? Something about this whole scheme smells like sewer water.
F. Andrew Jensen
Salt Lake City