By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Barry A Withers (pictured), the director of public utilities for the City of Cleveland since 2010 and a top administrator under former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White, has lost his wife.

City officials and other city employees received an email today that states that Withers' wife had died.

A city employee speaking under condition of anonymity said that Dianne G Withers, 61,  had suffered a long illness.

And in Withers' absence Northeast Ohio residents that the Cleveland Water Department serves and the employees of the embattled department, have said that the department is in disarray, and has been for sometime.

Community activists, whom Cleveland Mayoral Candidate Donna Walker Brown led in a picket of City Hall last week over efforts by city officials to ditch First Energy for another company that supplies electricity and is expected to charge Cleveland residents 42 percent more annually, say that they have had enough. Click Here To Read The Plain Dealer Article On Walker Brown's Protest

Coleman said that Withers usually runs a tight ship and that it might be his subordinates that are the problem, but that a clear problem exists.

"Our condolences to Mr. Withers and his family for the loss of his wife but we are planning a picket which has been delayed because of this unfortunate incident," said Kathy Wray Coleman, leader of the Imperial Women Coalition. "Our research reveals that the Cleveland Water Department is in complete disarray, that poor people, community activists and Blacks are being harassed over water issues and denied water for political reasons and due to greed and corruption, and that city officials are violating state and federal law through excessive water bill charges and other illegal activity to the detriment of residents of Northeast Ohio."

Coleman said that "even Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is tired of the malfeasance and complaints to his office and said that he would sue the City of Cleveland for its water bill discrepancies if he "had jurisdiction."

Coleman said that when she called customer service at the water department to investigate community concerns she was told  so what, that the telephone call was being taped without her permission or prior notice, and  to "picket us."

Complaints from homeowners and tenants include the following:

-Billing customers as much as $800 in excess of the actual usage bill and then allegedly harassing them by phone, only to reduce the bill days later, often in instances where the mayor's office gets a phone call.

-Colluding with mortgage companies like Chase Home Finance Mortgage Company and illegally cutting off homeowners water in retaliation for litigation between the mortgage company and homeowner, and telling them that they cannot pay their water bills and must consult Chase (Editor's note: Chase Home Finance is also using some of the 34 judges of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, such as Judge John O'Donnell, to steal people's homes by using ghost mortgage companies that don't exist to foreclose and then having Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reed to reduce the home value by up to 80 percent to hand foreclosed homes back to mortage companies that buy them at a fraction of the price. An example is a home that is appraised by the county for some $125,000 for purposes of property taxes and then Chase buys it back  at a foreclosure sheriff's sale for under $40,000 after Reid's appraisers reduce the value with the sanctioning of Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and the 11 member Cuyahoga County Council).

-Denying tenants water to their homes and apartments that have a constitutional and statutory right to water services, in violation both federal and state law

-Using the water department to harass people that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson disagrees with on political matters such as the Cleveland schools 15 mills property tax levy that is on the November ballot by denying them water illegally.

-Charging customers a monthly bill of some $80 for water when the water is turned off in what community activists say is theft.

-Hanging up abruptly on customers, refusing to discuss excess charges, being constantly rude, and disrespecting Black and elderly people in a religious fashion.

-Refusing to permit mistreated customers to speak with a supervisor

Coleman said community activists want to meet with Withers when he returns to work and have requested that anybody with a complaint about public utilities services spearheaded by the City of Cleveland call the Imperial Women at 216-712-2641. She said that activists are still organizing around the issue and will apprise the community in the near future of the date of the picket, which will likely occur at City Hall but might involve pickets at the homes of select city officials that are allegedly harassing people for Mayor Jackson and his cronies.

Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by telephone at 216-659-0473 and by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com.