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Nonprofit Newswire | Big Business and Nonprofit Fight Over New Jersey Water

Rick Cohen
May 18, 2010

May 15, 2010; Source: The Times of Trenton  | This is an interesting snippet of a story of for-profit versus nonprofit advocacy. The for-profit American Water Company has made an offer of $80 million to purchase the city-owned Trenton Water Works (the water pipes and water tanks in the city and the suburbs). To persuade voters to endorse the deal, American Water has backed an advocacy effort called “Trenton Yes,” described by the head of the Company’s New Jersey division as “supporting an education message.”

Countering the company-backed campaign is “Stop the Sale,” a campaign organized by the Washington-based nonprofit, Food & Water Watch. The nonprofit is helping voters put the sale of the Water Works on the June 15th ballot for an up or down vote. The company’s advocacy campaign is conducting telephone polls that some have described as “push polls,” though the company’s pollster claimed that the calls present both sides of the argument.

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The issue before the voters isn’t simple, as the company will acquire only pipes and tanks in the suburbs, while the City would still own the Water Works treatment plant, reservoirs, and central pump station. This is an interesting local advocacy case study to watch, pitting a national corporation’s deep pockets against what is really a grassroots citizens mobilization effort.—Rick Cohen

About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

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