City of Stewart resident Delvin Bethke has had the water shut off to a property he owns. Bethke's son and young child were forced out.
In yet another case of alleged harassment of Bethke, the city of Stewart appears to be behind this water shut off, using another resident as a proxy to deny Bethke water, a public utility. Bethke's water bill was paid.
City resident Chuck Paul has said he has been pressured by the city to shut off Bethke's water, saying:
"The city is on me to get the line changed.... I'm in a rock and a hard place just like you.
That makes Chuck Paul and his lawyer, Lori Moldan, alleged proxies for the city.
City Demands Private Citizens Resolve Issue about a Public Utility
In a very unusual stance, the city of Stewart has refused to take responsibility for their public water utility. Instead, the city has demanded Bethke resolve the issue privately with his neighbor, who wanted Bethke to pay for any sheds that were damaged by installing a new water line.
The shut-off to Bethke's water line is located on his neighbor's property, and this has never been corrected by the city.
Bethke said that the city of Hutchinson itself gets easements for public utilities when needed, and does not demand that private residents do it.
However, the city of Stewart appears to be quite fixed upon the idea that a private resident must resolve an issue regarding a public utility by getting an easement. This appears to be more harassment of a resident by city officials.
Bethke called the McLeod County Sheriff to report the denial of a public utility to his property.
The Sheriff's office has refused to investigate this alleged corruption.
