GERMANTOWN, Tenn. — Germantown residents are responding to an independent review on the Germantown water crisis after it was made public on Monday.
Back in July, a diesel fuel leak left more than 40,000 people in the city without usable water. After the all-clear was given, residents mostly criticized the lack of communication throughout the incident, many feeling the city was not being honest with them.
“It’s been difficult to get what we believe are straight answers,” said Germantown resident Stephen Mancuso, who spoke with ABC24 back in July.
The independent review gave credit to Germantown’s four-person communication division for their work during the crisis. However, a series of one-on-one interviews said the messages were not as effective as they may have hoped.
“I wasn’t sure that we were getting all the information that we needed,” said Lindsay Freeman, who lives in Germantown.
While the city did try to provide some information through press conferences, videos and social media updates, former Collierville administrator James Lewellen said there were multiple times when messages were misunderstood.
Lewellen conducted the independent review and said small teams can often run into this struggle, especially if they are stretched to their limit over multiple days.
“When our information is received but not understood in the context that we meant it to be understood, by definition we have failed,” said Lewellen.
The former administrator said the city’s approach deserves to have another, more in-depth review. Lewellen also suggested Germantown prepare a new emergency crisis strategy that follows three pillars: be prepared, be responsive and be honest. One suggestion included cross-training other departments to help with communication if another catastrophe happens again.
“I appreciated the texts that continually came in that we could sign up for so we could hear from the city what was going on, but I also wish that we had known more information and that they would have been just more upfront, even if it had been scarier for us,” said Freeman.
Germantown city leaders said they plan to use this feedback in future emergency plans.
“It is our responsibility to learn as much as we can from this event, not only to ensure that Germantown’s future responses are optimal, but to share our experience with other cities that may face similar challenges in the future,” said Germantown Mayor Mike Palazzolo in a statement.
