A Balcony View:

When I broke the story about Escott Norton and his $5,471 water bill last week, I thought it would make a few seats squirm within the walls of Glendale Water & Power. I was also curious if the Glendale City Council would be willing to stand up for a family being charged for using an unbelievable 1.5 million gallons of water in 64 days.

I’m happy to report that Glendale Water & Power finally agreed to reduce Norton’s utility bill by $5,121. But that victory was not won easily.

As of Monday, Norton didn’t seem to concern utility executives all that much. When the matter was presented before the Glendale Water & Power Commission, they simply held the obstinate position that the meter had been tested and found to be working properly, even though they refused to show Norton or anyone else the results of their tests.

They claimed there were privacy laws that restrict what they could say in a public forum — although for the life of me I cannot fathom what must remain private about a malfunctioning metal box that measures water usage.

On the upside, it showed us what the definition for “working properly” is to Glendale Water & Power: That no matter how much the facts defy logic, if their meter says a single-family residence rivaled the water usage of Glendale High School, the meter was, “working properly.”

But before I get overly critical, I should point out that Glenn Steiger, Glendale Water & Power general manager, did inform Norton of his right to formally appeal the matter to the Glendale Water & Power Commission. Unfortunately, when Norton talked to a city attorney, he said he discovered there was no appeal process for water disputes. Whoopsie. It seems the humans at Glendale Water & Power aren’t as infallible as their meters.

But the tide began to turn Tuesday. During the City Council meeting, Norton pleaded his case again. This time I was there to watch. Having already heard about the commission debacle, I wasn’t expecting much by way of government intervention.

I am pleased to say that I was wrong.

Norton used his five minutes wisely, narrating his odyssey with accompanying visual aids of swimming pools and multiple tanker trucks to hammer home the magnitude of what 1.5 million gallons of water actually looks like when it’s not on a utility bill.