Gifford residents may remember a time when sewage would back up into the streets and their drinking water — when it was on — was yellow with brown sediment and had to be boiled before using.
In the 1970s, there was only a nonprofit utility open just a few hours a day and run by two Vero Beach utilities employees on their off-hours. The system experienced constant breakdowns, failing lift stations and service interruptions.
Residents often had to go to the manager’s house and beg him to turn their water back on — sometimes at 2 o’clock in the morning. That manager saw the injustice and knew he had to do something for his community.
Leon Young blew the whistle to CBS News and 60 minutes in 1977, garnering national attention that changed the substandard system.
"I would not say he was an outspoken person, but he did whatever he felt was right," said Linda Young Thomas, one of his five surviving children.
Young, 88, died Oct. 2 in Lakeland, and is also survived by six grandchildren. In his memory, Indian River County established a proclamation, which Commissioner Joseph Flescher presented to the family at Young’s funeral on Oct. 15.
"The proclamation was a special recognition of his impact in the community and on the lives of other individuals," Thomas said.
Young began his career in utilities in 1974, when he was hired to manage the Urban Development Utilities, a nonprofit that expanded into Gifford with the help of a mortgage from the Farmers...
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