WHOS FAULT IS IT NOW?

I do have a great concern about an all volunteer fire department.

You see the worst day of my life happened with a phone call at work and my boss told me I needed to go home as my house was on fire.

I do not wish to relive that day but we had a volunteer fire department and all I can say is they did not start the fire but they had some serious problems which was as negative as you can imagine that effected me forever.

The year was 1990 if I remember as I blocked that date from my memory and the house used to be on Ruckle right behind where our fire Chief lives.

For those who where here then, that was me.

I keep hearing about this lets go back to an all volunteer fire department and all I can say is you better pray to your God that you never have to go through what I did, as it will change your life for a very long time and some parts will never go away.

Now in comparing our department today to back then is like comparing night and day.

But when I see our volunteers, hear them speak about their experiences and respect their leader like they do I see a team.

And seeing a team this devoted to a cause is very rare to build.

Today I must say that I see an emergency services department that I would not be afraid to call 911 like I was after my fire.

As a matter of fact some of my family members have needed to make that dreaded call and lives were saved and an attempt to save a friend in front of our old fire station was as good as it gets.

But on the other side I have learned of incidents that did not go to well.

But is this the fault of our emergency services department?

I do not know because council never followed through to investigate the matter and fix what was broken.

But that does not surprise me as for over 27 years since our new charter was passed by a vote I did not vote in favor of, this new charter repealed everything including our articles of incorporation which protected the city. Since then sitting governments in our history have been slowly eroding our city through corruption bringing our city to the point it is today. On its knees!

So can anyone tell me why this entire department’s problems seems to be our fire chief’s fault? When these problems were created by elected and appointed officials?

Can anyone of you show me any legislation in our city which states the office our chief holds?

As a matter of fact can anyone of you show me any legislation which even says we have a fire and ambulance service?

Can anyone of you show me any legislation that specifies the duties and the policy of the office of fire chief?

Can anyone of you show me anything other than we have a fire code with a few state powers?

So where does the real fault lie?

Show me these ordinances if they exist?

It goes 27 years back when funds began being used unlawfully without any form of ordinance or resolution authorizing it. Followed by an illegal legislative action; to keep stealing from the cookie jar; when their hands got caught in it!

I keep hearing everyone blame the chief for the financial mess; the new fire hall got the city into.

I hate to break the news, but that was in the works when our chief was hired.

The new fire truck we needed was replacing one past its prime.

But is it the chief’s fault that he cannot pay the bills for that truck and I have to go back to that missing money between 2007 and 2008 and say no. Not without proof.

Sure he wanted it. I am sure he had good reasons besides getting us to a higher rating to save taxpayers money on insurance.

But I bet that his major concern was the safety of the citizens he was bound by oath to protect as well men and women he led and was responsible for.

So can I blame him for this?

No he did not authorize that truck to be ordered. Council did!

His only role in this was a proposal to the council.

That is all he can do.

He was authorized by the city administrator to apply for that grant.

He got the grant and it saved the city in the long run.

City Council approved it not the Chief!

With all the usage since that truck was acquired do you really believe that the truck we have going to market to be sold, would be running today?

I don’t think so.

What would have happened if that old truck just wore out?

We would have had to buy a new one without grant assistance or plead to the state for state surplus.

I remember the pump which was an antique and had problems then could not be repaired as the manufacture was not in existence or parts were no longer made, was well known and documented in the record.

I remember that basically the life of that piece of equipment was beyond its usefulness and documented in the record.

So is that a fault of our fire chief?

No! That is the cost of doing business.

And that is the fault of previous councils for not saving for replacement costs in the form of a reserve fund to account for depreciation replacement costs of city owned property.

So where do we go from here?

We create it first in legislation.

We set the administration functions of the department.

And we set the policies this department is going to need to operate efficiently, productively and financially.

We start from the bottom and we struggle to the top now.

And we can thank the foresight of previous administrations for the mess they left us in!

So let’s get this to the table and let’s do it right this time around!

So our future generations can look back in history and thank us for what was done.

But most importantly do it for the sake of our city.

Cody