— by Tony P Ghazel —
I am writing in support of the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue Levy. I understand some of the consternation about a levy election and the concern that public funds are being spent wisely. In my experience on the Orcas School Board for the past 10 years, I learned many things and one of which is that our Orcas neighbors and friends are engaged and demand excellence particularly from local tax payer supported public institutions. We want to ensure that we are getting a good value for our taxes.
I have examined and discussed this replacement levy with many and I have come to the conclusion that the services that are required and that the Orcas Fire and Rescue is providing in emergency response and community readiness, are essential to our remote and aging community and our financial support is critical to making that happen.
Costs are rising and in many cases dictated by state and federal demands through updated requirements on training, gear and so on. These volunteers and staff are valuable for our safety and wellbeing and we want them well prepared, well trained and well equipped. We also want the fire trucks to start when they are needed and we want these assets protected in the seven or eight fire stations around the island.
This levy election is about funding the Orcas Fire Department services for the next 10 years and it is also about the trust and confidence in Chief O’Brien and his able paid and 70 Plus volunteer staff, and, the Orcas Fire Commissioners. The question is, are they providing clear and accurate information, the answer is YES. Are they up to the task in being good stewards of the public’s funds, YES. Is this levy necessary to continually provide emergency lifesaving response, YES.
If you agree then please join me and my family in supporting the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue mission and vote YES on proposition 1.
Tony, I have a lot of respect for you as a member of this community but as a school board member you know that the public rejected two school bond demands for 35mil and 28mil in 2010 and when the Board came down
to 11.9 mil request in 2012 it was approved.
The request from the Fire Dept at this time is as much as the previous levy 15 yrs ago which was for capital expenditures but now they are spending so much money on staff and other unnecessary expenses while our cost for the volunteers is only about $250,000 a year. Their projection for the next 10 years is to increase staff expenditures by another $400,000.
In 2003 we had Chief Bennett with an assistant, mechanic and 3 paramedics around the clock and a lot of needed improvements have happened since then but I think it is time for the Fire Dept to take a realistic look as to
where we are going with the cost of running the Fire Dept.
The public protested when Buddy Wright was given the position of Assistant Chief for $90,000 and he resigned after that but now that position is filled for more money and other positions are being created so that are cost for staff is one million per year.
I am not questioning the great job that our dedicated volunteers are doing and we all know that this community
could not functioned without all the volunteers at the
library and other entities.
I have attended the Fire Dept meetings for 10 years now and I was a Library Trustee for 3 yrs and have been a Cemetery Commissioners for 10 years and I am very involved in my Community because I care about this place.
But I do not always support the request for tax dollars
when I see that it is unreasonable.
Pierrette Guimond
As a volunteer, I am in full support of the staffing plan the Chief O’Brien has put in place. Knowing that a paramedic with appropriate equipment is rolling out when I respond to a call is the support I need to be able to continue to serve you as a volunteer. Having an assistant chief who is also a paramedic and a chief who is also a fire and ems responder helps tremendously during those time when we have more than one call at a time (which happens about 25% of the time).
We all benefit greatly from the time and efforts of the volunteers, but there is no way those volunteers could or would be able to serve this community without sufficient organizational support provided by our paid staff. It’s a partnership that is working well and deserves our support. Check out http://www.supportoifr.com for more information on the levy request specifics and the changing economy and regulatory environment since Chief Bennett’s days.