This is an interesting letter pulled from the Post Record on Tues. Worth a discussion here as well.
“ECFR should live within its means
I am writing to express my disgust with East County Fire and Rescue, Camas Mayor Paul Dennis and Camas Fire Chief Leo Leon.
The first point of contention is their reference to the voters’ lack of understanding what they are voting for. Maybe they need to listen to the voters and realize the people are fed up with increased taxes and feel that ECFR needs to do a better job with the funds they already have. Why are you building a new station when you couldn’t afford firefighters?
We were threatened with having next to no service if the last fire protection levy was rejected, yet once it passed you can afford to hire new firefighters. Is it all or nothing?
The close vote was barely tallied before we were hit with the news of yet another levy being thrown at the voters to keep the ambulance service from Camas Fire Department.
Previous articles suggested it might be possible to use some of the fire protection levy money for this service. Now we are once again hearing the threats of all or nothing.
Either you vote to accept more taxes and keep the ambulance service from Camas or vote it down and be left without any ambulance service.
Why aren’t the commissioners seeking contract proposals from other ambulance service providers before Camas drops their service to East County customers?
Mr. Leon stated in the Post-Record that charges were increased in January 2007 to East County residents, yet in the next paragraph he states services are being provided at no charge. Which is it? In the same article, Chief Koehler admits he is already planning to try another vote in November if the August vote for Camas ambulance service fails. This is a waste of money. There needs to be a limit on how often increased tax proposals can be put on a ballot. People are tired of voting measures down only to have them back on another ballot a few months later.
East County Fire and Rescue needs to cut back on expenses and live within their means. Tired of ECFR’s bullying tactics? Please vote “no” for additional taxes.”
Keith Edwards
Camas
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45 Comments
July 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
Major correction:
I just learned that the funds from the Fire Levy Lid Lift for 2009 do not reach us until much later than January. We will begin the hiring process to pick up the staff funded by this shortly after the first of the year, but due to the inherent bureaucratic delays in getting the funds passed through to us, we won’t have 24/7/365 coverage until April or May.
Sorry for the error…..
=================
Even if you have already checked out the http://www.EMSyes.org web site put up by the ‘YES on EMS’ Committee, you may want to go check it out again, as a couple of new sections have been added: A news/editorials page, and a page with items you can download and post in order to spread the word.
July 21, 2008 at 7:28 pm
At the bottom of the page of the EMSyes.org website it states: “This site is 100% funded through private donations, and is not affiliated with Camas Fire Department, Washougal Fire & Rescue, or East County Fire & Rescue.
Site content © 2008 EMSyes.org and Yes on EMS Committee unless otherwise noted.”
If it is NOT Camas Fire Department and the others mentioned, then just WHO IS IT that is funding this campaign? Who are the EMS Committee and what is their agenda exactly? Does anybody know?
From what I’ve observed, it is the firefighters – namely members of the Camas Fire Department who are blanketing the east county area with vote Yes signs! They certainly don’t want to lose the additional salaries they collect, nor the overtime and pay raises they enjoy should this issue be defeated for a THIRD time!
July 21, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Chuck,
The funding is coming from both the Camas Firefighters Association and the East County Volunteer Firefighters Association, and also from private donations from some others. For example, an insert will be included in the Columbian on the 31st or 1st, entirely paid for by Ray Hickey, who has no personal or professional involvement with Camas or East County Fire. The web site was created and funded entirely out of the pocket of a single ECFR volunteer member, hosting and domain fees and all. The key thing: No tax-derived funds are involved in the education effort.
The ‘Yes on EMS’ Committee is indeed made up largely but not exclusively of firefighters from East County and from Camas. What is important is the distinction that the public education effort is being undertaken by people on their own time, using their own resources, and funded from sources that are not tax-based.
I personally spent all day today going door to door, and putting signs up when homeowners asked for them. I am a volunteer, I stand no financial gain from this levy restoration.
Several of the Camas firefighters involved in the effort live in the ECFR district. In fact, we also are getting help from firefighters from Vancouver, Portland, TVF&R and others who live in the ECFR district. For them, it is about the loss of the ambulance service… they have absolute first-hand knowledge of what will happen if this restoration fails. It’s not about money, it’s about the safety of their families. You should really listen to the people right on the front lines who know. You would trust a Marine to tell you what is going on Iraq before George Bush, right? Well, we’re the firefighters, and we’re telling you what the score is.
And Chuck, please my friend, please don’t go off about overtime and raises and other total nonsense like that… I mean no offense but you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about… you’re just angry about taxation, and I respect that position. In reality, however, the City of Camas has been losing money providing unfunded ambulance service to ECFR for the two years this Levy has been down, and bringing it back merely brings funding back to equilibrium and allows CFD to stop charging full rate for transports. There are no pay raises tied with this, that is just silly.
So, I ask you to consider my position:
1. I live in the City of Camas, thus, I personally will still have ambulance service at my house even if it goes down.
2. I am a volunteer and so even if some sort of pay thing was tied to this, I wouldn’t see it.
3. Despite the fact that I will gain no money nor lose my ambulance, I am still spending hours of my own time and gallons of my own fuel getting out and talking to people about it.
What’s my motivation?
I’ll tell you. I know first-hand what will happen if this fails to go through, and I don’t want to be kneeling next to your lifeless prone body on September 15th trying to keep you alive, waiting for over an hour for paramedics and an ambulance, with your family wondering why I can’t do more. And I’m out there because I don’t want your family to ask me why I didn’t warn them that this would happen.
It’s very simple and I can’t be clearer than this: If this doesn’t pass this time, Camas is cutting ECFR off, and people will die.
Any questions?
July 22, 2008 at 2:36 pm
To ECFR Volunteer: Smokey doesn’t have a middle name. It is Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear. FYI
July 22, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Sally, you are correct, thanks for that.
….. still waiting for moderator approval of my reply to Chuck…..
Comments are closed.