Twelve days ago we brought your attention (HERE) to the strange situation in Austin, Minnesota, where the fire chief has shifted all of his paid firefighters onto two shifts, days and evenings, and is now leaving the fire station empty at night while the citizens are most vulnerable to fires.
This odious practice seems to be spreading. Firegeezer reader Jim J. sent along to us this ARTICLE about a township fire dept. in Greene County, Ohio, that is doing something similar as a means to coerce the citizens into voting for higher taxes.
The Sugarcreek Twp. FD has 11 full-time, 11 part-time and 31 volunteer firefighters. Last month the citizens voted not to approve an increase in their fire levy, so the Twp. Administrator has decided to shut down the primary fire station from 7 pm to 7 am each night. They are not laying off any employees or reducing the budget other than delaying some purchasing.
Closed after dark.
If there needs to be some sort of economy that requires closing the fire station for 12 hours, then why are they closing it when people are (1) at home, and (2) asleep? Somebody who truly is concerned about their citizens’ welfare would close the station when they are less vulnerable, not while they are asleep. But the Town Administrator Barry Tiffany tipped his hand when he made the statement to the Dayton Daily News, “These are very severe cuts, in my opinion, but they’re nothing compared to what we will have to do if a levy fails again in May.”
Oh, really? That language alone meets the legal definition for “extortion.” If a landlord in Greene County tried that trick, he’d be put in jail. But politicians are immune to criminal penalties when it comes to this sort of behavior. Tell us, Mr. Tiffany, why a new tax is the only solution to your budgetary problem. The fact that the citizens have been rejecting tax increases for two years now indicates that they think they’re paying out enough now.
Lay out the budget and show them just what is in there that is more important than fire protection. What expenditures are so precious that you’ll let a house burn rather than cut spending on another program? Tell us again why you are choosing to close the firehouse during the most dangerous time of the day instead of the least?
If the township cannot function without more money than they are getting now, what are you doing to improve the economic climate so that the tax revenue will grow productively? You cannot tax your way into prosperity. That’s never worked before and it won’t work now. To threaten people with their very life’s safety as a means to pad the town’s treasury is just unacceptable.
Now we’d better get this equipment checked out. I have to get the coffee started.
