Letter: Have Faith

Editor, The Friday Flyer:

Response to “Medical Response” letter: First, realize last week’s letter writer, and husband, are employees of County Fire. Second her City Council meeting comment was, “We should just keep County Fire until we run out of money and then disincorporate.” So much for where their loyalty resides!

You can’t just say disincorporate and it happens. It requires a public vote and about two years to complete. So much for that idea!

Third, she stated the City has no plans. Wrong again. We’ve been working on this for months, but it requires a lot of government procedures that take time.

The City couldn’t afford County Fire. We can afford to provide a good City Fire Department and man Station 60 (which Cal Fire planned to close). That is what we are working on. Many smaller California cities are doing the same thing successfully.

The writer suggests there will be threat to life and property and the sky will fall. Well, we are being covered adequately until we get our department up and running; and hopefully it will be soon.

It amazes me how County Fire and Police employees have nothing but bad to say about cities forming their own departments. Think they’re trying to protect their jobs? The City tried two years to get County Fire’s attention, finally filing a law suit, which at least got them to the table. However, their offer, at $1.8 million, and the accelerated rise for the next five years was simply unsustainable.

The UUT tax, as a means to “pay our fire costs,” was misrepresented to the people. It helps, but there’s no way it will cover the costs.

Have faith. It will happen and it will be good – and we have no other choice that we can afford.

Dawn Haggerty