Bcc Moved Fire/ems

[Kaydence]

Most people cannot attend BCC meetings during the day because they have to work. Now they will need to work even more because taxes will have to increase in order to pay for the wish list that the union and Sheriff's Office wants. Bob Hudson is exactly right, the "study" was not worth the paper it is written on and Bill Chapman has been in the business of public safety long enough to know that. I still think an independent study should have been done and that North Walton citizen participation should have been solicited. North Walton citizens have never been consulted about what they want as far as fire and ambulance service. It is all warm and fuzzy to say that you want a fire department that can save everyone's house if it catches fire and that you want dozens of new employees and new equipment and better located stations and great training opportunities and all the other stuff that has been mentioned but no one wants to talk about reality. Reality is that what was done today is simply transfer management of the current operation. Nobody wanted to talk today except Bill Chapman and Sara Commander about how to pay for all this stuff. To support a well-funded paid fire service you need population densities over 5000 per square mile. North Walton currently has about 50 per square mile. The MSBU tax will not yield enough money to fund the current budget, much less the wish list,even if you increase the tax to 10 times its current level. Take it from property taxes? Sell that to the citizens of South Walton who already pay for their own service plus the majority of the North Walton service. Unless someone has a money tree those are the options. I was told today that I was right about my concerns but not to worry that the Sheriff can get the money. Truth is that those funds come from the BCC either way but what is about to happen is that the taxes will be increased and the Sheriff will take the blame for it instead of the commissioners.

Most people can't come to BCC meetings because they work....yet, if their house was on FIRE or someone in the house needed EMS, I'd bet work would take a backseat! (Same difference when you're talking about protecting your home.)

Bill Chapman went along with the in house study, he doesn't get to pi$$ and moan now because he didn't like the outcome.

Sara Comander and Bill Chapman both (especially Sara) who has been on the BCC for how many years Danny(?) have had ample opportunity to work on the issues associated with FIRE/EMS and how many feasibility studies got kicked down the road while Sara has been in office 5 or 6? (She brought that up herself.)

IMHO it is a sad day for North Walton residents, the employees, county taxpayers in general and the Sheriff's Office. The only winners are the county commissioners who can now blame someone else when the other shoe drops. I applaud Sara Commander and Bill Chapman for wanting to fix the problems instead of passing them to someone else.

I agree with you in part. It's sad it had to come to this to get the problem fixed. I'll reiterate Sara has had years and Chapman is on his second term and this has never been a priority! Applaud them for what? Kicking the can down the road again like has been done with the last 5 or 6 studies? Yeah...OK.

 

[Bob Hudson]

What improved today ?

Same firemen
Same stations
Same response time
Same equipment
Same funding level

Oh wait - the Sheriff said on Tv tonight he needed 180 days to develop a plan.

 

[Bob Hudson]

Lynda

Just as a side note. The Sheriff also stated he would work to have 4 men per truck soon.

Are you aware that South Walton Fire District does not meet that standard.

Response from SWFD

No sir, not as a standard. We meet the NFPA standard and our own with 3 per engine.

 

[Kaydence]

What improved today ?
Oh wait - the Sheriff said on Tv tonight he needed 180 days to develop a plan.

Moral!

And it didn't take 180 days.

P.S. It was instantaneous once the board voted.

 

[MorningGlory]

Hope Commissioner Comander read how many have filed for the exemptions.
Also is Commissioners Jones and Anderson going to be given some credit for their vote. Depending on what side you are on this issue.

To answer your question about credit being given... NO!!!
I've always said, give the devil his dues, but for this duo , NO!!!
Past sins are too great! No credits! No Pardons! Stay tuned Bob, there's always a motive! WAIT FOR IT....

 

[Kaydence]

www.wjhg.com/content/news/Walton-County-Fire-Rescue-finds-new-leadership-420549233.html

 

[Kaydence]

Bob here's a quote from a firefighter for ya...

Dominick Maestre Today I reported for duty! The sheriff, the major, and our new Chief came and spoke to us and it gave me personally a breath of fresh air! My Moral is definitely up! Thank you Mrs Lynda!

My response to him was ..."And the COST...PRICELESS"!

 

[Danny Glidewell]

We will see how it goes. The decision has been made and now we must live with it. Either the employees are about to be screwed or taxes will skyrocket. There is no way to by new trucks, hire dozens of new employees, build 6 or 8 or 10 new stations, promote dozens of supervisors and give every station a weight room within the current budget. I predict they will move to cancel the MSBU tax as it doesn't bring much in anyways and will use property taxes. They are banking the 1/2 cent sales tax will pass and then they can use the funds currently used for roads and bridges to pay for the fire increases. If that fails, then the employees will take it on the chin. As Bob Hudson pointed out, the only thing that changed was the name and the boss. Any further changes require money and no one has presented any kind of plan at this time.

 

[Kaydence]

We will see how it goes. The decision has been made and now we must live with it. Either the employees are about to be screwed or taxes will skyrocket. There is no way to by new trucks, hire dozens of new employees, build 6 or 8 or 10 new stations, promote dozens of supervisors and give every station a weight room within the current budget. I predict they will move to cancel the MSBU tax as it doesn't bring much in anyways and will use property taxes. They are banking the 1/2 cent sales tax will pass and then they can use the funds currently used for roads and bridges to pay for the fire increases. If that fails, then the employees will take it on the chin. As Bob Hudson pointed out, the only thing that changed was the name and the boss. Any further changes require money and no one has presented any kind of plan at this time.

The BCC has screwed the taxpayers for well over the 30 + years I've been here.

Certainly nothing changed today (or tomorrow, next week, next month) with the takeover that would change that!

Perhaps it will change in 2018 at the polls.