The High Price of Injustice
If the saying knowledge is power is really true, then the residents and land owners of the Paradise Valley Fire District better start seeking knowledge and quickly.
Last year voters of PVFD elected three commissioners when our fire association became a taxing fire district.
Those commissioners are Orrin Everhart, Brad Holifield and Rod Ferreira. The platform that these three people ran on was basically to uphold a low budget figure.
Last week they have cost the residents and land owners in Paradise Valley much more than we can afford when they terminated our fire chief.
This is certainly one way to keep the budget low, but one that will cost the people of Paradise Valley a very high price.
I ask you to call or approach these commissioners for your own personal knowledge to get a sense of what they have done.
Ask to see their letter of allegation and the chief’s rebuttal letter in response. Are the letters from Zips on and up, ask yourselves. The whole thing is laughable but our situation is not.
The commissioners have removed a fire chief who has brought PVFD from a state of ruin into current times through education and safety measures. Chief Johnson, over the couple of years that he has been chief, has single-handedly brought over $100,000 to our fire department through donations and grants that he has applied for.
He also sold off a fleet of antiquated vehicles and equipment and furnished us with vehicles 20 years newer.
He updated safety equipment to meet current standards as well as providing training for the fire fighters so they could be safe and better serve the public and he did this at no cost to the home and property owners.
Chief Johnson’s has instituted team work and camaraderie among fire fighters. Chief Johnson also managed to reduce the ISO rating for many of our constituents in our district which resulted in substantial savings for many home owners on their insurance.
The loss of Chief Johnson is the loss of someone extremely valuable. This is the cost of injustice. Also ask yourself if there might be another agenda present here. If we stand by and do not question these actions by our commissioners we could become a part of another fire department already in existence. Is that what you want to see happen?
This is what consolidation was all about when it went to vote last year and the people of Paradise Valley voted it down. If you choose to sit back and not pursue this knowledge on an individual basis then you can rest assure that our fire department could possibly be swallowed up by another department.
Even though Paradise Valley is a heavily forested area there are people that feel that they do not need a fire department and I guess they also feel that they will also never need medical aid provided to them. That is your right.
It is also your right to question the authority of the commissioners that you have voted into office and I hope you will take this recent situation, as serious as it is, to do just that. If you were also one of the selected residents that received one of the commissioners campaign filters at the time they were running for the position, pull it out and see if they have fulfilled any one of the promises that they ran for.
They have done nothing for the people of Paradise Valley. No recruitment of volunteers for the department, no grant writing, etc. And I am certain that you won’t find “wrongful termination of the fire chief” on the list.
Remember that the commissioner’s were voted on by the people of Paradise Valley and they work for you and should not be working for their own personal agendas.
It is my hope that the residents and property owners in Paradise Valley don’t just stand up to be heard when it’s just about budget dollars and cents but also when it makes sense to be heard.
GEORGETTE BILLESd’ERR
Naples