Dear Editor,
I was surprised and disappointed when the Council passed a Bond to fund the Fire Company at the recent December 7 Borough Council meeting, not because I don’t support the Volunteer Fire Company, but because I think the process by which this decision was reached was undemocratic and contrary to the wishes of a majority of Roosevelt voters.
Looking back on the year-long Firehouse saga reveals the following:
1) On December 15 2015, the Referendum for $579,000 was stopped/defeated when exactly half of the town voted “No.”
2) In response to the vote, an ad hoc committee was formed by the Mayor for the purpose of exploring possible alternatives to the proposals of the defeated Referendum. Unfortunately, in forming the committee, five of the six positions were filled by “Yes” voters, which despite the expertise and competence of the committee members, skewed the study from the start.
3) Consequently, with little input from the “No” side - the side that had actually won the vote - the committee came up with two options that many in town found equally unacceptable.
The recent election in November further confirmed “No” voters’ dissatisfaction, when three candidates who had voted “No” on the original Referendum, and who also openly questioned the findings if not the legitimacy of the ad hoc committee, were elected handily. Again, as with the original December 2015 vote, the people spoke and what they/we said, at the very least, was: “Let’s look at the cost of the original referendum and see if we can act and spend more reasonably within what most believe are the limitations of our Volunteer Fire Company.”
And yet at the December 7th meeting, less than a month before the three new members would be inducted into the Council, the Mayor and Council went ahead and passed a new bond that would start at $571,400 and very likely exceed that cost once construction begins.
Not once, then, but twice, the Mayor and the Council disregarded the message sent by voters in regard to the firehouse.
I don’t oppose repairing or possibly even building a new firehouse. I support the Fire Company and feel strongly that they deserve better – much better – than their current working conditions. I do, however, question what seem to be the aspirations of some in the Company to turn itself into a regional rather than a local Fire Company. I am willing to support a small town Fire Company whose primary focus would continue to be Roosevelt, but I balk at supporting something larger and more geographically ambitious and mobile and subsequently more expensive.
What I would like to see is for the three new members of the Council to sit down with the current Council members and Mayor and come up with a compromise solution that is satisfactory to most of us in town and more in keeping with the message sent by voters in the last two elections.
Sincerely,
Ron Kostar
I was surprised and disappointed when the Council passed a Bond to fund the Fire Company at the recent December 7 Borough Council meeting, not because I don’t support the Volunteer Fire Company, but because I think the process by which this decision was reached was undemocratic and contrary to the wishes of a majority of Roosevelt voters.
Looking back on the year-long Firehouse saga reveals the following:
1) On December 15 2015, the Referendum for $579,000 was stopped/defeated when exactly half of the town voted “No.”
2) In response to the vote, an ad hoc committee was formed by the Mayor for the purpose of exploring possible alternatives to the proposals of the defeated Referendum. Unfortunately, in forming the committee, five of the six positions were filled by “Yes” voters, which despite the expertise and competence of the committee members, skewed the study from the start.
3) Consequently, with little input from the “No” side - the side that had actually won the vote - the committee came up with two options that many in town found equally unacceptable.
The recent election in November further confirmed “No” voters’ dissatisfaction, when three candidates who had voted “No” on the original Referendum, and who also openly questioned the findings if not the legitimacy of the ad hoc committee, were elected handily. Again, as with the original December 2015 vote, the people spoke and what they/we said, at the very least, was: “Let’s look at the cost of the original referendum and see if we can act and spend more reasonably within what most believe are the limitations of our Volunteer Fire Company.”
And yet at the December 7th meeting, less than a month before the three new members would be inducted into the Council, the Mayor and Council went ahead and passed a new bond that would start at $571,400 and very likely exceed that cost once construction begins.
Not once, then, but twice, the Mayor and the Council disregarded the message sent by voters in regard to the firehouse.
I don’t oppose repairing or possibly even building a new firehouse. I support the Fire Company and feel strongly that they deserve better – much better – than their current working conditions. I do, however, question what seem to be the aspirations of some in the Company to turn itself into a regional rather than a local Fire Company. I am willing to support a small town Fire Company whose primary focus would continue to be Roosevelt, but I balk at supporting something larger and more geographically ambitious and mobile and subsequently more expensive.
What I would like to see is for the three new members of the Council to sit down with the current Council members and Mayor and come up with a compromise solution that is satisfactory to most of us in town and more in keeping with the message sent by voters in the last two elections.
Sincerely,
Ron Kostar