Reimburse chiefs for gas costs
The Masonville Fire Department has presented its 2008 budget requests to the Board of Fire Commissioners. One request was for reimbursement to fire chiefs for the cost of fuel.
As fire chiefs of the Masonville Fire District, we respond to fire, EMS and all other requests for service; along with meetings and drills throughout the county in our personal vehicles. When an emergency call comes in, we respond directly to the scene in order to properly size up the situation to ensure a proper and timely response of appropriate resources. Our first responsibility is to ensure the scene, whatever it may be, is safe for the rescuers and injured parties. One way we accomplish this is with a quick response to the scene with our personal vehicles providing emergency lighting and radio communication. This lasts for the entire evolution of the event, which means that our personal vehicles have their engines running the entire time we are on scene.
For many years we have done this at our own cost, but with very high fuel prices now; it creates a financial hardship on the families of the fire chiefs.
Fire Commissioner Chairman Steve Roff and Commissioners Keith Scott and Ed Brayman voted against any reimbursement to the fire chiefs. Roff stated that he did not believe there was any need for a fire chief's quick response to the scene; they should just respond to the station and ride out on a truck.
This greatly endangers the public we serve. This, supported by all of the training we have received, directly contradicts the National Fire Protection Association standards that we hold to.
I invite all town of Masonville residents to the budget hearing on Oct. 16, to voice your concerns or support.
It is important that we all participate in the function of our government.
Gregory J. Tiska
Masonville
Tiska is assistant chief of the Masonville Fire Department.
Don't attack reps for hard decisions
Too many of our finest representatives are being smeared, and it must end. I have watched people such as Frank Bachler, Randy Inman and others get lambasted over issues such as wind turbines _ often by those who never step up to the plate to make a difference in the community. When there is a fire, disaster, basements flooded or someone injured, who do you think responds? It's the Randy Inmans and Frank Bachlers of the world and others like them. Local residents better wake up or those people who have given so much to our communities for no other reason than the love of the area and the residents here, will be gone.
No matter what decisions are made, someone will have an opposing viewpoint, but it's important to know the character of the people who make the decisions. The men mentioned above are farmers by trade. They are excellent stewards of the land. They have survived for years in a tough farming climate by using every available resource at their disposal. They, as others do, see wind energy as an abundant, natural and clean energy resource that may benefit our country. Case closed.
Don't persecute good people for making tough decisions that need to be made. Life is about making decisions, adjustments and more decisions. No one should make personal attacks and impugn the character of these public servants. It's not fair, and it's not right.
It's not hard to understand where all our leaders have gone. Who needs their head bashed in when most of their time is volunteer work anyway? Call your local representatives and thank them for their time and hard work on your behalf even if you don't agree with every decision they ever made. You will all be better off for it.
David M. Rama
Delhi
Beware of thieves during renovation
To anyone who has copper around your home, BEWARE. On Sept. 11, our house we are renovating on state Highway 205 was broken into. We live across the road, not even one-eighth of a mile away.
The perpetrators who broke in were after the copper. There have been several places throughout the area that have had similar damage done. They entered through the basement and cut all the copper piping we had installed. Rolls of electrical wiring, copper fittings, pipes and plenty of tools were also taken.
They then proceeded through the rest of the house and took my two sons' PlayStation 2, the controllers to the games, approximately 20 PS2 games, coin collections, and a Game Cube. We lost about $2,500 worth of stuff.
I would like to thank them for taking away our trust, invasion of our privacy, and the long hard hours that my husband has put into the house _ not to mention his pride in building a home for his family. We are not fortunate enough to hire a contractor, so it has taken six long years to get to the point we were at. My family has lost out to your selfish, evil ways.
We ask that everyone watch out for these intruders. If you are building or renovating, please, lock it up.
For you perpetrators, you will get caught eventually. How about getting a job like the rest of the working class?
Vicki Winchester
Oneonta
Marijuana not deadly
My neighbor in Middlefield is being harassed over 13 marijuana plants.
Three hundred yards away, I have 10 Nicotinia plants in my garden. Smoked nicotine is held responsible for 400,000 lung cancer deaths per year in America.
Also, I grow about 30 potato plants, one of the principal sources of alcohol. Drunken driving alone accounts for 15,000 deaths a year in the U.S. alone.
How many deaths can be traced to marijuana? The U.S. Drug Abuse Warning System (DAWN) reports not a single case of death due to marijuana. Ever ...
Edward F. Danielski Jr., M.D.
Cooperstown
Board shouldn't need adviser
I am writing in response to the Otsego County Board's decision to hire a budget advisory firm at $43,500 to assist in the formulation of the county budget. Fourteen calculators would have been a lot cheaper!
If the board members who voted for this measure are so insecure with their ability to deal with financial decisions on their own, maybe they shouldn't be in office.
Mavis Lindstadt
Cooperstown
