Our opinion
July 23, 2008 10:02 pm
—
Thomas County needs a $500,000 ladder truck about as much as Michael Jordan needs a comb or a fish needs a bicycle.
The controversial $500,000 ladder truck being discussed — ad nauseam — by Thomas County commissioners has been talked about long enough.
Repeated Times-Enterprise questions go unanswered about whether the truck is required to maintain Insurance Services Office (ISO) ratings in fire districts 1 and 2 previously served by Thomasville Fire/Rescue. We think the answer probably is yes, but county commissioners do not want to admit it.
Citing the cost, commissioners chose to leave a 40-year contract with the City of Thomasville for fire protection in fire districts 1 and 2. County officials said they could provide the same protection for less money. ISO has not ruled on the rating in the fire districts, and the county is spending many hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to prove a point.
We did not think it would work when county commissioners proposed expanding its largely volunteer fire department into a full-fledged, professionally staffed agency. We continue to take the same stand.
The Times-Enterprise has been accused in recent days of giving negative coverage to the proposed county ladder truck. We report what commissioners say and do at meetings. If it comes across as negative, that is because it is.
Any time a government agency wants to spend half a million dollars it does not have on a piece of equipment it cannot justify, it is negative.
It is the tired, old game of power plays, egos and boys and their toys. The game is being financed by citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars — another very old factor in a very old game.
Commissioners require most county governmental agencies to account for every dime. The county fire department is the commission’s fair-haired child. Nothing seems to be too good for the agency. With that the case, why not buy half a dozen $500,000 ladder trucks? Commissioners can always raise taxes to pay their extravagant bills.
We doubt commissioners would be so quick to spend so frivolously in their personal finances. They should have the same consideration for their constituents.
A Thomasville resident presented commissioners Monday with a list of questions about the fire truck. A commissioner responded that the board was not qualified to provide answers and that fire personnel was not present.
The response speaks volumes about the situation: The board has no answers for questions about the truck, and fire personnel is not around.
The bickering between city and county officials — and their appointees — about fire protection needs to end. Elected officials should remember who elected them and why. Meanwhile, appointed officials are doing a good job of keeping in mind that politics make their bosses’ worlds go ’round.
If the Thomas County Commission or Thomasville City Council has any leadership left, we would like to see an example in the form of someone stepping forward and putting a stop to the battling fire departments and the ridiculous rivalry.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.