Wrong About Public Safety

This has to take the cake on inane posts from the Money Pit.  It appears to be just another example of Mr. St. John using Mr. DeAngelis to push his idea of a Public Safety Commission and another effort to resurrect his now defunct Fire Commission, which was soundly rejected by the voters in an almost two to one vote last November.

“The religious problem is the “trinity” theory of public safety in 

Middlebury.

 To wit, Mr. Gormely will growl about “not compromising “public 

safety” but on the other hand, in the real world he and the 

finance board do nothing but split the problem among three or 

more departments thereby trebling the costs and  the problems.”

First you have to assume that there is a problem, which there is not.  There is no finer Police Department anywhere than the one we have in Middlebury.  The service from this great organization is unmatched by any community.  I think they punctuated that today when they performed successful CPR on a one year old and saved the child’s life. They are truly “Middlebury’s Finest.”  The last thing they need is Mr. St. John’s Public Safety commission.

Same for the MVFD.  The members have faithfully served the community since 1941. The Department has acted independently, and has been isolated from the whims of politicians. It is run efficiently and even with a slashed budget for the last two years still upholds its high standards and service to the community. 

The failed Fire Commission was the poster child of bureaucracy and illustrated what politics can do to damage a Town.  The delay in apparatus replacement, will now cost the Taxpayers thousands of dollars more than it should because of Mr. St. John and his Fire Commission. 

Second, it is assumed by Mr. DeAngelis that it is Tom Gormley who created this Town.  The Town is operating the same way with the Police and Fire as separate agencies since their inception.  That includes the 24 years Mr. St. John was at the helm. 

Mr. St. John who said it would take at least one term for Tom Gormley to get the feel for the job, now appears to be undermining him behind the scenes and using Mr. DeAngelis to continue is crusade of hate against the MVFD and Tom Gormley.

Having public safety split among a fire dept with a separate

bureaucracy and a police dept with a separate bureaucracy and a 

public works dept. Etc.,etc. is JUST TOO COSTLY AND "SMALL 

TOWN".  We need to consolidate into a cost effective town unit.

Absolute rubbish. How is it too costly? Do you want the Police to be responding to calls in Fire Engines? You do not seem to have an understanding of what the word bureaucracy really means. 

Definition:

1.government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials.

2.the body of officials and administrators, esp. of a government or government department.

3.excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in, administrative bureaus or administrators.

4.administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine

What you are doing is promoting bureaucracy.  The Fire Commission was a perfect example of an ineffective bureaucracy that did nothing to improve the MVFD.  In fact, because of their inactions about apparatus replacement the taxpayer will now have to pay more for apparatus replacement. Bureaucracy does not save the Taxpayer money Mr. DeAngelis.  It wastes it. Let those who actually do the work run their own departments. The more administrators the more waste of both time and money. You need less administrators and more people doing the actual work.

“They’re all under one roof, right? They’re all coordinated by one 

committee or person , right?”

No, they are not all under one roof, and they should not be.  They run independently from each other as they should.  Mr. DeAngelis seems to want to create models used by the old Soviet Union. The government tried to control and micromanage everything.   It  did not work for them, and it certainly will not work for Middlebury.

“I mean we wouldn't be so careless as to  have the four of them with

separate budgets and divisions and structures, right?”

All your assumptions are incorrect and you expect your readers to assume that they are correct.  Agencies that act independently should be independent.   Again, its like the Soviet Union telling the farmers how much corn to grow.  You are suggesting the same.

“perfect example of what a lack of consolidation does in a 

negative fashion would be the Dayton proposal that states ( 

correctly ) drivers involved in accidents on 84 and who receive 

assistance from Middlebury  get billed for Middlebury fire 

services.”

Since the MVFD does not bill accident victims and will not be billing victims of I-84 accidents, your hypothetical example is meaningless.

“This is the PROBLEM. There is never any long range planning in this 

government.  We can't continue to spread public safety over three or four 

uncordinated departments. Look at the American economy, those days of 

waste and silly ass competition among departments on a local, state and 

federal lever are OVER.

We need a Public Safety Commission that handles ALL the issues of 

Public Safety in Middlebury.”

Straight out of the mouth of Mr. St. John and his quest for a Fire Commission to punish the MVFD. 

No long range planing?  How would Mr. DeAngelis know?  The MVFD has submitted a 5 year plan to the BOS every year.  It is up to the Selectman to act on it.  Mr. St. John and Ms. Strobel sat on their hands since 2003 regarding fire apparatus replacement.

The Police save of an infant today justifies why we spend what we do on our Police and Fire Departments.  Saving the life of a child does not have a price tag. 

The losers in this will be the taxpayers. A public safety commission would be about the worse thing the Town could do.  You don’t grow government Mr. DeAngelis you shrink it.  Read the definition of bureaucracy again.  That is what a public safety commission would be.  The MVFD has shown that the Fire Commission was a disaster for Middlebury.  The voters agreed. Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.