More Lies And No Leadership

“they (leader at mVfd) pulled the new truck out of the budget to make it look like a 3% decrease but instead will place the new truck funds on 2nd half of budget to be "voted" on at town meeting (stacked by supporters)

whose playing a game ??
looks like the leader of mVfd is. They pulled the funds for this new truck so it would look like 3% DECREASE in the town budget when in essence the 2nd part of the budget will be INCREASE. Stop being sneaky and voting for this under the taxpayers noses. Gee let me guess....the entire fire dept (trucks and personnel) will be there for "town meeting".
God help anyone who speaks against it. They will be tared, feathered and spit on.”

To me this is truly amazing that one can constantly perpetuate a never-ending string of lies and never entertain the slightest thought of checking out whether or not a statement is accurate.

It is a fact that the MVFD did cut their budget (not including hydrants).  Over the last two years the MVFD cut its budget by almost 14% to a level of $209,448.00.  That’s almost one half of what the library’s budget is.

However, the pumper was never part of the budget issue at all, and no one at the MVFD ever requested that the pumper be delayed. In fact, it was exactly just the opposite.  The MVFD has been trying to move forward on this pumper since 2003. Mr. St. John and Mrs Strobel did nothing to move this ahead, and did everything to delay it. It appears that Mrs. Strobel is playing the same game still.

Once the new administration came into power a new push was made to expedite this replacement apparatus.  The Department was told by the BOS and BOF that once the budget was passed, they would move ahead on apparatus replacement.  The MVFD did not like the delay, but in the spirit of cooperation, waited until the budget did pass.

To say that the MVFD pulled the funds was just an absolute lie.  It never happened.

Most of the money that will go toward the new pumper has been set aside each year for the purpose of purchasing the pumper.  This is money that has accumulated through past budgets that have already been approved by the Taxpayers. In fact, there is $315,000.00 set aside to purchase this equipment. The total price tag is $478,000.00, so there is a deficit of $163,000.00 that needs to be raised.  That Washington Dr. $946,000.00 could have easily made up the difference.

“Elaine Strobel is the only Selectman with the guts to call for such a 

referendum”

The apparatus is an essential tool to accomplish a needed task, and Mrs. Strobel is attempting once again to delay this replacement shows a real lack of leadership on her part.  She is elected by the residents to do her job, and that is to help make decisions that are in the best interest of the residents in this community. Fire protection should be way up on that list. Mrs. Strobel should be supporting apparatus replacement, as she should have supported the budget.  It appears her allegiance to Mr. St. John is stronger than her allegiance to the safety of residents, thus continuing the crusade of putting politics above public safety.  

If the pumper is not ordered by the end of the year, the cost of this piece of apparatus will go up by another $50,000. If the apparatus was ordered back in 2003 when it was scheduled to be ordered, it would have cost almost $125,000 less than it does today.  

Thats what happens when you have people in power who care more about their own agenda than the people who they were elected to serve.