Recall raising questions

The article on a proposed recall of a Timberlake Fire Protection District commissioner should raise some serious questions for district voters. Over the past several years, the district has been without a full-time, professional chief the great majority of the time. During that period, little or nothing was done to acquire adequate equipment or maintain what was on hand.

Decisions in that regard were the responsibility of the five-member Board of Commissioners as a whole, just as they are now - not the sole responsibility of any one member. To blame a single current commissioner is akin to the old adage of closing the barn door after the horse has gone. It's equally fallacious to blame a chief who is attempting to make up for past ills without adequate funding available to do the job.

So if the current commissioners are willing, as a group, to support efforts to correct the problems, why is the public they are charged with protecting so upset? Because it might cost them more taxes in terms of a levy? OK, fair question, and they have the right to vote down a levy if they choose.

But if things deteriorate further and it becomes either more costly or impossible to obtain fire insurance, I hope they'll understand that it will be a matter of getting what they pay for.

And what, we may ask, is Mr. Spencer's agenda in all this? He is not a full-time resident of the district, and yet he has a history of "questioning" TFPD policies and actions on a regular basis, and spent considerable personal money to influence the most recent election of commissioners. The candidates he supported are now board members, and yet it appears he's still not happy. Does he have goals other than public safety?

Athol Mayor Spurlock's comments are equally discomforting, especially when he says, "It (the fire department) needs fresh blood to sort things out." Fresh blood? Two new commissioners have won board seats in each of the last two elections - how often does the mayor want turnover? This is also surprising in light of his comments last year on the occasion of the Athol Centennial, when he was asked in an interview published in The Press, "What are your plans for Athol for the future?" The mayor's response? "I have no plans. I like it just the way it is." He had no negative comments about the fire district then, and I don't recall him previously being vocal on the issue. As with Mr. Spencer, I think we need to know what Mr. Spurlock's motivation is.

I hope that everyone depending on the fire and emergency medical services they might need from Timberlake will ask themselves these same questions before voting on a recall of any member of the Board of Commissioners.

Lew VanDeMark is an Athol resident.