Health & Fitness
The Exorbitant Price of Fire Protection
Your vote is needed in upcoming Fire Election to defeat the Fire District 1 and Fire District 2's Budgets, they are typical Toms River Politics.
By J. E. Herbert
Over the weekend I received my Official 2013 Fire Commissioner’s Ballot for Toms River’s Fire District No. 1 in the mail, and I am amazed at the profound boldness of their expressed statements. They require an up or down vote on two men, sitting commissioners, running for their own vacancy. Both men are experienced, senior firefighters, good men, I know them both. However there are problems with putting them forward this way. There are more than 80,000 people living in Toms River, trusting their lives and property to these men, many of whom do not know them.
The District’s website should have both of their Curriculum Vitale and a brief autobiography posted for several months before offering them for the public’s election as the only candidates. They have held their offices for several terms and it’s time for some new, younger people to be promoted, or at least offered for consideration.
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However, the most serious offense to the public’s sanity, on the brink of a double dip recession, are the next five questions, all financial, all of which require a similar up or down vote. Just reading them left me feeling dirty and gave me the feeling that I was being mugged.
The first question offers us the opportunity of supposing that, without any viable evidence, the Commissioners should be authorized to spend $7.3 million dollars and that they want us to pay $4.7 million of that directly, in the form of taxes. And that only includes Fire District No. 1, causing me to think that Fire District No. 2 must be foisting a similar greasy basting on their citizens as they cry Jim Gearhart’s favorite phrase, “BOHICA.” ‘Bend Over, Here It Comes Again!’.
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In addition District No. 1 also wants the approval of four more questions equaling $684,500.00 only one of which, question No. 3, the $150,000 dedicated to the repair or replacement of T/S Sandy damages, makes any sense.
Because the commissioners have not published their proposed budget we are forced to believe that the total of the proposed budget is in excess of eight million dollars, with the taxpayers, us, fronting 58 percent of the tab.
Therefore I must in good conscience call on my fellow towns people to be certain to vote in the upcoming Fire District Election. SAY NO TO THE FIRE COMMISSIONERS’ PLANNED BUDGET!
