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Suport Your Local Fire Department
May. 3rd, 2015 07:21 amLisa's foot was well enough yesterday that she felt up to walking to the fire station for their open house and barbeque. She chatted with the fire chief, who we like and who has been proactive in his approach to fire hazards in Fernley as much as his overworked schedule allows. I had a hamburger and hot dog and took a turn on the fire extinguisher simulator. (I quickly was able to put out the simulated fire with the simulated extinguisher.)
In the last election, there was a measure to increase the property tax slightly to increase funding for the North Lyon County Fire Protection District (which includes Fernley). Our fire department (a mixture of paid full-time staff and volunteers) is not run or funded by the city of Fernley, but by an independent agency with its own board and its own property tax revenue stream. I voted for the increase, but the voters as a whole rejected it. I argued at one point on Facebook with someone who seemed to be saying that they should fund the fire department by cutting the salary of the Mayor of Fernley, which misses every point there is.
I can't fund the fire department myself, but I can do my part. I made a contribution to the NLCFD roughly equivalent to what the additional property tax for one year would have been for me and for the two vacant lots that flank our property. It's not much, but it's what I can afford. I wish more of the rugged individualists here in our city of 20,000 would realize that assuming you can fight fires by having the neighbors turn out with garden hoses and buckets isn't a viable strategy for keeping the community safe.
Meanwhile, it's time for me to head back down to the Bay Area for a week at my office there, so I'd better get finished packing and on the road.
In the last election, there was a measure to increase the property tax slightly to increase funding for the North Lyon County Fire Protection District (which includes Fernley). Our fire department (a mixture of paid full-time staff and volunteers) is not run or funded by the city of Fernley, but by an independent agency with its own board and its own property tax revenue stream. I voted for the increase, but the voters as a whole rejected it. I argued at one point on Facebook with someone who seemed to be saying that they should fund the fire department by cutting the salary of the Mayor of Fernley, which misses every point there is.
I can't fund the fire department myself, but I can do my part. I made a contribution to the NLCFD roughly equivalent to what the additional property tax for one year would have been for me and for the two vacant lots that flank our property. It's not much, but it's what I can afford. I wish more of the rugged individualists here in our city of 20,000 would realize that assuming you can fight fires by having the neighbors turn out with garden hoses and buckets isn't a viable strategy for keeping the community safe.
Meanwhile, it's time for me to head back down to the Bay Area for a week at my office there, so I'd better get finished packing and on the road.
