This letter was sent to the Morning Star by the President of Coldstream Ratepayers Association. Unfortunately, it was too late to make the Sunday edition. However, readers of this blog can read it in advance of the eventual publication.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OPEN LETTER TO THE RATEPAYERS AND CITIZENS OF COLDSTREAM
As you know a decision by Council was taken, behind closed doors, to fire (sorry -- "let go") the Fire Chief (Leo Lecavalier) of our volunteer firefighters. No reasons were given publicly for his dismissal but we were assured by Councillor Mary Malerby that it had nothing to do with his abilities as a fireman.
At its meeting of August 21 the Coldstream Ratepayers Association (CRA), along with over 150 other upset members of the public, unanimously passed three resolutions: 1) that the Fire Chief be immediately reinstated; 2) that Coldstream Council publicly provide an explanation for its decision to fire Leo, partly in order to restore his status in the community and squelch the rumors swirling around the issue; and 3) that resolutions 1 and 2 be presented to Council by a delegation from the CRA at the next meeting of Council.
Our requests to be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of Council (Sept. 8 in Lavington) have been denied -- my second request not even meriting a reply!
This refusal of Council to permit a delegation of ratepayers to present our concerns, along with Council's threat to "discipline" any firefighters who speak out on the issue implies a concerted effort to muzzle public discussion on an issue all ratepayers need to be fully aware of -- what would the consequences for taxpayers be, if it should happen that our volunteers simply quit? At a huge annual expense we would be stuck with a "professional" firefighter squad, not likely to be any more qualified than our present volunteer firefighters.
We urge all Coldstream ratepayers and citizens who are angry or upset with this charade to attend the Council meeting on Sept. 8 and give our Councillors a piece of your mind, even though we appear to be denied permission to present our concerns in public.
The next civic elections for Coldstream are being held in early November and it is important that we all begin focussing on getting a new set of Councillors to replace that rump of Council (including the Mayor) which has gone along with this every step of the way.
Accordingly, I invite all of you to the next meeting of the Coldstream Ratepayers Association (Thursday, Sept 18, Women's Institute Hall, 7 to 9 PM) where we need to start thinking and planning about getting Councillors in Coldstream who are genuinely responsive to the concerns of the public.
Steve Heeren, President
Coldstream Ratepayers Association
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OPEN LETTER TO THE RATEPAYERS AND CITIZENS OF COLDSTREAM
As you know a decision by Council was taken, behind closed doors, to fire (sorry -- "let go") the Fire Chief (Leo Lecavalier) of our volunteer firefighters. No reasons were given publicly for his dismissal but we were assured by Councillor Mary Malerby that it had nothing to do with his abilities as a fireman.
At its meeting of August 21 the Coldstream Ratepayers Association (CRA), along with over 150 other upset members of the public, unanimously passed three resolutions: 1) that the Fire Chief be immediately reinstated; 2) that Coldstream Council publicly provide an explanation for its decision to fire Leo, partly in order to restore his status in the community and squelch the rumors swirling around the issue; and 3) that resolutions 1 and 2 be presented to Council by a delegation from the CRA at the next meeting of Council.
Our requests to be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of Council (Sept. 8 in Lavington) have been denied -- my second request not even meriting a reply!
This refusal of Council to permit a delegation of ratepayers to present our concerns, along with Council's threat to "discipline" any firefighters who speak out on the issue implies a concerted effort to muzzle public discussion on an issue all ratepayers need to be fully aware of -- what would the consequences for taxpayers be, if it should happen that our volunteers simply quit? At a huge annual expense we would be stuck with a "professional" firefighter squad, not likely to be any more qualified than our present volunteer firefighters.
We urge all Coldstream ratepayers and citizens who are angry or upset with this charade to attend the Council meeting on Sept. 8 and give our Councillors a piece of your mind, even though we appear to be denied permission to present our concerns in public.
The next civic elections for Coldstream are being held in early November and it is important that we all begin focussing on getting a new set of Councillors to replace that rump of Council (including the Mayor) which has gone along with this every step of the way.
Accordingly, I invite all of you to the next meeting of the Coldstream Ratepayers Association (Thursday, Sept 18, Women's Institute Hall, 7 to 9 PM) where we need to start thinking and planning about getting Councillors in Coldstream who are genuinely responsive to the concerns of the public.
Steve Heeren, President
Coldstream Ratepayers Association
*************************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment