Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2015)
PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 8, 2015 many benefi ts, which hinge upon the support of a new bond. This bond will be vital in providing the equipment necessary to help our fi refi ght- ers and paramedics continue to provide quality service to the community. Currently, KFD is responding on 10 to 12 calls for service every day. The am- bulances in KFD’s current fl eet are aging and with the high demand for service these ve- hicles aren’t lasting as long and breaking down more often. The bond will provide the capital necessary for purchasing new ambulances so KFD can con- tinue to provide quality emer- gency medical services to the citizens of Keizer. BH: The existing bond mea- sure, which was passed to con- struct the current fi re station, is set to expire. Asking the voters to pass another bond measure would provide the funding to replace aging equipment with- out increasing costs to property owners. I fully support taking this measure to the voters and intend to work on the commit- tee to pass the measure. JM: The fi re chief, board and budget committee have been very thoughtful in considering the current and future needs to replace the entire fl eet of ve- hicles before they become a danger and more expensive to maintain. This is a perfect time to ask the voters for this bond as it will be replacing the expir- ing bond which the citizens of Keizer have been so supportive of in the past. The one future need not being addressed by this board is the future need of additional stations. There is only one station in Keizer Fire District. An increasing call vol- ume and pending expansion of the urban growth boundary are going to increase the workload of the already very busy station, causing longer response times. I think Keizer Fire should study the data of response times, fu- ture growth probabilities, and effects of adding stations in the future before fi nalizing the plan for the bond in November. KFD’s fi re engines are also in need of replacement. The age of fi re apparatus directly impacts a fi re department’s Insurance Service Offi ce (ISO) rating. This rating is used to deter- mine fi re insurance premiums. If KFD’s aging fi re apparatus is not replaced, the district is at risk of losing its current ISO rating of 2, thus potentially in- creasing insurance rates. CP: The main issue facing the next board is what to do deployment plan to match the increasing call volume. KFD has excellent response times and al- ways ensures an adequate num- ber of paramedics are on scene. BH: I would defi nitely pre- fer that ambulance service be continued through the district. The primary reason is that it is easier to control quality of service when employees work directly for the district. Under a contract, issues would be much more diffi cult to manage. Em- ployees have a supervisor other than district personnel. The dis- trict would have to show that there was a breach of contract and the actions taken in the situation would be up to the contracting agency rather than district personnel. In a town as small as Keizer, providing ex- cellent service to the commu- nity is critical. JM: I would prefer to have Keizer Fire continue to provide ambulance service to the citi- zens of Keizer. Keizer Fire pro- vides excellent service and it is what the community has grown to expect. The diffi culty with private ambulance service is the pressure to provide sharehold- ers a profi t. If a company has a goal of providing $200,000 profi t to the shareholders, that is $200,000 not being used to provide you with EMS. To en- sure an ambulance company stays profi table with the lim- ited amount of reimbursement from Medicare and insurance, a private company has no choice but to cut equipment, reduce the number of ambulances to cover an area and pay employ- ees less. The results are longer response times and overworked, under-appreciated paramedics being required to make life and death decisions while keeping their eyes on the profi t mar- gin. Treating employees in this manner also results in a high turnover rate, causing all the experienced people to leave. An inexperienced, overworked, under-appreciated paramedic with the cheapest equipment, is not the person I want taking care of my family or yours. CP: This is an issue of de- ciding between managing an outside contract versus provid- ing services in-house and de- termining whether one option is better than another. From my personal experience, the answer to this questions deals with the expertise that’s required, the quality of personnel providing the services and the control that the organization has over the provision of services. Without a doubt, KFD has the expertise and well-qualifi ed staff to pro- vide ambulance services. Given that, I would prefer to offer ambulance services through the district and to maintain the day-to-day control over the provision of those services. How would you help improve relationships between MCFD1 and KFD? MB: I think it is imperative for KFD to have a good work- ing relationship with its mutual aid partners. MCFD1 and KFD are going through a time of change. This change is affecting all levels of each organization. While at times change is chal- lenging, I think it will ultimate- ly improve the two agencies’ re- lationship with one another. It is important to learn from the past, and is equally important to have an open mind for the future. I know at some point both agencies will have to rely on each other for assistance. In that time of need both agencies need to put providing the best service possible above all else. BH: KFD has mutual aid agreements with many sur- rounding fi re agencies includ- ing MCFD1. This is most im- portant to ensuring continued timely service to residents and businesses. It is important for KFD to communicate on a reg- ular basis with MCFD1, Salem Fire and other agencies to de- termine if there are other ways to cooperate. I would both ad- vocate for those joint meetings and volunteer to serve on them. My experience in helping citi- zens understand how to com- municate with local govern- ment offi cials would be useful for such communications. JM: I would look for oppor- tunities that are mutually ben- efi cial to both agencies. Some very simple cost saving ideas that could be easily implement- ed are sharing payroll, medi- cal supply purchasing, vehicle maintenance services, records keeping and other basic admin- istrative services. The MCFD1 volunteers of Clear Lake are un- available to respond to about 30 percent of their calls and the north end of KFD has a long re- sponse time from the very busy E355 on Chemawa Road. Both MCFD1 and KFD are in need of an additional staffed fi re en- gine but currently neither can afford to add a fully staffed 24/7 engine company. Together, each could partially fund staffi ng a fi re engine on the border of MCFD1 and KFD in the Clear Lake Station that responds into Keizer and the North end of Life is a Garden… Saturday, 11 am - 2 pm ı 5 % OFF Q: What types of glass can be recycled? A: Clear/Green/Brown container glass only. That means bottles and jars only. All container glass must be kept separate by color in paper bags, and placed into the small red recycle bin only. Sorry, no cups, dishes, ovenware, mirror, window glass or light bulbs; they will contaminate the recycling process and ruin the newly made containers. Dig It! Sunday, 1 pm - 4 pm WE’RE CELEBRATING MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND! LIVE MUSIC • WINE TASTING GILGAMESH BEER SPECIALTY BOOTHS • PLUS MORE! MCFD1. Exactly how much each agency would put into it should be based on the pre- dicted use of the shared engine. If one-third of the time the en- gine was predicted to go into Keizer, then Keizer should pro- vide one-third of the personnel and MCFD1 could provide the other two-thirds of the person- nel. A similar model has been successful between Portland and Gresham. Medic 32 was started in this fashion as a joint venture between MCFD1 and KFD until both agencies eventually were able to afford additional staffi ng. Currently, the Clear Lake fi re engine and ambulance do not cross Parkmeadow un- less there is a working structure fi re or both Keizer ambulances are busy. MCFD1 has relied on its engine from Chemeketa to cover Clear Lake when the volunteers are unavailable when it would be faster to request the much closer engine from Keiz- er. CP: I believe the relation- ship between the two districts has been further eroded by a staff member of MCFD1 run- ning for a KFD board seat and the ideas that he is putting forth. Th e ballot box is not the place to start this kind of conversa- tion. A work group consisting of the two chiefs, key staff and select board members should be created. This group would meet regularly to discuss issues fac- ing the two districts and fi nd- ing ways for the two districts to work more collaboratively. If a facilitator is needed to kick- start this process one should be hired and kept involved until he/she is no longer needed. Ask Mr. Trash ©1986 FIRE, continued from Page A1 with an aging fl eet of appara- tus and vehicles. Several are at the end of their useful lives, and with mounting maintenance costs, the best alternative is to buy new. The KFD staff have developed a well-thought-out 20-year plan for the replace- ment for all apparatus and ve- hicles, a plan they presented to the Citizens’ Advisory Com- mittee meeting this past Febru- ary. The committee was recep- tive and supportive. To cover the costs, the current plan is with a bond issue that would be repaid through a property tax assessment. In January 2016, the current outstanding bond that was issued for the fi re station will end. The tax assessment re- quired for the new bond will be at the same rate as the fi re sta- tion bond issue, so taxpayers in the district will see little if any change on their tax bill. Given the choice between continuing to offer ambulance services through the district and contracting them out, which would you prefer? MB: I would prefer to con- tinue to have a fi re-based am- bulance service. Having had the opportunity to work in both systems, I feel the citizen gets the best service from a fi re- based ambulance system. Pri- vate ambulance companies are a for-profi t organization and in order to survive, have to be concerned about the bottom- line. This usually means only one paramedic per ambulance, fewer ambulances in the system, and longer response times. KFD has been providing transporting ambulance service for more than 20 years. They have put a priority on providing qual- ity emergency medical service and have always adapted their Serving Keizer for Nearly 50 years! LOREN'S SANITATION & RECYCLING SERVICE, INC. 503.393.2262 VA L L E Y RECYCLING & DISPOSAL, INC. 503.585.4300 Any Hanging Basket Expires 5-10-15. Coupon Required. GUENTNER’S GARDENS GARDEN CENTER, GIFT SHOP, LANDSCAPING 5780 Commercial Street S, Salem 503-585-7133 VOTE Colleen Busch Salem Area Mass Transit District Director, Subdistrict 2 ** * High Quality Transit Excellent Customer Service Effi cient Use of Public Funds LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK COLLEEN’S PHOTO BY T.RUTH PHOTOGRAPHY PAID FOR BY COLLEEN BUSCH