Wednesday, May 5, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 19
" Pay the Sisters Fire District $77,000 per
year in management fees.
" Place a Sisters Fire ambulance in the
Cloverdale south station, but Cloverdale is
already in the Sisters Fire Ambulance Service
Area (ASA), and Sisters is already responsible
for providing ambulance service. Over the past
three years, the Sisters ambulance responded
to an average of only 112 Cloverdale medical
calls per year (one every three days).
" Split the Cloverdale training officer9s
time between the two districts.
" Create a significant increase in taxes and
raise an additional $2,861,260 over five years,
with only a marginal, if any, improvement in
service.
This levy would not:
" Guarantee better or faster service, espe-
cially in the areas of the District north of Hwy.
126, where the response time from Sisters is
essentially the same as it would be from the
south Cloverdale station.
" Have the support from many of the
Cloverdale Volunteers and could result in a
drop in volunteer participation.
" Guarantee a reduction in fire-insurance
rates.
Matt Cyrus
s
s
s
To the Editor:
I have eight years of experience with the
Cloverdale Fire District, moving up through
the ranks. Last week I submitted a letter in
which I told of a couple of concerns I have
about the proposed Cloverdale Fire District
levy. Those being a lack of a signed condi-
tional contract and lack of volunteer support.
A couple of more thoughts have come up.
According to one proponent letter writer,
the Cloverdale Board of Directors has been
studying this problem for the last two years.
Why haven9t we, the public, heard about this
problem before now? Why haven9t there been
any articles in The Nugget, or on KTVZ or
KOHD explaining this dire need of the fire
district, prior to the levy announcement a few
weeks ago?
I have seen numerous articles on these
news outlets describing how the fire district
supplied equipment and personnel to all of the
surrounding fire agencies during fires in their
districts. I also read where we sent engines
and crews out to the big fires last fall near
Klamath and Santiam. Somehow our district
has been able to do this at any hour of the day
or night.
At Chief Olsen9s suggestion I contacted
my insurance agent (Farmers). If the district9s
insurance rating improves to a 3 as has been
suggested (pure speculation at this point), my
insurance rate may drop $78 per year, versus
a $320 annual tax increase.
The District has stated that they are run-
ning about one call per day. How many of
these are medical calls where an ambulance
actually transports patients to a hospital (as
opposed to smoke investigations, illegal
burns, mutual aid calls, etc.)? According to
Sisters Fire Chief Roger Johnson there were
74 ambulance transports from the Cloverdale
Fire District last year.
Clinton Weaver
s
s
s
To the Editor:
Words have meaning. Words have power.
Words have consequences. Their use or mis-
use reveal ignorance of either language or the
subject being addressed.
As a possible example I cite a sentence
from last week9s Nugget. In an article titled
<Voters to decide on fire district bond,= (The
Nugget, April 28, page 3).
Cloverdale Fire Chief Thad Olsen is para-
phrased as having noted that fire fighters and
paramedics have literally hundreds of certifi-
cations requiring hours of education and train-
ing to pursue...
Use of the word <noted= implies to me
that what follows is an accepted fact. Use of
the word <literally= informs the reader that
the statement is not mere hyperbole but to be
taken at face value. Finally, use of the plural,
<hundreds= tells us that there are at least 200
such required certifications.
Really? Seems like an awful lot to me espe-
cially when combined with the refresher/cur-
rency training many of these likely require.
Perhaps it9s true, but exaggeration is an easy
line to cross and very tempting when trying
to persuade others to one9s point of view.
Those in positions of public trust should be
ever mindful of this, especially under circum-
stances where they are likely to be quoted or
are speaking in a public forum.
Ross Flavel
s
s
s
To the Editor:
In looking at the objections to the
Cloverdale Fire Levy, there seem to be two
main themes: One is the increased taxes 4
which I think we can all appreciate. The other
is the objection to the cooperation with Sisters-
Camp Sherman Fire District. This position is
inaccurate to my mind.
What the opposition does not consistently
mention is that Cloverdale will receive staff-
ing by Sisters paid personnel. This results in
Cloverdale staffing HALF of the total paid
shift personnel across the two departments the
majority of hours. Sisters residents will also
benefit, along with Cloverdale, from having an
increased total personnel count and an addi-
tional staffed ambulance ready to respond to
any secondary calls.
This becomes one of those rare win-win
scenarios where the whole is greater than the
sum of the parts.
The contract arrangement also consolidates
common expenses for significant cost savings
for both departments. This is an approach that
has been successfully employed by other dis-
tricts across the state and across the country.
The increased fire tax rate puts Cloverdale
nearly equal with Sisters residents9 tax rate. If
Cloverdale were to independently add staff-
ing and ambulance service equivalent to the
proposed operations, the cost would be far, far
greater than the cost of this levy.
I understand some people do not want the
old ways to change. I feel the same about
many things. However, I do not believe that
life and property-saving services are a place
to object to progress. When it comes to the
benefit received by the taxpayers and recipi-
ents of our emergency services, I believe the
Cloverdale Fire Levy provides good value.
Alan Smoke
Cloverdale Volunteer/EMT
21
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