These are the questions I posed during the public comment portion of the last Council meeting. Of course, they don't normally respond during this part of the meeting, but I had hopes that someone would before the meeting closed.
No one addressed them and I'm not very confident that the Town Council would have a consensus in answering either question.
As a whole our Council has had nothing but the highest praise for the performance of the SSVFD, often citing instances of sterling service. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a complaint filed or voiced by the TOSS citizens, staff, or Town Council regarding either the manner or timeliness of their response. The Town's FSAB found that we had an “outstanding volunteer program” with strong leadership, at a bargain price.
It seems to me that if there were any severe problems in the SSVFD it would be exhibited in the overall performance of the department. Example: poor leadership leads to poor morale which results in poor performance. Something I contend would show up quickly in a volunteer environment and be quite difficult to mask.
All serious discussions I have witnessed have involved overall control of the SSVFD budget and assets. These two issues have resurfaced over and over again. It is as if after 25 years of operation the SSVFD can no longer be trusted to manage their own affairs and the TOSS must have possession of or full ownership of the assets (land, buildings, equipment, and funds).
Talk about a morale booster; tell a dedicated group of volunteers that you appreciate their work, and they can risk their own lives to save your property or lives if they choose to do so, but you cannot trust them to properly conduct their own fiscal affairs.
I thought the current Town Council pledged to run the TOSS as a business? Do you attempt to resolve issues of trust at that level by modifying a contract? I you don't trust a contractor to that extent why are you even contemplating a contract?
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