Tuesday, November 10, 2009

More Flack from Concerned Citizens

Much feces has been stirred against the Timberlake Fire District, and their chief, Jack Krill. First, I support the efforts of Chief Krill to modernize the department, so as to negate huge fire insurance rate increases. Some misunderstood this campaign to suggest that Chief Krill had personal motivations, or that he had used high pressure rhetoric to push a proposed future levy. I personally support the chief along with the volunteers that populate the fire commission. They have a thankless job in which along the way, certain restaurants and marinas were found out of compliance with current fire codes. The commissioners instructed the chief to remedy these conditions and bring these public facilities into compliance. This he has tried to do, with some compassion toward the hardship that such compliance that hadn't been required in the recent past, now surface.

During the election of two new commissioners, there has been a supposition that these candidates are anti Fire District who's purpose was to dismantle the current structure. This is simply not true. Both winning commissioners are dedicated toward continued community service. I fully support the fire district and the chief and voted for both commissioner-elects.The body of this post features an e-mail regarding a concern by a citizen and the reply by chief Krill. It is long, but informative:

"Mr. Brown:

I am very pleased you sent me an email; I truly value open and honest
communication and transparency in government business. I don't
believe we have met and I would very much like to meet with you.

We seem to be fighting a lot of battles to get the truth out and
properly educate the community. This sometimes takes time away from
more pressing fire district business. We do appreciate the support in
the community, but please understand that it is appreciated more when
it does not offend others. Respectfully, I do not believe you
portrayed Commissioner-elect Rudebaugh properly in that email
regarding the use of the copier and I do not believe he would
intentionally do anything to harm the fire district or his reputation.
Maybe I should have clarified the information we sent you in response
to your public records request. We realized there is contradiction
and confusion in that part of the fee schedule and I will have it
clarified in my chiefs report at the next commissioner meeting to
prevent future misunderstandings.

We welcome public participation at the fire commissioners meeting to
provide us with feedback and input. I would strongly encourage you to
attend our meetings held on the 3rd Wednesday monthly, 6:00 PM. The
next one is November 18 at the Bayview Community Center.

Although I regularly vote in elections, I am sorry to say that I did
not vote in this election. I was out of town for this election day
and didn't have the time before I left to vote absentee. Regardless,
there was no fire district or firefighter backed candidate(s) and I
was not and would not provide any personal opinion on any candidate,
my closest friends and coworkers can vouch for that. I respect all of
the candidates for their desire to serve the community.

All of us at Timberlake are excited to work with our two new
commissioners. I've met both of them and have the strong impression
that they will do what is best for the community and serve you well in
their positions. I've had the opportunity to speak several times with
Commissioner-elect Rudebaugh before the election (as I did with other
candidates) and know that he is taking the time, energy, and personal
cost to learn all he can about being a good fire commissioner. In
fact, he is attending the Idaho State Fire Commissioner Association
annual conference in Boise and paying for it own of his own pocket. I
don't know what the total cost will be, but believe it will be well
over $400. These two gentlemen will provide a fresh perspective on
the difficult challenges that we are faced with and help make some
very tough decisions that will impact the future of this fire
district.

Thanks and I look forward to meeting with you,

Jack Krill"

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