Ahhh, classic Yellow Journalism at its best. This seems to be becoming a personal issue between two Party's, or as some people might say, a "bick measuring" contest. it is actually disgusting, you don't measure your bicks on a public blog. But I have done my thinking, and this is what I came up with:. I figured out my bill to be 138 bucks more a year. I drink more than that in a week. If that 138 bucks more a year keeps the men and women of the Ccfd employed, then so be it. You are making these men and women out to be crooks, when I have seen them in action and presented themselves to be the most polite and helpful people I have came across in this lost town. They are much nicer than the cops. I don't know about you, but I have a job. I can pay now. And when I retire, I will have a 401k and hopefully my social security, and I will still be able to pay. If not, I will apply for section 8 housing, move into a federally funded building, not pay fire and town taxes, still vote, drink my head off, and still call 911 for drinkig too much! :-) Rock and roll, move on, smile, and give someone a hug for Gods sake.

Land is distancing himself from the letter. thats got to tell you something right there! i feel bad for the average FF and what their union has done to them. the union is just as guilty as the former chief and the board for the issues here. the best part is, they even pay the union for that!

Rep Morgan isn't going to be in jeopardy if Central closes. She will be safe and sound. The anti union sentiment is getting in the way of distinguishing fact from fiction. The plan has to be approved by the voters of the other districts and there needs to be legislation passed in the Statehouse to allow any changes to the charters. She makes it all sound so simple.

Rep. Morgan is just trying to bust a union. Princess84 is correct....Rep. Morgan will be safe and sound since she doesn't live in the CCFD. She is the one using bulling tactics by misrepresening the truth or let me just say it.....LYING! She is the one trying to scare people. The "plan" will never get passed by the other districts! We need to move forward and adopt this budget.

Poor Patty. She needs to get back in her program at "Pathological Liars Anonymous". She was called out in court by the Special Master for lying to constituents regarding her letter (which was printed and mailed on the State's dime, btw) and sat there silently in court with no defense. It's common knowledge during her last campaign that she went door to door, looked people right in the eye at their doors, told them she vote "Yes" on marriage equality to gain their vote, and then voted "No" once she got in. I'm told she has advocated for public safety reductions in West Warwick, saying that mutual aid from Coventry can help take up the slack, yet she is clearly fighting to reduce services in Coventry, saying mutual aid can help out there. Well, which is it Patty? Look at this issue for yourselves, learn the real & hard facts, and decide for yourselves. Don't allow your judgement to be clouded by a pathological liar.

I'm getting a little tired of the 'Wicked Witch from West Warwick" sticking her nose in over here. when her wrinkled up old ass falls from a heart attack she relies on West Warwick ( which has it's own problems). Mike Reilly comes to her defense LOL! A hedge fund guy from Narragansett. You can't make this sh*t up..LOL

Time for Rhode Island to pass right to work legislation. Take away the union stronghold and return the government to the people.

Steve, have you noticed union membership is down all over the country. Also because of that all workers pay and benefits (aside fromCEO's) is also way down. You can bust unions all you want but it affects all workers, except the CEO's that cash in on the middle class collapsing..

Let the people vote on the new budget plan and let's have the unions and the politicians stay out of it.

Steve go to the south.fla for example there are more illeagle workers here than u can shake a stick at. U need to stay up north and recievr the benefits the unions accrued for all u non union workers. If was up to your boss you would have no insurance. And u pay for it. No overtime because he makes u take off another day so he doesn't have to pay u. So before you cry about unions look at what u have and it's all because of unions.

I am a resident whose fire and emergency services is provided by CCFD. I believe that the revised CCFD budget should be rejected. It does not solve the problems that mismanagement has wrought. I do not believe that having independent fire districts is in the best interest of Coventry taxpayers. The concept of fire districts invites fiscal mismanagement and good 'ol boy leadership that is impossible to evict. We have clearly seen this with CCFD over the years. The long term solution is to combine all of the fire districts into a single district that is accountable to the Town Council and to ALL Coventry voters. Impose 2-year term limits on the Chief and the Board of Directors, and make these positions open for voter approval. Two seats on the Board should be filled by voters, and the FD charter should be revised to include more independent oversight. All FD capital expenditures should be subject to the same controls as other Town expenditures. Union contract negotiations should be reviewed by the Town Council, with recommendations put before the voters to decide. The current issue with the CCFD budget is just a short term fix. Think long term and lobby your state representatives and senators for a single consolidated fire district run by professionals!

I'm at maximum tax threshold right now. I vote NO on this budget plan. Unions suck. They hold their communities hostage and get all pissed off when they can't have everything they want. More money from people that don't have more money themselves is rediculois.

Eye in the sky is a perfect example of how unions get all nasty when you don't agree with them.

So Jeff, at least you're honest. Your vote has nothing to do with running the district or public safety, you're just looking to get rid of the Union.

Saw the morning news here on Mulligan's Island, saw our girl Patty which caused me to self administer a resounding head slap. Watch the news clip here:
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/west_bay/central-coventry-fd-to-hear-budget-mon?ref=scroller&categoryId=10011&status=true

Poor Patty. She just cannot stop LYING to people. We have tried here on the Island to cure her of this malady, but nothing has worked. We now wonder if she might be suffering from delusional thoughts, which would explain the lies. She again and again says that if the budget for CCFD doesn't pass, the District would be reorganized and/or restructured. NO! It won't! It will be CLOSED and LIQUIDATED! How do you reorganize something that is gone? As for her assertion that the "contingency plan" will be adequate....HOW? The Town will be faced with a reduction from seven staffed fire stations (CCFD-5, CFD-1,HHFD-1) to two. Is the plan to use existing CCFD stations & equipment? If it moves to liquidate, all stations, apparatus and equipment will be sold off as liquidation assets. Then what? The other Districts or the Town have to buy new equipment, build new stations, and hire new firefighters? The cost of that will be 10 times what it will cost to fix what is broken with CCFD. Sorry, Patty. Here on your namesake Island, we are advocating for the budget to pass tomorrow night.

Insurance rates;
If homeowners in a town or district with minimal fire coverage were going to pay a crippling rate, why don’t the residents of western or west Greenwich or even Exeter pay those high rates? Those areas have 95% volunteer departments.
I compared my Ins rate with a friend who lives in western, and his is 6% lower than mine. similar house he has 1 acre more than me. He has no hydrant, I have one 300 yards away. We both live about the same distance to a station.
So I ask is this rate thing another scare tactic or truth??

This afternoon I will be in court to hear if the judge releases the plan, there is one.For those who say the judge is anti-union, he ruled in favor of the FF in NK. If he does give us the plan it is last minute so most taxpayers will not have a chance to go over it prior to the vote.If the budget is voted down many residents will be getting service much closer to home.Those in Ramblewood, Leisure, Westwood and Wood Estates will be covered by Hopkins Hill, much closer and they are well run with a SURPLUS.That is why Dave Gorman hates them.Also for residents of the mobile/modular home parks if this passes you will pay more in lot rent not only this year but for the next four years as your fire taxes continue to increase. If you don't belive it ask John Assalone. It's called a pass thru.You can also expect the cheaters to cheat again by bringing in people from Woodland by bus as they did previously. These residents are not affected by an increase but play a role in increasing our cost.
Where are our elected officials on this issue? We have heard from only three. Where is Raptakis and Jendzjec? We know where Guthrie stands or rather bends over.

I hope that the bus in everyone from woodland manor,the new housing for the elderly and anyone who rents in the district.

Two more pieces of information. When the FF were working without pay they did so because Gorman was told by the Union attorney it would be a good Public Relations move. If they did not work the taxpayers would never support them. With benefits they make about $100,000 a year, I hope they could get by for a couple of weeks until they got paid. And the concessions....are for this year only. Next year another huge increase in taxes.

chainsawman, you must be Dave Gorman, you are just nasty individual.

It isn't over yet, business are acting on the illegal double tax. Business that closed and moved are looking for their piece and some. Their kind gesture regarding there health insurance changes seemed like a step in the right direction, now it comes out THEY WILL RECEIVE FULL REIMBURSEMENT FOR OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE .,SO A FAMILY PLAIN WILL ONLY COST THEM $1040.00 PER YEAR.
It appears that they don't have to tighten their belts as we do. Thank you CCFD for doing your share, NOT!

The taxpayers in that district can petition to outsource the fire services - you don't have to stay with the status quo. With the management of the district now gone, there is no contract. Taxpayers exercised their rights and voted!