FIRE DISTRICT BOARD BLASTS UNION DECEPTIONS

This was sent earlier today by the CCFD Board...

FIRE DISTRICT BOARD BLASTS UNION DECEPTIONS

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No Place for Scare Tactics, Board Says

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TAXPAYERS URGED TO VOTE MONDAY NIGHT

            COVENTRY RI, OCT 20 - The chairman of the Central Coventry Fire District (CCFD) said today that continuing efforts by the district’s Union to scare residents had no place in a community election, and was making it more difficult for the community to resolve its fire protection and emergency services issues.

            Fred Gralinski, chairman of the CCFD, made his comments on the eve of Monday night’s election at which taxpayers will decide on a recommended $5.6 million budget.

            “Voting to approve this budget does two things,” Gralinski said.

            “First and foremost, it ensures that funds will be available to pay for fire and emergency services, and that they will continue to be available.

“But it also confirms that taxpayers are, and want to be, in charge of their fire district and the money it spends.

            “All of this is overlooked in Union efforts to retain an expensive and ill-conceived contract under which taxpayers can never regain control.

            “The Union maintains it offered a million dollars in ‘concessions’ to help the district balance its budget. The concessions offered would decrease cash requirements in the short term, but simply add to the District’s debt. They were not cuts, but simply deferred payments which do nothing to solve the District’s financial problems.

            “If the Union was to be honest about these concessions, it would make them available for public review. Instead, they remain a ‘private’ document, and the Union has refused to make them public.

            “Worse,” Gralinski said, “were comments by the Union president that “people will die” in Coventry if this budget is approved. This is grossly misleading, and typical of the scare tactics the Union has employed throughout its effort to stay in control of the District and its money.

            “Fire and emergency protection will continue whether under the direction of the CCFD or with temporary court oversight. Directors voted to dissolve the District because it was the only way it could be reorganized into a more economic and efficient operation that taxpayers could afford.

            “The directors are recommending a $5.6 million budget. To fund at the level necessary to pay for this Union contract would take it to $7 million dollars. So far, CCFD taxpayers have said they don’t want to pay at this level.

            “Taxpayers, and not the Union, should have the say in how much is too much to pay for fire district services, and they will have an opportunity on Monday night.

            “We owe it to them to provide the facts, not deceive them with self-serving scare tactics as the Union has done. This is a small community, and the impacts of deception and phony forecasts will live on long after this budget has been decided,” he said. 

            The Court-ordered election on the proposed budget will be held on Monday night, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. at Coventry High School. It will be by secret, paper ballot.

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