In response to the recent Sedona Times on-line article entitled the “Sedona Fire District Candidate Slate Offers Positions”, I must address some of the issues on behalf of the Sedona Fire District (SFD). This is not written as a “pro” or “con” of these candidates, but against the very damaging misinformation the article contained against SFD and our service to this community.
The “call center” to which the article refers is our Regional Communications Center (9-1-1 Dispatch), which SFD operates so someone will answer the phone when 9-1-1 is called. The article states that 15 communities use the Center and pay nothing; when, in fact, the 10 outside jurisdictions for which we dispatch pay for more than 50% of the costs of operating the Center. The regionalization of this function is modeled all over the country and is more cost effective for all participating jurisdictions than each agency building, running, and maintaining their own stand alone 9-1-1 dispatch center and communication infrastructure (tower sites, microwave links, etc.). If, as stated, most people “don’t know it exists”, it is certainly not because SFD is trying to hide it as some extravagant David Blaine magic trick; the Center is part of SFD’s budget which is a public document; it has its own page on our website; the building out of which it has operated for more than 25 years, is on Forest Road in Uptown and clearly marked “Dispatch Center.”
Candidate Phyllis Erick said the Sedona Police Department uses it, which is untrue; they have their own dispatch center. We do not dispatch 9-1-1 calls for Sedona Police Department or any police agencies – only Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Additionally, Candidate David Blauert states that Black Canyon City and Pinewood are dispatched by SFD and “We don’t even know how much they pay; it hasn’t been audited.” The figures, both revenue and expenditures, are audited annually (further explained below), and the revenue from the users is all part of our public budget documents – documents so clearly and thoroughly presented that SFD received a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 document from the Government Finance Officers’ Association of the United States and Canada. SFD is the only fire district in the State of Arizona to ever achieve this designation for its budget documents.
Candidate Joe Demme asserts that SFD has only conducted “internal reviews of the financials”, but has failed to conduct an independent financial audit for over ten years. This is completely false and ridiculous. SFD has an independent external audit done every twelve months, as required by Arizona State Statutes. In fact, the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 audit and audit results were presented by the audit firm (Miller, Allen from Phoenix) at a Public Fire Board meeting several months ago. Further, Mr. Demme made this same allegation at a Fire Board meeting in April, and was provided copies of the annual independent financial audit for those ten years, and yet, he still maintains this assertion to the Sedona Times – knowing it is incorrect.
The article states that Candidates Blauert, Demme and Erick are requesting a firm familiar with municipal accounting be brought in to audit SFD’s financials and processes; again, per State law, this is done every fall for the previous fiscal year ending June 30th. This year, Walker and Armstrong, also a large Phoenix firm, was selected through a Request for Proposals process and will perform the 2009-2010 fiscal year audit. None of the independent audit firms used by SFD have ever found any material inconsistencies in financial recordkeeping, any violations of proper internal controls, or any financial malfeasance of any kind – whatsoever.
Mr. Blauert states that overtime is budgeted at $1.3 million; this is false; the SFD overtime budget is $775,000, not $1.3 million, and if looking at any agency that provides a 24 hour/7 days a week/365 days per year operation with mandatory minimum staffing requirements, such as police departments, sheriff offices, hospitals, etc., they will ALL have significant overtime budgets. If these candidates want the same service hours as from their local bank, and be limited to calling 9-1-1, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then, overtime for firefighters and 9-1-1 dispatchers could be considerably reduced. However, for a 24/7/365 operation, when employees need to take vacation, sick leave, training, etc., those positions and those shifts must be filled.
If SFD falls below certain minimum staffing thresholds and cannot render services because we do not have the personnel, then the organization would open itself to significant liability – both from the citizens who may lose lives or property, and from our employees whose safety is compromised by not having enough personnel to do their jobs in accordance with a myriad of laws and national response standards. SFD could also eliminate almost all of the overtime by hiring a dozen or more personnel to serve as fill-ins for vacations and other leave. However, that would cost more than the overtime, with the additional training, taxes, benefits, insurances, and the equipment and personal protective gear which is needed for each additional employee. SFD overtime is paid for when it is needed, but additional personnel would be paid on a full time schedule whether another employees calls in sick that day or not. There is a certain cost/benefit of using overtime versus hiring more staff. That is why public service agencies systematically choose to use overtime staffing in lieu of hiring more personnel. Mr. Blauert’s statement “with proper management, we shouldn’t incur any overtime in the proposed budget” is ludicrous. All fire departments and districts utilizing professional firefighters in the state of Arizona, or anywhere for that matter, incur overtime.
These candidates also made an issue of the fact that many SFD employees do not live within the District boundaries. It is true that 62% of SFD’s employees do not live within the District, and this figure is not atypical for this area. In an article published by the Sedona Red Rock News in February of this year, according to a 2008 Arizona Department of Commerce report, 67% of all people working within Sedona commute from other communities. The simple fact is most blue collar /middle-class workers cannot afford to live in Sedona and, therefore, choose to live outside of the area and commute to and from work. Further, many public safety agencies USED TO mandate residency within its jurisdiction or within a reasonable radius outside of the jurisdiction; however, most have lifted this requirement as a result of lawsuits from labor groups alleging that an employer mandating where someone lives and raises their family is unconstitutional.
Fire Chief Nazih Hazime and I would be happy to discuss any of these issues in further detail with anyone seeking facts and clarification of this misinformation at 928-282-6800.
Karen Daines
Business Director, Sedona Fire District
928-282-6800 (Office)
Kdaines@sedonafire.org
Have you noticed that whenever a taxpaying citizen questions anything the Sedona Fire District (SFD) does that individual is immediately subject to a ferocious personal attack by Karen Daines?
Aren’t we all getting a little sick and tired of being told by SFD Business Director Daines that we’re just too damn dumb to understand how our taxpayer money is being spent?
According to Daines, she is the only source of “the facts.”
Anyone who disagrees with her is guilty of spreading “very damaging misinformation,” being “ludicrous” and making “completely false and ridiculous” statements.
Is this the kind of attitude we should tolerate from a public employee who works for us? Demonizing the very people who pay her salary?
All over the country, taxpayers are questioning why fire districts and police departments have gotten so expensive. In many cases, they have become the most expensive annual budget item taxpayers face.
Don’t we have a right to question our own fire district’s expenditures – and even disagree with their figures – without being labeled a bunch of idiots by someone like Daines?
Why is she so threatened by these three candidates for the SFD board?
Right after telling us she is not “pro” or “con” these candidates, she proceeds to give us all the reasons she can think of not to vote for them. Is this an attempt by a public employee to influence the outcome of an election?
If she is truly confident that SFD is doing everything properly she should welcome their interest instead of responding with sarcasm and insults.
At the very least, she should behave like the professional we expect and deserve.
Mr. Dible,
Did we read the same article? At no point did Ms Daines insult or infer anyone was dumb. She did not respond in an unprofessional manner nor did she state that she is the only source of facts. I for one did some research by calling the Sedona police department. Sedona fire in fact does not dispatch for SPD. I can then can only wonder about the information that these candidates presented. I can also wonder about your intentions and motivations in writing such comments.
Kudos to Ms. Daines for responding and setting the record straight.
More than anything I’m tired of politicians and would be politicians who are willing to say and do anything to get elected. None of these three will be getting my vote!
Mr. Dible, as a taxpaying citizen of this district I appreciate it when someone takes the time out to explain what some individuals had previously misstated , misrapresented and provided wrong information to the public. I would expect that someone with the SFD, who has the true facts would set the record straight and who would be in a better position to do that than the SFD Business Director, Karen Daines? Her job is to be the SOURCE of the”facts.” As far as I am concerned, that’s part of her duties and it looks like she takes them very seriously. I am sure that it must be very frustrating for her having to constantly respond to all of these continuous periodic baseless statements and charges by a group of misinformed individuals. She is left with no other choice but to set the record straight. Otherwise, the alternative is not to respond at all and let the citizenry believe the lies that are being spread about the staff and the district. That’s TOTALLY unacceptable! Are you saying that the information she has provided is incorrect and false? If so, I strongly suggest the YOU provide the facts, figures and your sources so that we know who is right. Or are you perhaps really angered by the fact that she is trying to set the record straight, so that the voters in the SFD district have the TRUE facts instead of innuendos.
As taxpaying citizens we have the right to know the truth about some of the misinformation that’s being disseminated. If you ask me, the above candidates are indeed guilty of spreading “very damaging misinformation,” being “ludicrous” and making “completely false and ridiculous” statements. Why don’t they meet with Chief Hazime or Karen Daines to get the information directly from them, instead of making incorrect statements to the public with nothing to back them up?
The time has come for the taxpaying citizens in this districts to get the TRUE facts and we DO expect the professionals who are hired by the SFD to explain it to us. In conclusion, I feel that the Business Director DOES behave like the professional we expect and deserve by setting the record straight.
I have noticed that whenever members of the hate slate publish miss information Karen Daines and the Fire Chief do their job to provide the facts to the public, these facts are verified through outside auditors, government watch dogs, and reporting practices, there are even citizens like you Mr. Dible who have spent countless hours in the offices of the Sedona Fire District pouring over records. The Fire District has a very clear open door policy to the public and all requested records have been provided to anyone requesting information, you know this Mr. Dible. The Management team at SFD has made it very clear that the employees of the District are here to serve this public with honor and integrity.
We are getting sick and tired, of the rhetoric that is. Politicians at all levels of government in this country have been problematic. The non partisan Sedona citizens elected to the local Fire Board this November should be individuals willing to look at the facts and make decisions that benefit this community and keep it safe while spending tax dollars effectively. Not slash and burn citizens with an axe to grind.
As I have stated, the public’s interests and questions are of upmost importance to the members of SFD. We refer to this public as our customers and have never turned down an opportunity to assist. When you worked for former board member Don Harr and current board member Charles Christensen’s campaign in 2008 you knew this, and you have known this the countless times you have visited the fire station for meetings, inquires, and document requests.
I as an internal customer have had nothing but professional and courteous service from the members of SFD management. I also have the opportunity to interact with our external customers on a regular basis as well as attend fire district governing board meetings. I have seen this same courtesy extended to the external customers of SFD as well, as is expected from a public employee.
In closing I would like to respectfully request all citizens concerned with these issues attend a fire board meeting or contact the fire chief for the facts. You would not go to a real estate agent about abdominal pain, or your plumber for investment advice.
Craig,
Just because the facts don’t support your “OPINION”, does not mean that Mrs Daines thinks you’re stupid. She has clearly provided information to cease the attacks made on Sedona ‘s Professional Fire District. If you and your friends find yourselves feeling stupid, it is clearly because you refuse to accept the facts and are still being misguided by the board members who you voted for last time.
I for one find it amusing on how you and your friends try to make SFD out to be criminals. Clearly SFD hires professionals and their service proves that. Craig, you and your friends. Phylis Erdick, Joe Dimme and David Blart supported Harr and Christiansen in the last election, Something for us all to think about is this old addage my father tells me, ” Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” and it is clear that integrity is lacking with in your group of friends .
Sedona does not want a private ambulance service, we are please with the Fire District and it is time for a change. I am confident Mrs Daines does not believe our general public is to stupid to understand only you believe that. The facts support what Mrs Daines writes, your opinions support nothing.
Mr. Dible,
I am sorry, but if I wanted a lesson in transparency, accountability and integrity, one of the last individuals I would listen to is you. As seen in public meetings, behind the scenes gatherings and public record requests at SFD, you have found nothing in your endless search for the “Smoking Gun” at SFD. SFD seems to be a well run (Minus the governing board) public service organization, running operations to a T, regardless of the shenanigans you and the vocal minority continue to create. After reviewing recorded meeting minutes, I have found you have never once had anything positive to say. (www.sedonafire.org) archived board meeting minutes.
I find it very amusing that you question the integrity of SFD employees, when in fact your integrity may be the one in question. As scene on the Yavapai County website, under the elections department listed below, your signature is on both Donald Harr’s ( 2008-049) and Charles Christensen’s (2008-051) paper work as the committee treasurer. Therefore, it is apparent that you not only supported these individuals financially during the 2008 election for fire board, but you supported them personally. Associating yourself with individuals that have been proven guilty of violating open meeting laws established by the state of Arizona, misappropriation of funds by purchasing alcohol and other questionable material with taxpayer’s money and being cited for violating an existing restraining order, shows that individuals you surround yourself with and support for public office, have poor judgment at best. If these are the types of individuals you surround yourself with, how do we know the three candidates you are supporting this election (Erick, Blauert, Demme) are any different?
Instead of wasting our tax money on public records request that have been shown time and time again and wasting the time of paid professional trying to conduct business, please find another hobby that is less costly to our community. I am asking that you and your cronies find something else to do in your spare time and stop wasting our tax dollars. Additionally, if you are so knowledgeable about district issues and how to run a public safety agency, why is your name not on a ballot? Just a thought, for someone who claims to be an expert on district issues with no prior experience.
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/CampaignFinanceSearch.aspx?cid=2008-051
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/CampaignFinanceSearch.aspx?cid=2008-049
I had a chance to get back to this blog and read through the comments.
Looks like a response would be appropriate so here goes…
By way of background, I’ve been actively involved in elections ever since high school – and that was a long time ago.
During my many years of volunteer participation, I’ve walked precincts, manned phone trees, helped design advertising campaigns, organized fundraisers and even been campaign manager and treasurer for a number of candidates. I’ll probably be back at it again in 2012.
I believe every American should participate in the political process and am continually disappointed when we have such low voter turnouts. The citizens in Afghanistan risked their lives to go vote last week and we can’t seem to get our people off the couch.
I’ve never missed a vote – even when I was overseas I voted by absentee ballot. Not bragging, just pointing out that I take this stuff seriously.
Sometimes the results of your participation don’t turn out the way you expected. Yes, I did support and participate in the Christensen and Harr campaign in 2008. And no, I am not happy with the way things turned out. Sometimes the folks you trust and believe in just let you down. It happens.
As far as SFD Business Director Karen Daines goes, I have two areas of concern.
First, I find her demeanor as a public employee unacceptable. As the old saying goes, “You can disagree without being disagreeable.” She simply doesn’t have to use language that is patronizing, condescending and dismissive when addressing taxpaying members of the public – both at SFD Board meetings and it print. She can make her points without the invective. And posting her Internet letter, criticizing three candidates for office, during an election campaign? As a public employee, should she be doing this?
Secondly, I do believe there are legitimate disagreements and unanswered questions regarding SFD financials. Part of being a public agency is accepting the fact that taxpayers are allowed to ask questions about their money – and even go to outside sources to check the figures they are given. As President Reagan famously said, “Trust but verify.”
As an example, let’s look at SFD’s ambulance service. (And no, none of the three candidates she attacked are in favor of privatizing SFD’s ambulance service. The public spoke loud and clear last summer and that’s a dead issue.)
Annual reports filed with the Arizona Department of Health Services show that SFD’s ambulance service generates large, consistent losses while SFD is reporting to us its ambulance service creates substantial revenue. I believe taxpayers are entitled to an explanation.
Now I know as soon as I hit the SEND key, it will probably generate more comments – including personal attacks from the name callers, hate mongers and basement dwellers out there and that’s okay. We live in a democracy and everyone has a right to speak out.
But the nastiness and bile does have a negative impact on our political process.
A question I have been asked many times over the years is: “Why can’t we get better candidates to run for office?” And my answer is that they don’t want to put up with abuse we inflict on anyone who decides to throw his or her hat in the ring.
Looks like this election campaign for the SFD Board of Governors is starting to prove my point.
Looks like Mr. Dible is up to it again. It doesn’t look like it took him long to align himself with another promising act. Hopefully, this act turns out as good as the Harr, Christensen experiment did. Way to go Mr. Dible, thanks for proving me right once again.
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59228
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59224
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59232
In the Valley and other large urban areas, jurisdictions hire firefighters with a minimum qualification of having an EMT certification and having passed a physical ability test (CPAT process) which is sanctioned and validated by both the IAFF and the IAFC. These candidates, however, do not have to have prior firefighting training or experience, because these agencies conduct a 16-week regional training academy (and do so with typically 25-30 new recruits from various jurisdictions – economies of scale). This process requires a significant amount of time and money. During this 16-week period they can teach their new personnel how to fight fires, essentially ending the academy having earned a Firefighter I and II certification. In Sedona we do not have the luxury of being able to conduct an in-house academy to teach new recruits how to do the job. A 16- week program like this would require hundreds of hours of instructor time and four months of additional payroll for recruits. This would be cost-prohibitive for SFD. Instead, from a cost perspective we must hire candidates who already have a Firefighter I and II certification from an accredited (college) academy. Therefore our minimum qualifications to be hired as a firefighter are more stringent, and the fact of the matter is less females have these qualifications. The jurisdictions who use “in-house” academies to train their personnel are able to hand select females and minority candidates, who may not be as qualified or experienced as other non-minority candidates, and usher them through their academy, assuring their completion. Even with this luxury, female firefighters still account for less than 5-10% of most agency rolls. There are just not that many females who pursue these careers. Additionally, we don’t have Firefighters and EMTs, but rather, we have Firefighter/EMTs, and they all must be capable of completing the minimal job functions walking through the door.
Due to the rigor and intensity of the college firefighter I and II programs, very few women come to us as qualified candidates, having earned this certification. For example, during the most recent SFD firefighter recruit process there were a total of eight female applicants out of approximately 180 applicants. The written test is the next qualifying event after the application process and five of those eight applications took the written test ( of the three who did not take the exam – one did not have the qualifications to test; one had a conflict with the test date and could not make it; one was a “no-show” to the test). None of the five candidates who took the written exam passed. Most of the men who took the exam didn’t pass either.
The bottom line is firefighting is still a very physically taxing job and the fact of the matter is there are not that many female candidates who pursue this line of work, and/or who are capable of qualifying for the positions – especially since we require them to “walk on to the job” already qualified. I am sure SFD is not willing to lessen its standards for physical fitness and safety simply to meet some quota.
One of the pillars of candidates Blauert, Demme and Erick’s platform has been a list of the Sedona Fire District’s “Top 20 Wage Earners.” The list has been widely circulated anonymously by e-mail and in print form, often placed under windshields.
The list reflects the district’s top earners for 2009 by name, job title and ’09 compensation. This list was recently placed as an ad in the Red Rock News by these candidates. This is vindictive, spiteful, and in no way helpful in trying to solve the problems of the district.
This document and the contents were not provided by the Sedona Fire District (SFD) and is false, manipulated, misleading, and also violates employees’ privacy.
SFD’s employees’ pay includes many different types of compensation including uniform allowance, per diems and vacation buyback.
It also includes non-district deployments, which is not even paid by SFD. All of these types of compensation are industry standard practice and are not at all unique to SFD.
The Fire Chief and Executive Team of Sedona Fire District closely monitor earnings for all staff. The following individual earnings categories are independent of each other and would never be combined as individual’s earnings.
These categories are very different and are projected and budgeted as independent line items for cost accounting management. Some of the items are of no cost to the tax payers such as the non- district overtime and reimbursement for taxable expenses. The misleading document circulating does not show the breakdown of every line item as described below.
Base Wages
Salary schedules are developed based on industry comparables with other like fire service agencies. According to a recent survey by the Arizona Fire District Association, base wages for our District’s employees are in line with the 19 other districts surveyed. According to public records requests of the same 19 districts, the total W-2 earnings reflected on the “Top 20 Wage Earners” list are also in line with the other 19 districts.
Administration Overtime
This overtime includes: special projects, meeting deadlines, and emergency repairs for apparatus and communication infrastructure, etc. The Fire Chief, the Executive Team, and the Division Managers are exempt from overtime.
Backfill Overtime
This overtime is to maintain mandatory minimum staffing. SFD has a maximum operational daily staffing of 24 firefighters and a minimum of 20 operational firefighters. If the number drops below 20, there is an automated call back system that will allow us to bring the number back up to 20. SFD maintains a certain number of time-off, per day, to minimize callbacks.
If you look at any agency that provides a 24/7/365 operation with mandatory minimum staffing requirements such as police departments, sheriff offices, hospitals among others, they will have overtime budgets.
Discretionary Overtime
This overtime includes mandatory recertification for Emergency Medical Services, Wild land Firefighting, Technical Rescue, etc. This also allows for discretionary overtime related to special projects and training. This overtime is only approved based on the Fire District’s needs and if the training cannot be accomplished while on duty.
Non-District Overtime
The overtime is 100% reimbursement to the Fire District for personnel sent to fight out-of-district wild land fires and /or coverage for those out-of-district wild land assignments. This includes a Contractual agreement between Sedona Fire District and the Arizona State Land Department, which governs our participation in this regional response effort. This regional resource would also assist the 168 square miles of the Sedona Fire District, if requested.
Benefit Earnings
This includes longevity pay, vacation leave, or sick leave payouts (for over the cap payouts at separation or annual requests for leave buy back – all paid at current hourly base rate).
Reimbursable Taxable Expenses
This is taxable income to reimburse certain employees for cell phone bills, lunch per diems at non-SFD sponsored training, uniform allowance for required protective gear or standard uniforms.
The numbers on the list reflect compensation to highly cross-trained employees who are sometimes called upon to put their lives on the line. Even with the overtime compensation, the numbers are not out of line with industry standards and other similar fire districts. The list is not the smoking gun which proves corruption and excess as claimed by candidates Blauert, Demme and Erick. It’s just another clear indication of how desperate these candidates are and how low they will stoop to try to win this election.
I thought I would pass this information along. This slate just sent out a mailer bashing unions and especially union firefighters ( I take exception to bashing unions, as I am a union working and know plenty of school teachers that are union). The permit used on this mailer was from the Sierra Club / Sedona-Verde Valley Chapter (permit #100). On their site, the Sierra club has a blog on how they are trying to decrease the number of trees wasted and find a solution to junk mail. I would ask, why then would they allow this slate to utilize their permit number and send out this garbage to over 11,000 resident mailing addresses? It makes me think that this slate either has a member in the club or a close friend (Zirinski, Norton or Dible) that belongs to this club. I wonder how the national board and committee of the Sierra Club may feel about this? I have to wonder if they too would endorse such nonsense or would they be upset that their mission of reducing wasteful use of paper through junk mail is being ignored at the local Sedona level.
Once again, another example of poor judgment associated with this slate and their agenda.
For your own information, please follow this link to have a look for yourself.
http://www.arizona.sierraclub.org/sedona/newsletter/currentnewsletter.pdf
Doug you are so right!
As I looked though Google under “Craig Dible and Sierra Club” i found this:
Taking in the View: The Grand Canyon Chapter Executive Committee at the Grand Canyon National Park. Photo courtesy of Craig Dible, Sedona/Verde Valley Group
Sedona-Verde Valley Group, Craig Dible, Chair
DIBLE CRAIG SIERRA CLUB PO BOX 20411 SEDONA AZ 86341
His name shows up on this slate’s financial summaries as well…
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59228
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59224
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59232
Mr. Demme and Mr. Blauert…As per the article in the OTHER paper dated October 13, 2010, I would like to address some things that you both have commented on.
First, Mr. Demme, you said that the backgrounds of you, Mr. Blauert, and Mrs. Erick can benefit the Sedona Fire District’s Governing Board. I believe you said that Mr. Blauert has lived in Sedona for 49 years. How can that help? I know a lot of people who have lived here that long; but would I trust just anyone to serve on the Board? You said that Mrs. Erick works in the medical profession. Well, I guess working as the Surgery Scheduler in an ophthalmologist’s office constitutes working in the medical profession….it’s certainly not in the automotive, insurance, or even educational professions; but I’m still baffled. What can she really bring to the table?
Then there’s you. After attending Loyola University in Illinois for two years, you quit college and began working for a company in the electronics business.
Then you dabbled with purchasing copper and steel in the domestic and foreign markets. Then you purchased commodities for resale to companies needing them for production. Later you lived in Indonesia and worked for an oil company.
Now you say you have an “ international business background.” Can you explain how on earth this can help our outstanding fire district?
You two men have done nothing but brag about yourselves and have not given specific reasons as to why we should vote for you. Mr. Blauert, you have stated several times that “there would be no Posse Ground if it wasn’t for Dave Blauert”. Actually, Posse Ground was in existence well before your involvement. In addition, you mentioned that you were instrumental in getting the first ambulance in 1963. According to historical archives Sedona’s first ambulance(also known as “Big Bertha”) was donated by the Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW) of Sedona in March 1963. How come you are taking credit for that?
You have also stated that your team will assist on a thorough audit because the audits in the past were “embarrassing.” Can you elaborate, in detail, what solid proof do you have to make that allegation? What makes them embarrassing? What makes you knowledgeable in this arena of finance, and what do you propose? Give us some concrete examples.
Mr. Demme, with all due respect, you’re telling the people of Sedona you don’t want to “slash” and “destroy” the District’s budget. I love your choice of verbs……”slash” and “destroy.” What Joe Q. Public doesn’t realize is that through your hidden agenda, you really mean to do some slashing and destroying to an outstanding fire district with employees who do an exemplary job. You have made some slanderous remarks filled with misinformation that is meant to put doubts in the minds of some of the gullible SFD voters. Have you thought about who will save your life if you go into cardiac arrest, have a stroke, or your house goes on fire???? Yep, it’s these same people who will be there to help you.
Sedona is comprised of people with common sense, who are intelligent and accomplished people. These type of people want facts, figures and proof about all of the false allegations you are making. They also want to have the best fire and EMS services available. I personally feel confident that if I have a need for them, they’re going to come through for me. I’ve seen them in action and am highly impressed by their organization, knowledge, advanced equipment, compassion and thoroughness. You have no right to these services away from those who moved here and need it!
I hope that the SFD taxpayers reading this will seriously consider and vote the slate of Fishel, Fitzpatrick and Montgomery. We have three highly educated and accomplished men who are logical, broad-minded, fair, and very sensible people who will get the job done.
Blatant lies are circulating in the community about Sedona Fire! A recent mailer was just sent out by the other slate that is so full of inaccuracies it would be funny if not for the fact some people will believe it. Be an educated voter, look at all of the material being sent to you and make an independent judgement.
Please get the real facts from Dick Fishel, Doug Fitzpatrick and Ty Montgomery. They have taken the time to do extensive research about all of the various issues facing the District and vow to take appropriate action on them once elected to the Sedona Fire District Governing Board.
It seems that the other slate (Demme, et al) uses the phrase “fiscal responsibility” to actually take needed services away from the community. Fishel, et al have been an active, but objective and independent participant at SFD board meetings for the past couple of years. They have based their opinions on the facts, versus fear-based ideology and are not part of any activist group. Part of our community has lived without the same level of fire service than everyone else; the plans to correct that were simply scrapped and the money that had been spent swept away with self-proclaimed righteousness that just saying “no” to their neighbors was the right thing to do. When I have tried to assert that our neighborhood pays the same taxes so should have the same services as everyone else, I am accused of being part of a union or that I have family or friends who work for the SFD. WHAT?! I am simply a very concerned, tax-paying homeowner who wants equal treatment. That’s all. I know no one in the SFD nor have family there. I am, however, appalled at how they have all been treated and spoken of by some of our community and SFD current board members. I am so grateful to our firefighters, especially in light of the lack of support and outright hostility that comes from 3 current board members as well as Demme, et, al in their campaign approach. THEY HAVE NO ANSWER EXCEPT THE WORD NO. SEDONA MUST VOTE FOR FISHEL, FITZPATRICK, and MONTGOMERY – WE MUST TAKE BACK OUR SERVICES FROM THOSE WHO WOULD DIMINISH THEM. FIND OUT YOUR FACTS AND VOTE!
As a Republican woman I am appalled that the The Verde Valley Republican Women (VVRW) will hold their regular monthly luncheon meeting on October 20th at Los Abrigados and only three Sedona Fire Board candidates are allowed to participate Dave Blauert, Phyllis Erick, Joe Demme. None of the other candidates running for the Sedona Fire Board were asked to participate, even though two of them, Dick Fishel and Doug Fitzpatrick are registered Republicans.
Rumor has it that the President of the Verde Valley Republican Women, Carol Gandolfo, who books the speakers, backs Phyllis Erick, Dave Blauert , Joe Demme and will not allow anyone else to speak. How can we as registered Republicans allow this to happen in our Party and in our area? Is the VVRW membership so narrow-minded to stand for that? Have they forgotten the basic principles that the Republican Party is supposed to follow? Is this democracy in action?
All I can say is SHAME ON YOU!!
Well, well, well, look who got caught in the act. Hopefully, voters will take this into consideration when voting, since Mr. Johnson is an avid suppoter of the Blauert, Demme, Erick slate. “Tell me who your freinds are and I will tell you who you are” never rang more true!
http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=sfdcampaignsignstealing&page=sfdcampaignsignstealing/pictures&album=10
It is very interesting to note that the very same slate that is stressing
transparency, fiscal accountability and suggesting a forensic, procedural
audit for SFD finances has failed to even provide accountability for their
own campaign expenses in their individual financial reports (ID: 2010-066; ID: 2010-085; ID: 2010-065), required by Yavapai County Elections and the State of Arizona.
You can see a lump sum reimbursement of $698.66 to Mr. Blauert under “Supplies”…that’s a LOT of supplies, besides the additional supplies purchased by Mr. Dible and Mrs. Erick. You also notice that he made a loan to himself in the amount of $500.00, even though the allowable amount dictated by the AZ State laws governing elections is only$410.00. http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59232
As you look through all of the other candidates’ reports, nowhere do you see any expenses or in kind contributions for the multitude of signs that have been seen throughout our district. Where is the accountability for that purchase? http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59224
http://www.co.yavapai.az.us/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=59228
Is this the type of “accountability” we can expect from candidates Blauert,Erick and Demme if elected to the Sedona Fire District Governing Board? Do they really mean what they say? Shouldn’t we expect them to live up to their own platform?
I guess that is one way to spin the message that the candidates are sending. When we talk about fiscal responsibility and the actions of Joe Demme let’s not forget that he openly opposed the installation of solar panels on all of the fire stations of Sedona. This project would have guaranteed a return of 1.7 million dollars over the life of the project. This information was clearly articulated in a board meeting and Demme chose to oppose the project and made the outrageous claim that solar would be obsolete and all the equipment would be worthless. Apparently Demme thinks the sun will stop shining or perhaps he wants to make a buck off the project so he is deliberately delaying it and sacrificing an alternative source of income that could help reduce taxes in order to create an opportunity for himself. Is this a stretch? Not hardly, Demme aligned himself with scientists in Russia and exploited their talents to make titanium golf clubs. As reported by Patricia Kranz in an article for Business Week, Demme exaggerated the number of titanium drivers he was providing companies like Taylor-made so much so that the company he was providing product for felt it necessary to correct him in the article. At the same time he was profiting from the project, the average cost of talented soviet manpower was $5,000/year (As reported in Swords into Market Shares by Glenn Schweitzer). With that background in exaggeration and misinformation he argued successfully for losing 1.7 million dollars of non-tax revenue for the district. Is exploiting people to make a buck just business as usual for Demme? Based on complementary articles he has written in the Red Rock news for current board member Charles Christensen he seems to be comfortable aligning himself with people whose moral compass may make it hard to find the parking lot after a board meeting. I am sure Mr. Demme knows about the illegal activity Christensen has engaged in. Obviously violating open meeting laws, harassing employees, and violating a restraining is acceptable behavior for a friend of Demme. Also, both Demme and Erick have publicly supported privatization of the ambulance although they seem to have changed their tune once the saw how unpopular their previous comments were. What’s to say they won’t change back once they have elected and we will pay higher prices when we need to go to the hospital and won’t control the level of service. It seems easy these days for people to claim fiscal responsibility without backing it up in an effort to win votes. I want efficiency, but I don’t want mediocrity. As a conservative I am tired of people trying to sway me with superficial arguments that insult my intelligence. One morning on the web and a review of past meeting minutes from SFD convinced me that Demme advocated against saving the taxpayers money and wants to privatize the ambulance service we depend on. When people say they want to see the fire department run as a business I am reminded about the fact that most businesses are mediocre. Would I like to see SFD run like General Electric in its prime or 3M you bet. Unfortunately Jack Welch isn’t what I see in the candidates claiming to be fiscally responsible and when there is little talent behind the rhetoric I would rather see a board that wants to work with the people who have made serving us their life’s work then a board filled with individuals that seek political positions to promote the agenda of special interests. I understand Demme recently moved here from the Chicago area and it looks like he brought Chicago style politics with him.
After seeing the cards mailed to the members of the Sedona Fire District by Blauert, Demme, and Erick and reading the article in the RRN I began to wonder what heavy handed tactics the firefighters must have employed at the last election and how exactly they had destroyed our country. So, I took what I viewed as the next logical step and that was to go to the fire station closest to my house and find out for myself if these people were really the thugs the postcard made them out to be. I left the station a half hour later with a much different opinion of “the union”. I learned that almost all of the firefighters were members of the International Association of Fire Firefighters Local 3690 and almost every vehicle in the parking lot had a red Maltese Cross sticker on the back window of their vehicle. There was a strong sense of pride among the group when they talked about the first day they joined the union. The talk centered around what it meant to be a professional firefighter and part of what they referred to as “the brotherhood”. Our job is to help people when they are having a bad day one firefighter said and we take our job very serious. One man explained how his wife had broken down on I-17 and a firefighter from Phoenix stopped to help her and at first she was scared but when she saw the Maltese cross on his license plate she knew it was a brother of her husband and she would be safe. The rest of the talk centered around the community they served and how they were shocked and in disbelief that the community had come to hate them so much. They talked about the love of their job, the lives they had saved and the people they had helped. They expressed concern that the fire department they took pride in serving would dissolve around them. Some had served in the military prior to joining the fire department and when I explained I was a Veteran as well they thanked me for my service. Although it was explained to me that talking about politics on duty was strictly forbidden I could tell they were disturbed about the way they had been portrayed. As one firefighter put it, if I believed what has been written about us I would be afraid to call 911. I shook their hands and thanked them for serving our community and found myself trying to make them feel better by telling them it was just politics. “Maybe to them”, one of the firemen said, “but to us it is who we are and we really try to do our best every day.” Maybe more people should visit their fire station and decide for themselves how bad they really are.
Recently I had the opportunity to read the articles regarding the candidates for the Sedona Fire Board. I also went online and listened to the question and answer session that was held at the Democrats of the Red Rocks. I also listened, in person, to some of the candidates at a recent tea party meeting. Listening to each of them speak about their positions it became clear to me that every candidate claims to be about increased fiscal responsibility. The difference I saw was in the way that the candidates approached the message. Blauert, Erick, and Demme all appeared to be on a witch hunt. They seemed bent on punishing the firefighters. As someone who operated on the national level in a very political field of business I am familiar with the tactics organizations and individuals take to derail projects that don’t fit with their agenda. I see examples of all four of the most common methods used to attack any idea when I look at these three candidates.
Delay – After reading the notes of the fire board minutes I saw how the solar project proposed by administration was derailed. Supporters of the project claim it would have made 1.7 million dollars for the district. Mr. Demme opposed the project and said solar would be obsolete in a few months and we just needed time and there would be emerging technology. He went as far to say that the equipment would be obsolete and would need to be replaced. He offered no explanation, just argued against the project and was successful in delaying it until the rebates had expired. This is at the same time that Luke Air Force Base just approved the installation of a similar project, but on a much greater scale. The project at Luke will provide all the energy needs for the base, which will be the first time any military installation has accomplished this. Sounds like our fire department was on the right track.
Confusion – people attack good ideas with confusion and irrelevant facts in an attempt to make the conversation so difficult to follow that people become unsure of what really needs to be done. Once again I turn to Mr. Demme for an example of this behavior. Although it appears he has been provided with access to annual audits of the fire department’s finances he continues to claim an audit must be performed. Arizona Statues require an audit of special district and it seems the Business Director has explained this numerous times. But, Demme and now Erick continue to call for an audit and naming companies that should perform the audits, even though none of the companies they named provide audits for government entities such as the fire department.
Character Assassination – When addressing the issues and the facts doesn’t prove effective people who lack integrity often attack the messenger. Discredit the messenger and you discredit the message. I have seen this approach taken by all three of these candidates. They attack the firefighters and attempt to gain support for their attack by referring to them as “the union”. They attack management and then attack them even more when they stand up for themselves and their position. What rings hollow with all their attacks is that it appears they are not just after the union, but the organization as a whole and I find this most troubling. After all, how can a group that is willing to do or say anything to get elected work together to ensure the service we depend on continues to exist, and at a high level. Having served in the military in combat I cannot imagine how, members of a profession where failures in leadership can mean lost lives would be able to operate effectively with a governing board that spent so much time discrediting them.
Fear – This is a great way for politicians to get uninformed voters to support their position. All you need to do is ensure people fear whatever the other side is going to do and how it will affect you. Take Blauert’s statement about unions leading to the downfall of our nation or Demme’s comments regarding the solar becoming obsolete and all that money being wasted. Or that the other candidates won’t work for you, they will work for “the union”. Every one of these statements is meant to create fear in the voters. Never mind that Arizona is a right to work state and “union” power is severely limited, never mind that the solar project had a written guarantee on performance from the company overseeing the work. None of that matters if you can scare uninformed voters and they vote with emotion instead of logic. Anxiety is a powerful emotion and it is an easy button to push. I received a flier in the mail for these candidates and on the back side it talked about “union pickets confronting voters at the poles”. Once again, that sounds pretty scary. But, having seen our firefighters at the poles in the last couple elections I never felt fearful at all. Of course, if you are going to mail in your ballot and you believe what they have written then they get a vote because they made you afraid.
I was hopeful that at the local level this sort of behavior wouldn’t exist. After all, I expect that if I am out of town and my wife calls 911 that she will get excellent service. I want the same to be true after November 2nd. Creating an adversarial relationship is an ineffective means of governance. It doesn’t work at any level of government. I appreciate reasonable answers to issues that recognize the complexity of a problem and the need to work together to find a solution. What I see in Erick, Demme, and Blauert is a desire to dismantle our fire department and demonstrate their authority regardless of the long term consequences. For these reasons I will be voting for the slate of Fischel, Fitzpatrick, and Montgomery. Their experience and approach seems more consistent with a balanced view of the situation they face.
I have been closely following the politics at our fire department ever since the issue of privatizing the ambulance case brought up by Charles Christensen. Let me say for starters that I have a soft spot for the firefighters in my community because they allowed me to spend 5 more years with my wife. One of the firemen even stopped at the hospital the next day after my wife was hospitalized and checked up on her. These men recognized that she was having a stroke and provided her with the best care possible. I say this not because I am a professional in this arena, but because the neurologist who treated my wife credited their performance with saving her life. The person in charge of the crews that day gave me his card and I have called him whenever I want to know the truth about an issue regarding the district. So, when I began to see the rhetoric and accusations surrounding the fire district elections I called on him once again. Since he said he was fearful of what some of the candidates would do if they got elected he asked me not to use his name. So, I will call him Tom. I asked Tom one simple question, why do you care who gets elected? After a pause he told me that he cared about the election because he really wanted to continue to work in Sedona but he couldn’t work in an environment that lacked integrity. When I asked him why, he explained that when Blauert, Erick, and Demme talk about running the fire department like a business and when they degrade our leaders and the firefighters it is apparent that they have no respect for them or the work they do. Businesses exist to make money, we exist to help people and a cutthroat business model where ethics are applied situationally just doesn’t work when the outcome of failure is so lasting. If, for example we reduce our staffing and we fail to get to a call quickly because we are out of ambulances then someone suffers and perhaps someone dies. Or, if they create an environment so toxic that people choose to leave and the best young firefighters refuse to apply here we begin to decline. It won’t be right away, but everyplace where there are hiring freezes now will hire again in the future and when they do people will leave. Then, in a matter of a few years we are no longer exceptional, we are just average. I don’t want to work in a place that is just average.
This message struck a chord with me. I know I didn’t want my wife to get just average care, I wanted her to get the best possible care. The person who wrote the article above seems to marginalize the value of working together. When the cost of failure is measured in human lives the ability to work together seems awfully important to me.