What Voters Can Expect Now? the ugliest picture ...

What can the voters expect now? What are the repercussions of trusting all those fine-looking, muscled, red shirts that swarmed the polls tuesday and intimidated many voters or just provided a card with the for the unprepared? What happens when voters don't pay any attention to the smallest part (but most directly affective) of the voting race and the least discussed publicly issues in our vicinity (as they usually try to keep things cool, calm and clean in the district)?  What do we have to look forward to? Well,  let me paint a very ugly picture for us, and yes, I mean us cos it's going to hurt now.  No doubt on many fronts it's not pretty and the repercussions may resonate for years to come.

The Ugliest Picture could look like this but I'm praying it won't. I am truly hoping that the likes of Donchenko and the whole personal agenda deal fails miserably now that it's been exposed. Certainly, Ruben has to realize to fulfill these promises would make him look like the buffoon he's already been! But if it goes through it'll be something akin to sheer stupidity, though at first it may work just fine, it'll be simply a sad mistake that such assininity occurred.

What this means now is that most likely:

1)They will vote themselves a 3% raise which will be immediately translated into a 3% or more fire tax hike in our property taxes. 

• 3% doesn't seem like much but figure the average firefighter's wages start around $50k- $60K nowadays (that's why it's so attractive to be one again), that's an easy $1500-1800/year raise or broken down another $120-150/month in a family budget
• The Union Contract demands this now and it's on the table currently to be ratified. During times like we're in right now, and a time when firefighters are making a more excellent wage than they've ever made before, it's unheard of to demand an increase that will trickle down to hurt homeowners across the board. I know I don't need to pay 3% more on my taxes just to support a firefighters raise. Start living within your means, your salaries are twice mine and as much or more than my husband who works construction management 6 days a week (your average work week is 3 days)! 
• 3% sounds small until it's calculated on the $1000 in taxes... then it's $300 more. I like my taxes low. SMFD has been famous for keeping our taxes low while other fire districts are renowned for how high theirs are. Welcome to their world.

• The worst part is once done, it can't be undone and we all just have to live with it. While the firefighters will get the wages they need to support THEIR tax increases and higher expenses, OUR local businesses, employers etc will suffer those same increases we're suffering and we won't gain any increase in our wages NOR will we be able to support our increases in those taxes then. So do you see the damages here? Think beyond your personal gain, please? That's why I despise union promises, and fear-based thinking. You serve the public now start thinking about them!  

An Obituary of a Fire District , a Sad Day for SMFD

Southern Manatee Fire and Rescue District was once a fine fire district full of passionate, practically fire-breathing firefighters who did the right thing for their district and their families. I'm afraid they've gone soft though and despite still possessing many of those firebreathing, passionate firefighters, they are now the minority in a majority of decieved union followers. On November 2, 2010, SMFD died to the directives and politics of the AFL-CIO Local Union 2546 who will take control of the Board of Commissioners on November 18th at the next board meeting. In light of the victories of three candidates:

• Charles Durant, who actually appears to be qualified but misguided at the moment if he's as union-committed as he appears to be,

• 

  Commissioner
  Ranney

  Mark Ruben, who is essentially a traitor to the board he already serves with a lack of understanding that commissioners serve the taxpayers not any one "side", and 
• Anthony Evans, who not too much is known about him except he'll follow the other two and certainly hasn't the experience of Commissioner Ranney (who put up a valiant fight and had the most votes of all three candidates) whom he replaced,

there doesn't seem to be any hope for life as this district's residents have known it.




Chairman
Robert Kulchar



Commissioner
John Barry

 SMFD is survived by the current Chairman, Robert Kulchar and another board member, John Barry, both of whom are not up for election until 2012. Obviously the handwriting is on the wall and all future votes will most likely go into the record books in a 3-2 stand whereever the current administration and the new union-administration disagree.



Not that the majority of the voters seem to truly care though because the fire department is supposed to operate smoothly in the background of our lives, remember? It's supposed to be there at all times and rescue us when we need it and we just expect them to be our heroes. We don't want to know anymore about them and we trust that the folks WHO WE ELECT TO PROTECT US,  THE TAXPAYERS, will do just that, protect us... but then something goes awry. Like we don't check out our candidates, do any research, take time to attend a fire meeting, call someone who knows something, or just plain trust the beautiful, young man in the red shirt who says 'THIS IS OUR CANDIDATE, please vote for him (or them)'.

The really sad part is that I completely understand the fear-based, paranoid tactics the union used to get into the middle of US. What I don't understand is where the trust broke down and which leadership failed. In that area, I do trust and know someone will be watching closely and hopefully thinking with clear heads and not letting the union lead them around like bulls with their nose rings. Our firefighters are just this: firefighters. They aren't politicians and it's a total sham the union has turned them into this. Southern Manatee was unique prior to this union stuff. They had a wonderful system of trust with good commissioners for nearly twenty years and good leadership. They've survived against great odds when so many figured they would merge or fold. Always Southern Manatee came out better than before and blazing gloriously. I don't think we're shining so well right now with what took place yesterday. The union's happy but it's not a victory for SMFD. It's a road none of us should have gone down and truly a sad day for the voters of Southern Manatee Fire District.