We’ve all read various articles, web pages, and opinion articles about what the city of Lacey and fire district #3’s dispute is about. I am not going to claim to understand or argue why this fight is occurring because I base this entire opinion piece (yes, Ken we know the difference) that the parties involved, the city council especially, has no clue really what the fight is about.
Several months ago during the last city district meeting before the city stopped talking, Mayor Graham Sackrison stated that they wanted ‘control’ and wanted to not pay any additional money. The definitions of what those demands look like to this day have never been defined, at least in public forum. The demands in the paper have stated that the city wanted the ladder truck shut down and wanted to re-staff station 35 even though that “proposed” city goal or target has been changing frequently. A recent example of this was at the closing of the city’s recent court injunction hearing in February, when Judge Thomas McPhee questioned the city’s attorney, Ken Ahlf, on what the city really wanted in the form of relief if their demand to provide an aid car at station 35 didn’t address their inherent claims of reduced fire response. Their revised demand for a two person engine company would put us in violation of the performance standards in the contract that they signed and demanded in 2005.
What about control? Once again, the cities influence was spelled out in the contract and re-affirmed by Judge McPhee and it baffles the mind in every detail that this would suddenly be a matter of contention when by cities own signature agreed to this. So why the sudden change in heart? Why is that since 1966 the city has had no real desire to influence nor any real care in what the fire department had done? Why is it now that city wants to have influence and say in such issues such as union contracts when the contract process is specifically spelled out and regulated by state law and they’ve had no interest in the past 5 contracts? Why is it that the city would help buy a ladder truck, have no issues how it was staffed for almost 2 years, and then suddenly one day care?
The point is that none of the arguments when given proper examination “flesh out” or really pass the “sniff test”. So what is it? What is it that the city manager and the council really want? And my position is that based on the floating bench mark is that cities leaders don’t know themselves.
How the city leaders got to this position is that they didn’t understand the issues at hand, made decisions, and then recoil both in the press and in court when their respective decisions are countered or proven wrong. Stating that you are wrong or that you’ve made a mistake unfortunately is equated to political suicide but that their continued denial reinforces a series of errors where by this fight both in the short term and long term punish only one group: the tax payer and citizen.
Proof? Examine that the city council has not since 2007 to present day ever put before the public an agenda item to discuss the problems at hand with the fire department during the regular city council. The city council promised this twice, and then unilaterally did it with last minute change or adjustment to agenda when no representation from the department or really even the public being aware or notified that the discussion was going to take place. The question really then is why would a city council do this? Why as a politician would you seek to know nothing about the issues with the fire department other than the position being offered internally by Cuoio and Sackrison? Why would you consciously avoid talking with the public (Lacey Chamber of Commerce for example when Cuoio was asked by chamber members), talking with fire fighters, and to even continue talking with fire department management if solvency was really the issue or goal?
Further proof came recently when City Manager Greg Cuoio had yet to identify costs or a model of replacement fire service with the Olympian as of last week indicating that city is waiting for a consultants report on how to replace the fire district. So wouldn’t you want to have at least an idea including costs and some sort of future documentation BEFORE you make a decision to kill a relationship?
It’s perfectly acceptable for the city to take it ball and go somewhere else; that’s the reality of a contract. But we should ask that our government leaders make decisions that in the very least are open, informed, and specifically are in the public’s best interest. The city council has taken only the city manager’s and the mayor’s information to heart and has to our knowledge never talked to or invited fire department representatives at any level to any sort of open public meeting. The city council has been instructed to and have obeyed not talking to anyone with the fire service that we aware of. And further even during a city council meeting have made a significant effort not to talk to us, the firefighters…Even those that the fire fighters and union endorsed such as Councilmen Tom Nelson have shunned us without explanation and refuse to talk. I attribute this simply to shame; that the belief exists that they could not to defend themselves logically in simple conversation regarding the city district dispute.
In the meantime, if the city council is unwilling to even talk and gain a competing opinion or understanding of the issues, then you are undoubtedly setting the stage for damnation through irresponsibility. To be bourn not only by tax payers and citizens in terms of increased financial responsibility and legal liability, but also by those who respond to emergencies and the public that they serve. The fire fighters want to staff station 35 and the district wants to staff station 35, but it’s the city that clearly has made the decision not to, and collectively really couldn’t tell the affected citizen’s why.
So in the meantime, we should be ready for moving targets, more law suits (division of property), and ultimately sacrifices to the public service because of bad faith and bad decisions. The position of the fire fighters is simply all we have to do is tell the truth, and that when the inevitable happens, the responsibility for catastrophe should rest firmly at the feet of Cuoio and Sackrison for arrogance and incompetence.
Proof? The amount of money that has been spent and will likely be spent by both sides is closing on or has passed 6 figures and we haven’t even gone to formal trial yet. When the lawsuits are done, its very likely that the money, time, and resources mis-spent in a legal fight, could have be used to re-opened station 35.