Taxpayers, wake up, vote
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Editor,
I recently attended what was billed as a “candidate forum” at the Polson Rural Fire Department station at the fairgrounds. There are three candidates running for one trustee position on the Polson Rural Fire District Board, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to find out the position of the candidates for this important position.
The first surprise of the evening was being told that only one of the candidates was there, but that would not turn out to be the top disappointment.
The “moderator” of the “forum” was the latest appointment to the PRFD Board by the County Commissioners and he had a packet of questions/statements that had been given to him.
These questions/statements implied that the trustees on the PFRD Board were there to serve the firefighters; worse, the questions/statements not only implied, but stated, that the firefighters’ votes would decide who would be elected to the board. (It would seem that history, from the 2010 trustee election, confirms that.)
After a question was asked (from the audience) what the candidate felt about having three PRFD firefighters as trustees on the Board, the current Board chair (and firefighter) said the reason was because no one else wanted to be on the Board. This statement was made more than once but it still did not make it true. The 2010 trustee election pitted two non-firefighters against a firefighter and a firefighter’s wife. Firefighters were instrumental in getting their own elected to the board (a decision I am sure some now regret).
Since 2010 there has been very little done to advertise open trustee seats and many residents are reluctant to step forward as they remember the ugliness of that election.
Thus lies the fundamental problem: the public should be in control of selecting the Board members. This does not mean the firefighters are not part of the public, but their influence should only be the same as any other taxpayer.
If the taxpayers out there do not wake up and pay attention, the direction of the Board will continue to be very harmful to the community.
Ray Winn
Big Arm
