Confused?

On the surface, having a Joint Fire District sounds like a great idea.  It gets both groups to the table in a way that there is equality of thought, and more importantly, equality of purpose. 

But alas, there are so many underlying threads of mystique and intrigue that it likely boggles the mind.  Its no real secret that there’s been trouble between the Village and the Township Trustees.  A good part of the time, it has generally been on the part of the Village also.  That’s not to say that the Township shouldn’t consider the issue of representation, which seems to be a valid one. 

Later today, I’ll be hand-delivering a short questionairre to representatives of the Village Council and the Township Trustees.  The questions are brief and are aimed to get some general information from both sides of the issue. 

Question one deals with the ideal of “taxation without representation” and the views of both the Trustees and the Council.  The second question deals with the perceived animosity between the parties.  Question three requests information about past proposals from both sides concerning an Operating Agreement.  Question four asks about the strenths and weakness of entering into a Joint Fire District agreement.  The fifth and sixth questions deal with what would happen if the Village would “decide on an alternative direction”. 

My hope is to have these questions answered by Monday, June 13, but both parties involved have meetings next week, which may delay answering.  My preference would be to have them as early as possible so that residents of both the Village and Township would know the reasoning of their elected representatives.