The Township Trustees decided to vote against the proposed Joint Fire District as presented by the Village Council. The Council had passed a resolution at their June 14 meeting resolving their support of forming a Joint Fire District.
One of the issues that was raised concerning the Joint District was that there would be at least one non-elected official sitting on the Fire Board. Considering the recent drumbeat of “taxation without representation”, this may be justified. One good thing that came out of the meeting was that the Trustees seem willing to hash out a new Agreement of Operation with the Village. While certainly this won’t be a free and easy process, it is a step in the correct direction.
My hope is that the two sides will agree to an Agreement of Operation that would last for a period of two years. During those two years, they would continue to work together to develop a compromise putting together a Joint Fire District that is tolerable to both sides. An old adage about compromise basically says that a good compromise makes both parties involved angry. (Look at the recent Senate compromise over federal judges, somehow everyone was angry about that one.)
It seems reasonable that by the end of 2007, we can have in place, a District that resolves issues on both sides. The Village continues to be concerned about representation in the decision making process, and not only the money generating process. The Trustees continue to be concerned about the financial viability of the Village, considering past mismanagement and disrespect. We can get past these issues by putting personal feelings aside and working toward the common good.
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