Mayor using power play in fire department issue

To The Eagle:

The Cathlamet Fire Department has existed for 70 years and this totally volunteer group has served the county well over the years.

The people who serve in it are dedicated, hard working and provide a quality of service which is better than some paid departments. Two former area firefighters, one from this outstanding organization, the other from Fire District 4, were instrumental in establishing the Volunteer Firefighters Pension System in Washington State.

For the mayor to chastise the Fire Department over the single incident of misuse of a credit card appears to be an attempt to show his way is the only acceptable way to solve this problem. Fire Chief Jerry DeBriae has implemented procedures to prevent the unauthorized use of fuel credit cards in the future. To use this single incident as the basis for having the city take over all Fire Department finances is a power play on the part of the mayor.

Why should monies earmarked for the Emergency Medical Cumulative Reserve Fund be directed into the Cathlamet Current Expense Fund? The only reason that comes to mind is to give the City of Cathlamet access to those funds for their use rather than Emergency Medical use. Placing ambulance billing receipts into petty cash may not be the best place to locate them but it's better than putting them into the town's general fund where they could be spent on anything.

Requiring the fire department to only purchase fuel from the Wahkiakum County fuel depot is another power play. The mayor has never been a volunteer returning from a medical run in the wee hours of the morning, tired and knowing you have to go to work shortly. The vehicle must still be fueled. Under the mayor's plan, our volunteers must drive out to the county shop, open the gate, fuel the vehicle, lock the gate, return to the fire station, clean up the vehicle and put it away and then go home to bed. At present, a fuel stop at the Chevron station, since it is on the way to the station, saves a fair amount of time in getting to bed.

The mayor's quote in the November 11 Eagle concerning restoring "public trust in the Cathlamet Fire Department" is another of his ploys to convince people he is right and in charge. No one I've talked with has lost faith in the Cathlamet Fire Department. The mayor might better serve the town and citizens if he were a team player and not respond with a knee-jerk reaction when something doesn't go exactly as he thinks it should. This does not promote confidence or goodwill among volunteers.

Ron Kimmel

Former U.S. Naval Officer

Former Assistant Fire Chief

Former Fire Commissioner

Former Washington State Fire Service training

Supervisor