Doug Soden Responds

TIRED OF THE HATRED?
 
In this world there are always people who won’t let the past be in the past and who are determined to keep strife going, no matter what the cost. It is unfortunate that this is the legacy of Richard Dockwell and Anita Fardelman and the group of people they represent. They are determined to have their truths, however slanted and hateful, be the truths of the Windham community.
 
I believe this community is getting tired of the "supposed" hatred between two fire departments, both of whom have qualified people and equipment to serve the community. Instead of looking at this as a negative thing, we should be considering how fortunate this community is to have two fire departments willing to serve and be at risk to keep our property safe. What a shame that they can’t find some common ground here.
 
But these issues aren’t really about these 2 fire departments...it is about a piece of property known as our community hall. This piece of property is the white elephant in this community where it all began. What the general public never got to realize was this "Fire Hall" as we call it was a real drain on the funds of the community. The upkeep and the heat alone were staggering for the supervisors to handle on their own with the funds available to them. Back in the mid 1990’s when the fire department was in jeopardy of being thrown out of the building because then Supervisor Thetga was fighting with fire department, the community came together to save our fire protection. We knew that THAT was what was most important and we acted on this by voting supervisors out of office to save the fire department.
 
It doesn’t matter what the issues were between the ousted supervisors and the fire department at the time. What matters is that the new regime of supervisors realized it was important to keep fire protection in the community and to allow them to continue to pay the expenses on this Community Hall. Initially the supervisors inquired that the NEB school take the building back as they had signed it over to the township supervisors in the first place, but NEB wanted nothing to do with it. They knew what a financial drain it was to keep it going. So the supervisors gave the fire department back the tax funds that had been withheld from them and provided a 99 year lease to insure that the fire department had a place for their equipment and fundraisers. Through their fundraisers and the allotments from the taxes, the fire department had actually saved this building over the years and had kept it going without it raising our taxes. In return for the lease, the fire department paid the supervisors $15,000 as a show of good faith, which the contract said would have to be repaid by the supervisors if they broke the lease. Taxwise, we were in a pretty good place then.
 
Since then, another regime of supervisors, who threw out the 99 year lease, has set up new fire department and taken over all expenses on the building. Now our taxes have raised every year and we no longer can say we are in a pretty good place, community-wise...taxwise...or in any other way. The supervisors refused to refund the $15,000 for breaking the lease and the fire department sued for the money and won that part of the lawsuit. Money has been spent to the point where we no longer have the reserve CDs which was the community’s safety net in case of financial trouble. This community is not an overflowing well of money which can be tapped at a moment’s notice. WE MUST RECOGNIZE THAT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COMMUNITY NEED FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY.
 
What have we learned from all this? It would appear we have learned nothing except some of the most extreme hatred I have ever seen in a community. What should we have learned from this? We can’t survive all this hatred. It has cost us so much financially and at some point it may cost us more personally if someone loses their property or life because two fire departments and their supporters can’t get along.
 
Dockwell and Fardelman like to use the buzz words to keep things stirred up, e.g.:
 
***"Mr. Nichols SIGNED a petition" to stop the grant money from going to our community for this new fire truck. Yes, he and MANY others signed this petition. It was common sense. Between the fire departments there was much good equipment here...we were not at all in the dire straits of the people of Louisiana.
 
***"Mr. Nichols GAVE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT A 99 YEAR LEASE." Mr. Nichols did not do this alone. It was a decision by all 3 supervisors and seemed to be the only way to guarantee that the fire department had a place to function so they could not be thrown out in the cold.
 
***"The fire department PULLED OUT." Yes, they moved to another location and for those few days they were not in the community, they had provided for mutual aid coverage from our surrounding fire departments. Granted, it was not their best moment, but think about this. That fire department functioned for many years without the tax money they were guaranteed in contract because the supervisors had refused to pay them. How many of you would work for years with no salary? THEY DID NOT ABANDON the community. They merely moved to another location where they have since proved that they can function independently. How many people in this community knew that the fire department had had their tax monies withheld from them for several years just because of a bad relationship with the supervisors? Would not the current fire department also have an extreme reaction to such a situation if it were to go on for years and years?
 
Dockwell and Fardelman focus on the hate and blame as always. They talk about history, but they have forgotten the positive history of this community when we were united in a common theme. We had the good things of life, safety for our properties, low taxes, community spirit and the love of fellow man. We need to find a way to get that back before we are totally bankrupt in spirit and finances and before there is serious intimidation or violence between factions that can never be erased.
 
Mr. Nichols does not deal in hatred. He does not favor one fire company over the other. He knows there is good in both and strength in reconciliation. He uses common sense instead of rash decisions which can cost us in the long run and has hopes that reconciliation can be achieved at some point, however tough this may be.
 
AREN’T YOU TIRED OF THE HATRED?? AREN’T YOU TIRED OF THE PHRASES "DEPARTMENT 19" AND "DEPARTMENT 28". DON’T YOU JUST WANT SOME PEACE AND QUIET AND A PLACE WHERE COMMUNITY SPIRIT CAN BE EXPRESSED? I think the majority of this community is ready for that.
 
Doug Soden