Dear Editor,
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
As Board members of Hualapai Valley Fire District, we cannot remain silent in the face of the Citizens for a Safe Fire District ad in the Sunday paper. The people who have been so busy trashing HVFD care nothing for the people we serve. They are on a mission to destroy a vital service to the unincorporated areas north of Kingman and Mohave County. We therefore want to set the record straight:
1. THEY SAY: HVFD was “The First Department in Mohave County to be fined $20,000 for a live burn OSHA violation.” THE TRUTH: What they don’t tell you is that it wasn’t OSHA and no OSHA regulations were ever alleged to have been violated. The truth is City of Kingman fire fighter Bob Borker, based on second-hand information, fabricated a list of “violations” (per Borker, not OSHA regulations) and convinced his union IAFF/PFFA president, Tim Hill, to file a complaint, based on Borker’s fabricated list, with the Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH). The original complaint was e-mailed to Larry Etchechury, Director of the Arizona Industrial Commission, who serves at the pleasure of the five-member Commission, headed by Chairman Brian Delfs. Chairman Brian Delfs is an officer of PFFA, serving the union under the leadership of Tim Hill. PFFA Magazine, Vol. 11, Issue 2, 2007, p. 38. The ADOSH investigators “investigated”, found nothing, but were forced to “investigate” again by ADOSH Director Etchechury. Chairman Delfs voted in an August 8, 2007 Commission meeting to make the fine $20,000, apparently ignoring the obvious conflict of interest. The ADOSH citation, which cites no Federal or Arizona laws, will be proved to be groundless before a judge on January 31, 2008; there will be no fine.
2. THEY SAY: this is “The First time HVFD has suffered this much employee turn-over.” THE TRUTH: We don’t know where they get their statistics. Perhaps they should ask how many former HVFD personnel now work for the City of Kingman. Whatever “turn-over” there has been, HVFD is fully staffed. Many of our newer personnel have come to us already credentialed and experienced.
3. THEY SAY: “The First time in over ten years HVFD is consistently unable to provide a paramedic (ALS) at each one of its fire stations.” THE TRUTH: HVFD currently has more paramedic coverage than ever before. As an example, as of November 15, 2007, Valle Vista, for the first time ever, now has paramedic coverage, 24-7.
4. THEY SAY: “The first time in Arizona history, the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) has stepped in to file a lawsuit against a fire district for wrongful termination.” THE TRUTH: Yes, our point exactly. In fact, City of Kingman fire fighter Bob Borker campaigned for his seat as president of the union local on a platform to take down HVFD and its Fire Chief, Wayne Eder. And Arizona IAFF/PFFA president Tim Hill recently bragged in his “President’s Message” in the IAFF Magazine, p. 37 that “The PFFA and the IAFF have committed all of our combined resources… we will do everything in our power to see that this chief [Eder] … is removed along with those board members who support him.” We wonder if union members across Arizona know that their dues are being spent on high-priced out-of-state big-labor lawyers and election consultants, not to mention local political advertising, just to bring down a rural fire district. It’s like using a sledge hammer to kill a gnat! All over a handful of union egos.
5. THEY SAY: this is “The first time HVFD has pulled out of joint dispatching, and refused to perform training with its closest neighbor [City of Kingman Fire Department].” THE TRUTH: What they aren’t telling you is that the City of Kingman raised its annual fee for HVFD participation in “joint dispatching” so high, HVFD was forced to find an alternative, which turned out to be much more cost-effective and efficient. HVFD has NEVER been invited or refused to train with the City of Kingman Fire Department. In fact, the City of Kingman has not conducted a fire academy in many years where HVFD has conducted three fire academies in the four years since Chief Eder was hired. Many of the City of Kingman’s fire fighters were trained at HFVD and then were hired away by KFD.
6. THEY SAY: this is “The First time the school district ever had to buy equipment to pass a fire inspection.” THE TRUTH: Anyone who has ever opened a business or renovated or added-on to a commercial or government building knows this is nonsense.
7. THEY SAY: “HVFD refuses to hear or act on matters of public interest” and “will not allow an open ‘call’ for public comment.” THE TRUTH: The Board has offered to place items of public concern on its agenda but Bob Borker and company do not want an open forum. They only seek opportunities to ambush.
8. THEY SAY: this is “The First time HVFD has had so many issues with performing proper emergency medical care to its citizens.” THE TRUTH: The only emergency care “issues” HVFD has faced recently are those churned up by Bob Borker and his cronies. The HVFD and its dedicated and experienced staff have been totally vindicated by the Arizona Department of Health Services. In one instance, the finding was that “disciplinary action is not warranted”; in another instance, HVFD’s EMS training program passed a DHS audit and eight (8) HVFD fire fighters successfully completed in-house academy for State EMT certification; all HFVD “graduates” are qualified and ready to take the national examination.
Let us be perfectly straight, your HVFD Board of Directors and Fire Chief are committed to providing HVFD Taxpayers the best possible service and truth of all issues and will not be intimated by the likes of Mike Collins and Bobby Borker in performing our duties!
Jimmie Bodenhamer Edward Schrum
Chairman Clerk of the Board
HVFD Board of Directors HVFD Board of Directors
5805 N Cedar Ridge Lane 757-9407
Kingman
692-6636