Published: December 21, 2006 06:47 pm      

LETTERS: Dec. 22, 2006

Reader offers debate for full-time fire staff

To the citizens of Lafayette Township, Floyd County: I am writing you this day in the hope of enlightening all land owners of the

benefits and costs of a paid, full-time fire department. There are certain elements within our community who are misrepresenting the facts as they pertain to funding a paid fire department.

On election day, just outside of the polls at Floyds Knobs Elementary, individuals were encouraging voters to sign a petition which stated that

they were not in favor of a paid fire department for Lafayette Township because our property taxes would be going up anywhere between 600 and 1,000 percent (or 6 to 10 times what you are currently paying). When I brought it to their attention that those figures were erroneous, they finally admitted that the petition was worded in such a fashion so that they could get more signatures for their petition to disband the Lafayette Fire District. Therefore, those of you who signed the petitions that day thinking that your taxes were going through the roof were misled.

The truth of the matter is that no one knows as of this time how much our taxes will go up. But, the increase will be in your township taxes, which is

just a percentage of your property taxes, which is where funding for our fire department currently comes from.

Why fund a paid fire department? Have you or your loved ones ever needed help in an emergency — be it a fire, an automobile accident, or a medical emergency? Would you rather have rescue personnel on site and ready to roll to your help, or wait while they drive from their homes to the fire house and then get suited up and head to your emergency? Not only can minutes mean the difference between a good outcome and a not so good one, but many times even precious seconds matter. What if the hospitals and ambulance and STAT flight personnel had to drive from their homes to attend to you and yours in an emergency? It’s scary to even contemplate that scenario! The same logic applies to our fire department.

Please take a moment to do some real good during this holiday season:

• Take a few minutes and call or write your county commissioners and get behind the drive for a paid fire district.

• If you are a supporter of having a paid fire department, and accidentally sent in the bright colored petition placed in your mailbox or newspaper box thinking that you were actually supporting the fire district, it is not too late to rectify the error. Just call the Floyd County Auditors Office and

ask to have your name removed from the petition that was sent out by C.C.A.I.T.

• Take a couple of more minutes and write a note to the brave, dedicated men and women who are truly heroes in this community. That goes for all those in service whether it be Lafayette or Greenville or Georgetown or New Chapel (by law, these brave souls only get paid $5 per run up to a maximum of 100 runs per year). They don’t get paid to receive training in fighting fires, medical responders, hazardous materials or even swift water rescues. They are truly volunteers. Please don’t be like our family used to be — we just took it for granted that when you call 911 help would be there. Now we know!

We are blessed — all of us — in more ways than you may ever know. I pray that no one would ever need their assistance, reality tells me that some will, let’s get them on the scene as fast as possible. Someone’s life is hanging in the balance!

Thanks for your support and may God bless!

— Kenny and Debbie Fultz and family, Floyds Knobs



Reader: Minimal school remodeling is fine

I have read that Greater Clark Schools wants to renovate and rebuild school buildings in our area. The fact that the proposed spending is NOT the total projected needs in the district. Even if this second largest state school project bond issue is passed, there will still be more needs for elementary buildings etc. So rather than your property taxes going up by 37 percent it will in fact over the next few years go up much, much more than that.

I understand the school corporation needs better facilities. I do not think, however, that the building of new buildings and buying large tracts of land does anything to help our young folks on their ISTEP scores. I think the focus should be on minimal remodeling to bring the buildings to code

requirements and add classrooms where needed, not to build buildings that will not add to the value of an education at GCS.

— John Groan, Charlestown



U.S. should support Americans

On Dec. 18, 2006, The New York Times reported the following. Donald Vance: A 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago, went to Iraq as a security contractor. He wound up as a whistle-blower, passing information to the FBI about suspicious activities at the Iraqi security firm where he worked,

including what he said was possible illegal weapons trading (including the sale of weapons to those with ties to violent militias and death squads) and the hiring as guards of some Iraqis known to be in militias.

What did Mr. Vance receive for his efforts? He and another American, Nathan Ertel, were arrested on April 16, 2006. They were detained and interrogated for weeks. Why? Mr. Ertel’s detention notice, which he only received days after his arrest, said, “You have been detained for the following reasons: You work for a business entity that possessed one or more large weapons caches on its premises and may be involved in the possible distribution of these weapons to insurgent/terrorist groups.” Repeated requests for legal counsel were denied. They were not allowed to review documents reported to be evidence against them. They were not allowed to contact anyone. Vance’s

family back in the Unites States thought he was dead. Vance repeatedly told his captors, interrogators, and the Detainee Status Board, that he was the whistle-blower to the FBI and that he was not involved in any of the illegal activity. It would be another two weeks before anyone would call his FBI contact. Vance and Ertel were detained in 9-by-9-foot cells and had a concrete slab with worn 3 inch foam mats to lie on. Their fluorescent lights were kept on day and night and they were kept from covering their faces to block out the light. Loud music was often played outside their cells. They were rousted at random times and forced to stand in their cells without explanation. Ertel was found to be “an innocent civilian” on May 7, 2006.

However, he was not released until May 25, 2006, 18 days later. Vance, however, was not released until July 20, 2006, after 97 days in captivity.

No charges were ever brought and no explanation was ever given regarding his detention. These were Americans with rights guaranteed under the Constitution which were ignored by his own country. How could this happen to them? The answer is that we did it to them. We have allowed President Bush to take away those rights that make us Americans in the name of “fighting terrorism” and in so doing, we have aided and abetted in this travesty against Vance and Ertel.

This will one day be looked back upon as a terrible blot in our nation’s history and mentioned with the Japanese relocation during World War II and the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s. Shame on all of us for allowing something like this to happen to two of our own.

— Jeffrey Knoebel, Charlestown