Cost-cutting a joke to fire board?

During the last Carol Stream Fire Protection District board of trustees meeting, I thought that our new fire chief, Rick Kolomay, was going to cry, so distraught was he over the cuts he had to make in his budget.

He said over and over again how close to his heart the many services were, such as the paid-on-call firefighter program, fire prevention education and wellness programs for employees. Our board president, Del Miller, pledged in a strong voice to bring the district into fiscal compliance with generally accepted accounting standards.

Both these men and other members of the board expressed many mea culpas for the shortcomings of the past and what they were asking taxpayers to sacrifice in the future to assure the best emergency services for residents and the safest working conditions for firefighters. They all promised to ratchet down spending and keep a close and careful eye on where our dollars are going during these difficult economic times.

And why should we trust all these officials who spoke with such sincere and apologetic voices? Because at the conclusion of the meeting, Del Miller handed out to each and every attendee of the meeting a slick sheet of heavy cardstock printed in red, blue, white and gray ink all of their nonsense. I guess cost-cutting is just a little joke to them.

Suzanne G. Hlotke

Carol Stream