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!_ £=
i J= CORNER
By Paul Gauwin |
Consolidating fire districts
tantamount to fool's errand
Hidden somewhere in the eerie
shadows of Barnstable's political
encampments is a battered brick
wallcovered withdried blood,sweatandtears.
It is appropriately knowninthe subculture of
sovereign soot as "The Great Firewall."
It is impenetrable.
Every decade or so, the town government
offers up a group of innocent citizens as
sacrificial lambs to the deity of "Merge," the
god of consolidation, whose icon sits atop
the wall wearing a fire hat, red suspenders,
heaven only knows why, and carrying an axe
threateningly.
The lambs congregate at the base of the
wallfor ayear or two bleating statistics while
repeatedly butting the brick and knocking
themselves silly. Nobody listens. Eventually,
the gods are sated,the battered lambs return
to the flock, nothing changes and the effort
is forgotten -until the next time.
That's the history of the town's sporadic
and unconvincing initiatives to consolidate
the five autonomous fire districts into one
lean,mean firefighting/rescue machineunder
the aegis of the municipality.
Thetownadministrationisnow contemplat-
ing another fruitless study. As any planner
can explain, one can never study something
enough if one wants to keep the planners
appearing gainfully employed.
Citizen Paul Lebel jumped through the
fire district study hoops more than a decade
ago. A prime observation by hispanel warned
that any municipal-driven initiative lacking
the consent and cooperation of the districts'
electorates and their representatives would
cause more political chaos than what it was
worth.
Does that glass still hold water? Probably.
Why?
Permit,please,the lifting of apassage from
The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat,where,
in the wardroom of a Royal Navy corvette
doing convoy duty in early WWII, a group
of junior officers is debating the frightful
reality and consequences of the developing
hostilities, trying to fathom the complexity
of it all.
Monserratt writes: "The true answer was of
course that one should have taken sufficient
interest in politics before the war to under-
stand what the war was about." (pg. 174)
Likewise,the idea of fire district consolida-
tion hasn't sufficiently interested those who
count most,the consumers of district services.
That includesannualmeetingno-showswhose
lethargy islegendary. Theyjust don't want to
hear about it. "Leave us alone," they shout.
They are disinterested in the recurring battle
to enlarge the municipal empire.
TheLebel study alsodiscovered that district
voters want above all to maintain control of
their ambulances and not chance aperceived
municipal propensity to cut staff, stations
and services in lean times, as in schools and
public works. Some villages, we are told,
demand to keep their ambulances at arms
lengthfrom the increasingpolitics ofthe town
administration.
Nonetheless: Cotuit fire captain David
Pierce earned $111,000 last year and his
wife, Jayne, a firefighter/p aramedic, $125,193
- nearly a quarter million in one household.
Do Cotuit taxpayers care, and should they?
(For the uninitiated, a paramedic earns a bit
more than EMTs because they can do more,
like initiate intravenous.)
In Jayne Pierce's case, district treasurer
AgnesMurray saysher base pay is$61,567but
her overtime for the year was $63,626 -more
than her base pay. "Some people take more
overtime than others," Murray said, noting
that coverage of the 5,000 residents in 6.4 sq.
miles is 24/7.
Murray said Cotuit willbegin listingannual
gross wages in the annual report this year
because some district officials think that
should be done to keep the public informed.
The town should do likewise.
As regards consolidation, district wages
don't matter. The reality is that town coun-
cilors and their minions along with elected
district officials -representatives ofthe people
- apparently support the current generous
level of wages in response to an anesthetized
public 's tacit approval. Otherwise, there
would be a grass-roots revolution to end
what some view as excessive remuneration
for some public employees becoming an elite
municipal cadre.
Consolidating the fire districts will be an
elusive endeavor if approached from the top
down, that is, initiated by a heavy-handed
municipal government. Precedent teaches
that a single cohesive fire department can
emerge only from the resolve of the district
voters and their chosen representatives -and
for the moment, that determination doesn't
exist.
The council can go ahead and vote the study
and waste money ifit believes in miracles,but
the next sound you willhear willbe sacrificial
heads banging against a brick wall.
Whose ethics are they?
State ethicistsare comingto
Barnstable Towne. Next week
at Marstons Mills East Horace
Mann Charter School. Moder-
ating the Statist view will be
our very own Towne Moralist,
Mr.Robert Smith.
What is a State view? Well, it
is the view of those people cur-
rently inpoliticalpower. Socall
it Sovereign Power.You know
the drill: Red Statesdon't coun-
tenance Blue States. Bringyour
open and inquiring minds.
Sadly,no Towne citizens will
be on the podium. And I don't
mean only office holders or
Towne employees. Alan God-
dard would be agood choice. So
would John Alden. Ditto Al
DeFlorio. Ditto Ditto Herb
Greenwald.
Ethicsstudy supposedly fixes
the differences between good
and evil,right and wrong;thisis
called normative ethics. Then,
there is the logic of what is
"good" or "bad": Meta-ethics.
We're not told what ethi-
cal brand the State will be
shilling next week. (States
often don't tell their right
and left hands what's going
on.) Will it be situational?
Existentialist? Christian
existentialist? Fachia? Sting's?
Night soil porterism? Practical
(whatever mightwork or Bread-
and-Circuses) ? Historyisbunk
(Our Father Who art Ford)?
Bring your own questions.
Here are some you might ask:
Should the Chamber of Com-
merce be guaranteed a spot on
all Towne Committees?
Does Towne Government
need to obey the open meet-
ing laws?
Are our Enterprise accounts
(e.g. the airport's) truly demo-
cratic or just capitalistic?
What are the limits of bur-
geoning bureaucracy?
Should the Barlaco property
sale be rescinded because a
"charitable clause" was not
discussed in public sessions?
Should excessive political
ghettoism be policy of aTowne
manager?
Isjacking up property taxes
to offset a F.A.I.R. tax vote
ethical?
You get the point.
Power to the people is the
basic democratic ethic.
Peter Doiron
Barnstable Village
Editor 's note: The town
attorney is a resident of
Centerville.
Let there be light
CapeWind hasbeen makinga
long and resolute effort to pro-
vide us with clean electricity at
a guaranteed affordable price.
It patiently refutes all manner
of attacks by the Alliance and
some nearsighted politicians.
Whentheopponent'slogicistoo
weak or precious to win hearts
and minds,theirrefuge isskull-
duggery and dirty tricks.
Remember backinJune 2003
when every newspaper reader
on the Cape found an Alliance
map ofthe windfarm enclosed?
It vastly enlarged the area to
makethe turbines look soclose
to shore you could skip a flat
stone to them.
Then their PR vice president
faked a story on Jim Gordon's
financial dealings that was
circulated to the press. Mr.
Donelan had to resign,and two
yearslater admitted publishing
defamatory comments.
Senators Warner and Ken-
nedy tried to slip a prohibition
on wind farms into the defense
budget , but fellow senators
found that to be indefensible.
Assorted claims, all false,
by the Alliance printed in our
newspapers include: the elec-
tricity won't go to the Cape
and Islands: a wind farm won't
reduce pollution; it would en-
danger ships and aircraft; the
platform is a bigger oil spill
hazard than tankers; you'll
hear noise on the beach; it will
slaughter birds; the project will
go broke and leave the Sound
cluttered; and other assorted
myths and f alsehoods. Every
one of the above has been re-
futed by independent experts,
government agencies, and the
experiences of European off-
shore wind farms.
But now we find out the Al-
liance paid lobbyist Guy Mar-
tin $440,000. He has a couple
of Alaskan legislators in his
pocket.Ifit seemedstrangethat
Don Young would care about
Nantucket Sound, it shouldn't
surprise us when we've been
bombarded with stories of
Abramoff'sK St.palsdetermin-
ing our futures. Slipping this
into the conference committee
report isanoutrage.If passedit
would barAmericafrom having
a viable shot at offshore windf
arms anywhere.As this is writ-
ten thevotehasnot been taken.
If it does pass, Messrs. Yearly
andKoch sure got alot for their
investment in infamy.
With this long history of
deception it is small wonder
the tide of public opinion has
turned. Our newspapers show
signsofchange,becomingmore
evenhanded thanearlier.There
are tiny hints some of our ob-
structionist office holders are
seeingthelight.Afteryearswith
their heads in the sand dunes
they will need dark shades to
protect their eyes from the
sunshine.
Richard C. Bartlett
Cotuit
LETTERS
Cape Care the Rx for ailinghealth system?..
CONTINUED FROM PAGE A:1
do the work I trained to do,"
he said. "Universal coverage
would help remove most of
the barriers to quality health
care for me."
At the same time people are
struggling to find coverage,
the "big tent" of full-service
hospitals like Cape Cod Hos-
pital is threatened, according
to Cape Cod Healthcare CEO
Steve Abbott.
"We can't function as a free
market," he said. "If it were,
we'd turn people away at the
emergency room." Instead ,
the hospital ER is too often
the stop of last resort for the
uninsured and under-insured,
although community health
centers have started to help
close the gap.
As specialty services move
theiroutpatient workoff-prem-
ises, Abbott said, it becomes
harder for the hospital to use
suchrevenuesto payforpoorly-
reimbursed inpatient hospital-
izations. He saidthe hospitalis
lookingatthelossof$7.2million
in revenues thisyear.
That $7.2millionisatinypart
of the $59billionspent inMas-
sachusetts on health care per
year.That figure was given at
the meetingby Dr.Alan Sager,
director of the Health Reform
Program at Harvard University
School of Public Health.
"That's over $9,000 per per-
son, and 27 percent above the
U.S. average per person," he
said.
By comparison, France and
Germany each spend around
$36 billion - and everyone in
the country has coverage.
Sagernoted that small,com-
munity-basedhospitals,where
services can be delivered less
expensively,are more likely to
be closedthanmedicalcenters.
"It's survival of the fattest,"
he said.
"We don't know how to con-
trol costs," Sager said. "We
have the world's costliest
care."
And yet, Sager said, "health
care is the easiest problem
to fix in the United States,"
given the resources available.
The hint was the need for the
political will to do so, which
was apparent inthe day Sager
named for health care reform
to begin - "1/20/09, next Inau-
guration Day."
Politicalwilliswhatthe Cape
Care campaign is trying to
muster.A resolution has been
placed on most town meet-
ing warrants this spring (mi-
nus Falmouth and Mashpee.
In Barnstable, advocate Jim
Gould of Cotuit has met with
the town council's leadership
to discuss putting the matter
on an agenda.
The non-binding resolution
asks the county government
to support aproposed regional
universalhealth care program
that would ensure health care
coveragefor allresidentsofthe
Cape and use a single-payer
plan to reduce adrninistrative
costs and take advantage of
bulk discounts of drugs and
medical supplies.
For more details, goto www.
capecareinfo
FR#M THE
SENATE
MSo.litnttHvn7
Giving families hope when they
have nowhere else to turn
There are defining moments in all
of our fives. Moments when we were
able to step forward and be a part
of helping others who did not know
where to turn next. In 2000, we were
able to dojust that with the creation
ofthe Catastrophic IllnessinChildren
Relief Fund.
It is the story of one child, David,
whoinspired allofusto workto create
the Catastrophic Illness in Children
Relief Fund.
David had arare form of Leukemia,
and afterexploringcountlessavenues,
was hoping to try an experimental
treatment inSeattle,but MassHealth
wouldnot cover the cost of the treat-
ment.
Having nowhere else to turn ,
David's father contacted several
legislators including representa-
tives Robert Nyman (D-Rockland),
Kathleen Teahan (D-Whitman), and
myself.
While we were working on moving
the legislation to create the CICRF
forward, others took the reins to
get private benefactors to help fund
this treatment for David. David was
able to receive the treatment, but,
sadly, lost his battle with Leukemia
several weeks later. David's passing
devastated all of us, but made us
even more determined that families
in the same situation would have a
place to turn.
We felt very strongly that no par-
ent should have to go through the
anguish that plagued David's father
as he sought treatment for his son.
Our goal was to create a state fund
that families could turn to when their
insurance-whether public or private
-was not able to pick up the costs.
It has been five years since the pas-
sage of the CICRF in February, and
through the program, 750 families
have been able to tap into the Fund's
resources for medical expenses that
are not covered by public or private
insurance that would have otherwise
driven a family into bankruptcy.
Inorder to applyfor assistancefrom
CICRF, the child must to be 18years
old oryounger.Also, expenses for the
child'smedicalconditionmust exceed
10percent ofthe family'sgrossincome
up to $100,000 and 15 percent of any
portion of annual family income that
exceeds $100,000.
If the application for assistance is
accepted, CICRFwillcover expenses
including payments to health care
providers , medications , acute or
specialized care, medical transpor-
tation, home health care, and travel
expenses. However, other expenses
may be covered for treatment, pal-
liation and rehabilitation, pending
CICRF Commission approval.
CICRF is administered by an inde-
pendent , multidisciplinary Commis-
sion made up of members from both
the public and private sector.
Families with children who have
catastrophic illnesses do not have
to feel helpless if they have no way
to cover their children's medical
expenses. That is why we created
CICRF; so that parents can focus on
getting their children help and not
on how to pay for it.
Unfortunately, not all children will
winthe battles that they are fighting,
and anyloss isdevastating. However,
ifwe are able to helpjust one child by
providing assistancethrough CICRF,
then we have won a very important
battle.
For more information on the Catastrophic Illness
in Children Relief Fund visit www.mass.gov/cicrf
or call 800-882-1435.
H
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