Private fire, water, ambulance and recreation departments on this mountain funded with property tax dollars, no way! As it stands now, they are filled with private agendas for self-gain and controlled or manipulated by “volunteers.”

Public oversight means the administration by highly qualified personnel with transparent budgets and daily operations. And, yes, the power of veto through the ballot box exists. It doesn’t mean give me your property tax money, hurt the public, and get out of my face.

The majority of local agencies on this mountain don’t have a clean slate, or for that matter my trust as it relates to the health and safety of my family.

Talk means nothing. Competent services are everything. Talk had been, and I suspect currently is, used as a smoke screen for their agendas and corresponding liabilities in all these agendas or agencies.

The question is whether these services should be dissolved through a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) action for the health, safety and benefit of the entire public.

I certainly don’t trust them to let me know when this action must be taken, let alone should be taken.

To see LAFCO authority, visit www.lafco.org.

Jeff Smith
Pine Cove