I really don’t have that good of an imagination to fabricate all the stuff I wrote about. I got it from the president of County Service Area 38, a CSA 38 board member, and the CSA 38 secretary, the information disseminated at CSA 38 meetings and IFPD meetings, and a member of the CSA-IFPD negotiation team.
“Unilateral” was indeed the word used. Since the author of the April 18 letter doesn’t attend the CSA 38 meetings, he can’t be responsible for the information provided there.
After the Town Crier came out, I spoke with the CSA 38 contract negotiator and we both had a good laugh. The “Fabrications” were all his.
Nowhere in the CSA 38 contract with IFPD was “1 percent” mentioned; therefore, all subsequent numbers are wrong.
The point raised in his letter: “IFPD cannot give away free service to Zone III when they are charging for services in Zone II” missed the mark.
No one gets “free service.” IFPD always charges fees for transport. Zone III has never paid a cent for standby service. This has been a point of contention since this very confusing service plan came into being in 1996.
I’ve heard it brought up at every CSA 38 meeting since I started going in 2002. Zone II chose to tax themselves to provide “enhanced service” in 2003.
A recent example of CAL FIRE helping out occurred April 17. CAL FIRE Firefighters from Station 23 in Pine Cove were checking the pressure to the fire hydrants on Fern Valley Road, following the terrible fire on Howland, to which they also responded on April 11. (No fabrication.)
We have Mutual Aid agreements between all emergency services but checking another Fire Protection District’s fire plugs seems a bit beyond. What else does CAL FIRE need to do?
Ambulance service has been at best confusing and disjointed since 1996 when the current and soon to be gone plan was devised.
I hope that with the help from CAL FIRE and the County of Riverside, the problems faced by the Mountain Communities can be addressed. The “band aids” we have been applying have proved inadequate given IFPD’s financial problems.
The greater community needs a better organized provider to bring in quality services. We are rather isolated here in the Mountain Communities and cooperation needs to be one of our greatest efforts.
I hope that in the future, cooperation, rather than contention, will prevail.
Nancy Borchers
Pine Cove
Editor’s note: While we normally limit authors to one letter every 28 days, Ms. Borchers was granted an exception since she was the subject of a letter last week.
In the April 19 issue, Dick Rennick accused Ms. Borchers of fabricating facts in her April 12 letter regarding the IFPD ambulance service contract.
