Hello again out there folks. Well, it is the same old story in the same old town, depending upon where you are in this magical kingdom called St. Charles. Let’s start out with some positive thoughts. The new convention center, I have to admit, does look good. It appears the quality of the construction is good but of course it hasn’t rained yet. Oh there I go again. Well anyway, if you get a chance to go over and look at it, it did turn out fairly nice. It would be interesting to go to the home and garden show this weekend. For those of you who do care to pay to park, that is a decision made by the promoters of each event. That is not mandated from the people who run the convention center.
I believe the merger of the fire departments in the County is a good idea because we have such a duplication of services. What we have here are the fire chiefs of the different fire protection districts trying to protect their little piece of turf. My opinion, they don’t care about public service. They want to keep their domain, their kingdom, in tact. If you ever meet any of these guys you have to introduce yourselves to their egos before you can enter the room to talk to them in person. Even though Chief Rhodes of the City of St. Charles Fire Department and I do not always agree, I think the man is trying to do a good job. As an example of this, I was told by a resident a firefighter was using a St. Charles fire department vehicle for his personal use in O’Fallon. I brought it to Chief Rhodes attention. The fire department pickup truck was pulled from the firefighter and further discipline is to follow.
By the way, even though they are the highest paid fire department in the state, our local fire brigade wants to maintain a $1,000 bonus whenever they re-certify as a paramedic. They want to keep getting $200 every three months for clothing. However, they do not have to produce any receipts to show they bought any clothing. Now, in my opinion, if these fine individuals are making over $100,000 a year in wages and benefits, don’t you think they can buy their own underwear?
Enough about this drain on taxpayer dollars. We will move onto another subject. In the struggle to gain a community center I think before $18 or $20 million of our tax dollars are spent on a community center it should go to a vote of the people. You and I should have a say at the ballot box. Remember, we can’t take the utility tax off, but for some reason we can go into debt for a community center. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!
In closing, keep the faith, there are some of us who are struggling to get you some tax relief. Keep sending those cards and letters. Keep calling me on that telephone whether you live in my ward or not. Next election cycle I will let you know who is on your side. 949-0956.
