Letter to The Editor: Kazian on the SFD Budget

By John Roberts, Sedona Resident
(February 9, 2018)

That article in the 2/7 Red Rock News by chief Kazian did one worthy service for us taxpayers. It announced that the SFD board was now looking into the upcoming fire district budget. The remainder of his message was an insult to the intelligence of the public. He prattled on about how and what a budget process is about. As if we taxpayers are so stupid as not to know anything about budgets. The nice sounding platitudes were all over the place but not one bit of information about what the board will place in their agenda for action.

That scared me. Because during the time before the $18 million bond issue vote last November this same Ty Montgomery SFD Board gang promoted the outlandish demand for tax money to spend foolishly on all those fire houses not needing repairs. As they did so they also told us if the bond failed they were going to hit us up with tax increases. Good managing doesn’t use threats like this to obtain results. Thug like politicians do. So now the budget is up for action by this same board. They issued the threat and the what if occurred. Get ready with your check book the tax hit is on.

Let’s sit back and take a hard look at what is going on. The 3 to 2 vote against the bond tells us one thing for sure. That is the taxpayers are fed up with the SFD for wasting our money. There were other factors but this vote was a glaring tax payer revolt. This leads on to that there may be something else we should be concerned about. For me it starts with the really great group of front line fire fighters and medics who do the real work of protecting us all so competently. All the blabla we heard about for the bond issue obliterated anything about the great job the fire fighters and medics do for us. So buying fire trucks we do not require, rebuilding perfectly good fire houses, overpaying the fire chief, hiring more paper pushing bureaucrats etc.,etc. only diverts attention from the important factors. More of the same will only further disenchant the tax paying public and that will not bode well for the fire fighters and medics we have. The SFD front line is well paid but well ahead of our police and teachers. An imbalance is never good. All of which has me worried.

That brings up the SFD board election this fall. We need a house cleaning and badly. Being well advised and objective will show up in your voting decision. Let’s get on the right track.