Governmental Affairs
■Cathy Barnette has asked that residents contact her with their comments regarding fire protection in Daphne. Her March 4th letter to District 2 constituents follows:
Please take time to read the note below and share with your neighbors and friends….
As you know, we learned in January that the Fire Station behind City Hall was not manned. We also learned that all emergency calls (Fire and Medic) serving District #1 and #2 are coming from Fire Station #2, on North Main Street. As we began to push for Fire Station #1 to be fully staffed and functional, we found out that only 2 men are on a truck per shift. The National Standard is recommended at 5 firefighters per truck but 4 is considered to be “acceptable.” The issue then shifted to addressing an overall need for the entire City of Daphne Fire Department as well as the problem facing District 1.
As all of these issues were coming to light, revenue projections for Daphne began coming in…we are more than $175,000 below projections. There is no doubt that the City of Daphne needs to be fiscally responsible. We, as Councilpersons, are elected to promote the health, safety and welfare for Daphne residents. Fire protection is one of the most basic City services! Councilman Yelding and I have pushed for the hiring of 6 firefighters and were able to get the Council to approve the six firefighters on February 18th.
In a disappointing move, Mayor Fred Small vetoed the hiring of the 6 firefighters. This was the first time he has exercised his veto power. Since the initial vote to hire the firefighters was 6-1 in favor of the motion, I made the motion to overturn the veto last night. Unfortunately, the Council flip flopped with a vote of 5-2 to allow the veto to stand (Councilman Yelding was the other AYE).
The Daphne City Council has a responsibility to provide this fire service. The Mayor argued that we needed more planning before proceeding and the council members who upheld the veto agreed. I agree that adequate planning is essential to good government. However, this is the same council that has not spent adequate time researching the long term consequences of it’s actions (or inaction). The Council should have a capital improvement plan with agreed upon priorities but does not. Collectively, we have stated that completion of sewering the City should be a priority, yet little progress has been made. We should have a comprehensive development plan to address issues regarding growth. Yet, we have moved forward with annexation without any understanding of the costs to do so (and only now know that fire protection would be a significant issue!)…Financially, we have made poor decisions. We began the trend last spring during the discussions of the Public Safety pay raise. Instead of studying the issue and deliberating over the best course of action, the Council created a separate pay table and thereby creating this financial situation. (Palumbo, Lake and I argued against citing financial difficulties.) The Council approved the Renaissance Improvement District giving significant tax discounts…We have spent 7.75 million dollars on construction and architectural fees alone for the Daphne City Hall. And at budget time, instead of doing the hard work and getting involved in details, we told the Mayor to cut the budget by 9% and left it at that…
I am sending this to you to make you aware of the situation and to encourage you, if you are as concerned as I, to become more involved in your community. Please know, without citizen oversight, elected officials may not effectively represent their constituents. As always, I remain here to serve. I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Cathy S. Barnette
District 2, Councilperson
City of Daphne
PO Box 400
Daphne, AL 36526