Politics & Government

Orland Fire Protection District Candidates On Effective Budgeting

Five people running for seats on the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees share their opinions on how to establish a budget that allows firefighters to work effectively, while not overburdening taxpayers.

 

The following question was asked of all the candidates running for the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees in our Patch questionnaire.

Answers are listed in the order they were received.

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

How do you propose keeping a tighter budget that lessens the burden on taxpayers, while giving staff the tools to do their job, especially with Orland’s aging population?

John Brudnak

Find out what's happening in Orland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I believe the current board has enacted some measures to control escalating costs, however, I believe my past experience would be valuable to the Board of Trustees and the taxpayers for fiscal responsibility. All taxing bodies face tough times with the state of the economy, but that does not mean that more cannot be done. We have to justify our current costs as well as anticipate and contain future costs. As the population ages, the calls for service typically increase. In working with Chief Ken Brucki, we have discussed the need for better response times and the district has made some significant improvements. If elected, I will work with Chief Brucki to ensure that as a district, we are prepared for any future growth.

Larry Moran

I do not see the aging population being an undue burden on the services provided.  While an increase in ambulance requests will be evident, I’m confident the staffing and equipment levels will handle the increase.  The tighter budget has more to do with justification of the non-sworn employees.  Two studies have justified the staffing and equipment levels, yet not one study has been done on the administrative side of the District.  I know sworn employees must be credentialed for the duties they are hired to perform, I don’t know if that holds true for the non-sworn employees.

Jayne Schirmacher

We need to keep waste out of the budget. We need to keep a good staff to assure the district runs smoothly and our community is protected. We have to work within our financial means on a long range plan that balances funding and the needs of our entire population with emphasis on our aging population.

Glenn Michalek

Look into having other fire and police departments use our training facility and instructors to train them for a fee along with applying for grants for equipment and classes.

Martin McGill

Maintaining services while tapping into the resources on hand to keep service at the high level it is at, all without raising taxes. We can do that by looking into offering our maintenance and training facilities to other districts and departments. This ties into creating revenue within our own district in the ways I described. We also need to watch wasteful spending that goes on.  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There are plenty of ways to keep up on local news:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here