Thank you for your calls and questions about the Falcon Fire Protection Districts upcoming Special District Election. I hope this helps to clear up the negative media attention Commissioner Douglas Bruce is attempting to gain. It is true that the Falcon Fire Protection District is holding an election on May 2, 2006 and this Special District Election will have two polling places. The Districtís Legal Council as well as Kerry Dwyer at the Department of Local Affairs Election Division has confirmed that special districts can have as many polling places within their jurisdiction as they believe best to serve the needs of their voters. Kerry Dwyer believes, and I agree, that the election code provides ample safeguards against individuals voting in both polling places. If an individual is willing to commit perjury and voter fraud (Felony Offenses), ìdouble votingî can occur whether we have one or two polling places. Iím sending you this factual response to Commissioner Bruceís complaint because I think it is important for the voters to know the truth. Falcon Fire Protection District has grown from 8,000 citizens to over 26,000 citizens in just 6 short years. These citizens are spread out over 133 square miles. It is no longer reasonable to expect 26,000 people in a 133 square mile area to go to one place to vote. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for all tax payers in this District to vote so their voice could be heard. If this District could we would have four or five polling places unfortunately we just simply do not have the funds to do so. In 2004 it cost the District a little over $15,000 to participate in the County coordinated election. That is 15 percent of our annual budget and again we do not have those kinds of funds available.There has been propaganda sent out saying that we are trying to double people’s property taxes. That is simply untrue. If this bond and mill levy should pass, the only thing affected would be the Fire Districtís portion of an individual’s property tax and that is only a small percent of the overall property tax a person pays annually.The question some ask is why we donít just set the money aside and build new stations with those funds rather than put the tax payers in debt. The answer is clear in our financial reports. If we had set aside 100 percent of our total revenue for the last 10 years we would only have 5 million dollars today. Setting aside 100 percent is not possible of course but it does paint a pretty clear picture. The need for these new stations is now and not 15 or 20 years from now. A bond should be looked at the same as a mortgage. If everyone was to try and set money aside and wait until they had enough money to pay cash for a new home, there wouldnít be many homes purchased would there? The price seems to increase faster than you make the money. Fire stations would be the same.The last thing I would like to clear up is in regard to the article run last week in the Gazette. In the article it has me quoted as saying that if this bond election was to fail I would ask the developers for ìVoluntary Impact Feesî. The fact is I have already asked the Developers for ìVoluntary Impact Feesî and the majority of them have agreed. This is the main reason we were able to ask for a smaller amount of money this year then we were asking for in 2004. With the commitment from the local developers we were able to ask for a lower bond amount this time even after taking into account the rapid increase in building costs. What I was saying is if the election was to fail and we were to use all of these Developer Impact Fees and also enter into a 5-to-7-year Lease Purchase Agreement we could possibly find a way to build the station in Claremont Ranch. We could not staff the new station during those 5 to 7 years however because we would not have the money left after paying the Lease Purchase payment and it would only help one small area out of a 133 square mile protection district. It quite frankly is not a good solution. I believe it is also important at this point to mention the fact that Ray OíSullivan who is developing Santa Fe Springs has voluntary committed to building and purchasing new trucks for a station in that subdivision at no cost to the taxpayers. This commitment is for a little over 1.8 million dollars. The Voluntary Impact Fees mentioned would be waived in this case as an “in like kind” agreement.”Professionalism is not a pay check; it is a way of life.” 80 percent of the Falcon Fire Protection District is protected by Professional Volunteer Firefighters. These men and women are asked to provide the same service and take the same risks as any career Firefighter would be expected. They usually are not provided the same working conditions however. Rapidly increasing call volumes combined with the never ending demands from home are paying a toll on these volunteer professionals. Volunteer Firefighters are currently saving the tax payers of the Falcon Fire Protection District over 1.5 million dollars per year. Falcon Fire is not the only area in the county that has volunteer firefighters. I want to make sure this is pointed out to all citizens of this County we live in and ask that if you ever run into one of these outstanding individuals please take a second to thank them. I know me and my family do. I believe they all deserve a chance at quality training opportunities as well as the stations and equipment they need to keep themselves safe so they can give these free services to everyone they were sworn to protect.Thank you for your time.Chief Trent Harwig
