The Holland Sentinel. April 29.
A good time to re-examine fire protection
The difficult deliberations over the Holland city budget have put the city's firefighting force in the spotlight. With tight budgets likely ahead for several years, it's a good time to re-examine the structure, expense and expectations of the fire service in the city, and in our townships as well.
The city of Holland has the only full-time fire service in our area, with an authorized staff of 21 full-time personnel and 30 "part-paid" firefighters compensated on a per-call basis; with a current budget of $2.7 million, the fire division represents one of the biggest expenses in the city budget. By contrast, Holland Township, Zeeland and all other area municipalities rely on fire departments staffed by part-paid and volunteer firefighters.
Both city and township residents seem comfortable with those arrangements. We've heard no real dissatisfaction with our township departments, nor any widespread sentiment among city residents to switch to a part-paid force or dual-function public safety officers who would handle both police and firefighting duties. City residents seem to value the reliable and quick response that comes with having professional firefighters at their stations 24/7. Earlier this month, city council members voted in favor of increasing a proposed tax hike to balance the city budget rather than lay off two firefighters (the final budget vote is Wednesday), and a Sentinel online poll asking if the city should switch to a volunteer force, 72 percent responded "no."
Yet it's worth asking if the current system is appropriate and sustainable today. Holland's city budget is tightening at a time when smoke detectors, home inspections and other safety measures have sharply reduced the number of house fires. Councilman Brian Burch cut to the core of the issue during a recent budget discussion when he questioned if the city is getting the most for its money considering that the fire service handled only 84 fire calls last year and that the great majority of its 2,800 responses were medical calls.
Meanwhile, volunteer fire departments are not without their own long-term challenges. In Michigan and across the country, departments are finding it more difficult to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters as busy lives and workplace demands create more time pressures for everyone. There may well come a time when fire departments can't find enough men and women whose employers will let them drop everything and leave the factory or office to respond to an emergency.
The first step for city residents and officials is defining expectations about fire protection. Residents and officials may well decide that the current system — a system that has worked well for many decades — is one they want to keep and one they're willing to pay for. For our part, we'd be reluctant to forego the services of a professional, full-time fire staff. However, a fire protection system that evolved at a time when structure fires were much more common and our townships were rural communities merits re-examination, not just in the city but on a regional basis. Our local fire departments cooperate regularly through mutual aid agreements, but a study of a regional fire service is warranted, particularly as to whether it could create greater efficiencies in sharing full-time and part-time staff, adjusting coverage territories and sharing equipment.
Fire protection is critical in any community, and especially so in Holland-Zeeland, where dense urban neighborhoods, large apartment buildings and sprawling factories all pose special challenges. We have to make sure our community is getting the best protection it can at a cost it can afford.
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Traverse City Record-Eagle. April 27.
Don't take the bait
What's the best way to confront those who preach hate?
Don't take the bait.
Unfortunately, that lesson is difficult for some to grasp. Hate groups live to inflame; they thrive on goading well-intentioned people into lashing out against them.
Haters, bigots, racists — they're all about recruiting the like-minded and simple-minded, and they're experts at orchestrating situations that cast them as martyrs.
We've all seen it: hooded, robed Ku Klux Klanners defiantly standing on a courthouse lawn spewing hate. Invariably it's those who protest the haters who betray the most outward signs of hostility, and the Klan revels in the resulting media images, particularly if the anti-Klan protesters happen to be minorities or other Klan targets.
They take the bait, and the Klan becomes sympathetic victim, at least to some.
A similar act of antagonism recently occurred in Grand Traverse County. In mid-February, local resident Bill Wiesner moved his obsessive anti-homosexuality act from cable access television to the street.
This time, the sign-toting Wiesner set up near Cherry Knoll Elementary in East Bay Township during school hours. His sign read: "Truth Academy About Homosexuality," and it referenced a video series that dovetails his views.
Some parents of Cherry Knoll students didn't take kindly to Wiesner's message, finding it inappropriate for their children. One parent approached Wiesner, grabbed his sign, and Wiesner's vehemently anti-gay fellow traveler Paul Nepote just happened to be there to snap photos of a brutal attack that wasn't.
Wiesner and Nepote are old hands at spouting bigotry, then loudly denying it. They launched a gay-bashing tirade against Traverse City Area Public Schools last year when the district prepared to adopt anti-bullying rules, and it's clear they targeted Cherry Knoll children and their parents to press their pointless point.
When the parent grabbed the sign, Wiesner and Nepote howled like someone had just shot the Kaiser. They demanded justice and fired off emails to the media and their supporters that trumpeted their victimization.
County prosecutors took a look and initially issued an assault charge against the parent, though they recently dropped it after deciding in part the evidence was too thin to gain a conviction.
Wiesner claims he's merely trying to foster debate, not antagonize nor foment hate.
Wiesner claims he's merely trying to foster debate, not antagonize nor foment hate.
To be sure, his free speech and assembly rights must be respected and upheld; but his approach is inflammatory and flawed, and he won't shake the hatemonger label until he embraces a less caustic campaign strategy.
Those who don't agree with Wiesner and his ilk should take a pass when confronted with hate bait. The far better approach: support TCAPS' stand-up school board, or take to the election booth to reject discriminatory ballot language, as Traverse City voters did last fall.
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Huron Daily Tribune (Bad Axe). April 26.
Action needed against Asian carp
It's hard to think of anything more unifying for Great Lakes state politicians than the desire to stop Asian carp from invading our waters.
Republicans like U.S. Rep. Candice Miller and Democrats like U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who otherwise have few things in common politically, will come together like old school chums at the mention of the invasive species. That's because it's obvious to virtually everyone in this state that Asian carp, which have spread everywhere else, cannot spread to our Great Lakes.
Lawmakers recently united again to announce a bipartisan bill that will try to force the hand of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up its study of the species and do what is necessary to stop it. Making recommendations by the year 2015 is foolishly too late and unacceptable.
In fact, we're not sure how much study needs to be done considering the disastrous results that Michigan outdoor lovers could one day wake up to if the species is not stopped in the waters of northern Illinois.
While federal officials consider the minor consequences of attacking the plague in northern Illinois, our state is dumbfounded by the inaction.
The latest to come from Army Corps experts is an expansion of its list of methods to kill the carp. It has now added freezing or drying sections of waterways or using carbon dioxide pellets to kill the fish. Previously announced options include overfishing, ultraviolet light, water guns and introducing native predators.
It's time to quickly pick a method and begin killing Asian carp in northern Illinois before the species migrates into southern Lake Michigan.
There is no satisfaction in saying, "I told you so," several years from now.
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Midland Daily News. April 24.
WE have the power
Local residents have power — buying power.
That is the message of a new Midland Area Chamber of Commerce campaign designed to promote the power of people's everyday purchasing decisions to strengthen their community.
The campaign is called WEconomicPower and is designed to help local residents see the impact the business community has in terms of providing jobs, taxes for government services, funding for arts and cultural organizations, assistance for agencies serving those in need and much, much more.
The main focus will be on the economy and quality of life.
"What this campaign is going to do is educate people on who actually has the power to impact those factors," said Andrea Fisher, vice president of client relations with AMPM Inc., the local marketing firm that developed the campaign.
The name of the initiative gives the answer concerning who can impact the economy and quality of life: We can.
Perhaps as part of this campaign, a Midland County cash mob can be formed. Cash mobs, modeled after the flash mobs where people gather at a location and perform a dance routine, have been becoming popular in other areas. For example, in Huron County, a cash mob group was organized on Facebook and has grown to hundreds of members. Those members agree on a certain day to go to a specific local business and spend $20 each, giving that business an unexpected boost in sales that day.
The cash mobs are a great idea and so is the WEconomicPower initiative, because supporting local businesses provides a tremendous return on the investment. The best news of all is that WE have the power to make a positive impact.