Letter: Republican Board of Finance Member Takes Issue With Democrats

Editor's Note: The following is a letter to the editor addressed to Ann Krane, chair of the Oxford Democratic Town Committee, and David Heim, a Democrat and first selectman challenger. The letter was written by Richard Burke, a Board of Finance member and a Republican. It was posted to the site by Oxford Patch editor Paul Singley because Mr. Burke tried to post it himself but had trouble. 

To the Editor:  

Mrs. Krane and Mr. Heim are either both very misinformed or they blindly accept and sign their names to politically motivated fictitious documents written by others with the intent to twist the truth.

Mrs. (Lila) Ferrillo, a Republican and Board of Finance Chair whose thinking established the BofF a way of operating such to include BoF liaisons for each town department, appointed me to act as the liaison for the safety areas of police, fire and ambulance. Therefore I’d like to address recent attacks and false claims made by Mrs. Krane and Mr. Heim concerning the Oxford Ambulance Association and our Fire department, with a little reference to Public Works, as well.

Concerning the matter of a new ambulance, in her fictional story titled “No new ambulance for Oxford Seniors," Mrs. Krane writes...“They refuse to answer the pleas of the ambulance director for a new ambulance."  By the “they," she accuses (First Selectman George) Temple and (Selectman Jeff) Haney, along with me and the current Republican controlled BoF.

To begin, I question the basis for Mrs. Krane strong but incorrect letter.   The Oxford Ambulance Association director informed me that he has not spoken to Mrs. Krane on this matter, so … where do her accusations stem from?

As BoF liaison to the OAA, let me please state the truth of the matter, or as Mr. Heim likes to proclaim … the real FACTS.

Included in the original 13/14 budget submissions was a new ambulance.  After normal due-diligence and discussion with Mr. (Jerry) Schwab (Oxford Ambulance Association director), a new ambulance was approved by Temple and Haney, as well as, the current BoF.  It was submitted to the Oxford voting public at the Charter-mandated Town Budget Meeting as part of Capital and Non-recurring, where the public votes. It was removed from the budget along with two vehicles for Public Works.  

To further our approval of these needs, the current BoF has worked with the Board of Selectmen to allocate a portion of the Quaker Farms School oil spill reimbursement money to acquire these requests.  With our General Fund Surplus exceeding 10 percent, all believed the push to acquire these safety related assets was justified, and handling it in this manner would not impact the mill rate.

The Public Works vehicles have already been “legally” delivered.  For benefit of Mrs. Krane and Mr. Heim (with reference to their phony playground argument), by legally is meant … bids were received, the matter was approved by both BoS and BoF, and lastly … approved by Town Meeting. 

On the matter of the new ambulance, Mr. Schwab has similarly been aware of our approval and intent to use a portion of the oil spill money to acquire a new ambulance.  So much so that he met with George Temple a few weeks ago in order to get that ball rolling.  Mr. Temple signaled the same support which he and Mr. Haney gave during the original budget process, and told Mr. Schwab to obtain bids, which is exactly what Mr. Schwab is in the process of doing now. 

Concerning our Fire departments, since Mrs. Ferrillo established the BoF liaison process, I have personally worked with (Fire Chief) Scott Pelletier and his chiefs to successfully address all their needs, meaning annual operating expense, safety gear, capital equipment, vehicles, and facility maintenance and improvements.   Their annual operating budgets have basically remained untouched.  They have acquired all the safety gear they have requested (full outfits, oxygen tanks, etc.).  Their special equipment needs (Hurst extraction tools, special cameras, etc.) have all been met. 

We made a major improvement to their communications system.  Their facility needs have been met with recent reference to the recent QFS firehouse upgrades (major structural repairs and a kitchen update).  Also related to facilities, the BoS and BoF have most recently approved a major renovation to the Riverside driveway and parking lot.   Concerning vehicles, the Fire departments have received all their requests except for one single - a request made for the current FY 13/14 budget year for a new $650K pumper for the Riverside firehouse.

On this matter, the BoF performed the necessary due-diligence and had a great deal of discussion.  The due-diligence included a full Saturday morning of guided tours through each of our three firehouses, where we observed and talked about the facility, the equipment, and the vehicles pertaining to each.

After all the debate and review, along with an understanding of Oxford’s fire incident history, the BoF came to the conclusion that the $650K request for a Riverside pumper could be postponed until the 14/15 budget year.

As for fire vehicles requested during my tenure on the BoF starting with the 03/04 FY, my recall tells me that this most recent request is the only one that was not immediately satisfied.  During my tenure, Oxford’s collective three firehouses have taken ownership of 13 assorted new/newer vehicles which include two pumpers, one pumper/tanker, a pumper/aerial truck, a rescue vehicle, and other assorted responder type vehicles.  Beyond these 13, an earlier acquired tanker also received a recent major overhaul which included a new tank.  

As a side note, our guided tour told us what we pretty much already knew.  That is … that our three fire houses are all very well equipped and maintained, and more important … manned by some very nice and capable individuals.

To Mrs. Krane and Mr. Heim: please perform some level of due-diligence before spewing your political (agenda). 

To all,

Mr. Heim is a candidate for our town’s highest office.  He has professed himself to be a past major player within the Consumer Report organization, and a person who has the right skills and experience to guide our community.

Based on his political writings to date, and his lack of solutions for all he claims that Temple & Haney have done wrong, this voter could not be any more unimpressed by Mr. Heim’s entry into our lives. 

Mr. Heim has done nothing but mount an attack without offering solutions.  For a managing editor from Consumer Reports to make the false claims that he has, without first verifying the truth of it all, is a grave concern to me and should be for all.

Mr. Heim: I don’t know you, you may be a very nice person, but you’ve presented yourself as naive.  I offer one piece of advice, which is...you need to work on your FACTS.    

Respectfully,

Dick Burke