I spoke with a few members of JFRD lately, the last one tonight....
They state clearly the NEED for at least two more EMT and fire rescue units on the Westside. Station 32 is being relocated to where Lenox, Crystal Springs, and Fouraker meet. There's also a new Station 57 near Beaver and Chafee. That's better placement for the them. But apart from that, the need for fair and better services on the Westside is critical and unaddressed.
It seems that JFRD administration is highly political, and our firefighters fear speaking out. If they are, they are blackballed and suffer reprisal. That's simply sucks.
I think the Office of Chief of Fire rescue should be an elected position, and the people who vote on it should be firefighters themselves.
Most volunteer units around the country pick their chiefs and captians that way, and as a result services are better off. You can't have a mayor picking buddies and friends and expect the best interests of firefighters, and as a result the public, to be well served.
We elect our Sheriff, and as a result there is direct accountability to the public. John Rutherford is a very decent man, with honor and integrity lacking in higher levels of city government. Could you see Pay-me-a-ton Peyton picking the Sheriff? It would be some out-of-touch friend of his that would destroy the integrity of the force. Between Glover and Rutherford, our police force has stepped into the 21st Century nicely, and the levels of corruption that lasted for years has been greatly diminished under them.
The needs of JFRD, and us, the public, suffer under political appointments. JFRD has become just another way to filter money to friends of Peyton....
The need for additional EMT and rescue stations on the Westside is very real. I've been told there's like one station for every 12,000 people roughly. I think that ratio is worse where the working class live and are served.
I intend to research this better... and will get exact figures later.
What I do think is that we need to listen to our firefighters. I also think that volunteer auxilaries are needed. Faced with any real crisis, we might need the extra manpower. I come from a town of 6,000 that had four stations with six trucks, and about a hundred firefighters and EMTs and police.
There's a great sense of community and a lot less crime.
That's something missing here in Jacksonville. But that is another issue. It does tie in in one aspect. Where I'm from fire stations are more involved with and part of the community, acting as centers of community activity, with many local parades, where fire trucks, boy and girl scout troups, VFW;s and American Legions, baseball and football teams, cheerleaders and marching bands walk a few miles through town at least four times a year....... and the fire stations hold Bingo, dinners, and have halls for the public to rent or use for functions from wedding receptions to New Year's partys.
I don't expect that to happen here in Jax. But I should at least expect that the public have the best level of police and fire/rescue protection possible. Yeah, we need more stations on the Westside. It seems they spread it as thin as they can get away with, and it just ain't right.