Last Monday was another gruesome fire board meeting.  It was scheduled for 1:30 pm, but it didn’t start till around 2 pm (when Steve Berg showed up with a box with papers from the chief) because the chief was assisting broken down tourists with a couple little kids and he let them sit in his vehicle so they wouldn’t heat stroke.
Of course “somebody” ought to be assisting tourists, but WHY the LMRFD chief while he’s supposed to be at the board meeting with an ATTORNEY who charges for EVERY SINGLE MINUTE???
Couldn’t a deputy have taken care of the tourists? What would have happened if ANOTHER car had broken down?
This goes to show why LMRFD needs to stop having such ridiculous volunteer requirements just about nobody can pass. They just got the very first volunteer and I have not heard of any other volunteers in the pipeline.
The chief showed up hours later while the board was in its second executive session. I wasted my entire afternoon. Even Ellen left and I gave up when my computer ran out of power.
- The LMRFD has nothing but DISRESPECT and CONTEMPT for the public.
- The LMRFD board does NOT want anyone attending the board meetings (no mailing list).
- My offer to assist with fixing their website so the public can subscribe to announcements such as for board meetings was rejected, see my January posting:
The 1/19/17 LMRFD fire board meeting and the sorry state of the fire district
There’s not one person on the board with the SLIGHTEST clue about accounting and internet. They called the accountant during the meeting on Monday to inquire about the funds for the administrative assistant position. They left a voice mail, the guy called back, had to do a bunch of research …. all that while the attorney was sitting there bored, billing for every single minute.
I honestly have no idea why these people ran for office. They act like a bunch of middle school kids practicing board meetings and I’ve seen 12-year old kids do better.
Of course you get what you pay for and they get paid NOTHING.
I’m sure there’s a reason for that idiotic state law prohibiting payment to fire board members, but unpaid board members are clearly NOT the way to go. If I was on the board, I’d spend AT LEAST 20 hours a week researching how to get all Meadview properties into the district (most Meadview properties are NOT in the district and don’t pay.)
How is the board going to raise funds to finally staff Meadview?
INCREASE TAXES!
You could think this was a liberal hot spot! What’s going on here?
They seriously considered wasting thousands of dollars on a ballet measure to increase the already OUTRAGEOUS fire district tax. You can read more about taxes at https://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2017/01/30/lmrfd-fire-district-tax-explained/
I was getting to the point where I felt that LMRFD should be dissolved and then Meadview could form a new fire district with EVERYBODY in it. I had given the board a chance, but after one year of not even trying and ignoring ALL my suggestions of raising additional funds without raising the already quite hefty LMRFD property tax it’s quite obvious that Meadview will NEVER have fire and medical emergency services again — not with THIS board.
Rather timely, Dolanite Jay Fleming asked on Facebook in the Dolan group on 6/19:
Has anyone had the LMRFD ambulance crew offer to put a very sick or injured person in the car so you could drive them to the hospital?
Unfortunately, that’s what Jay experienced and he wrote that he would file a formal complaint. I already had written this post, but it was still unpublished because I was extremely angry after Monday’s meeting, wasting so much of what little time I have and realizing the extent of the board’s incompetence.
In Jay’s Facebook topic several people posted about LMRFD personnel trying to talk them out of transport to the hospital and other frequent riders praised their professionalism. Good move too, they better praise the people who frequently save their lives.
Since board member Eric Terrill joined Jay’s Facebook discussion, I took the opportunity to ask some questions so I could decide how to proceed before finishing this post.
Kill off LMRFD or will the Dolan people stand with Meadview?
Due to a number of deplorable comments and absolutely NO interest in getting services to Meadview, I decided that we MUST separate Meadview from the Dolan LMRFD. It’s been a tough decision, but it’s the ONLY chance we have for Meadview medical services.
We once had a wonderful fire district in Meadview.
Steve Berg (former Meadview fire chief and now chairman of the board) and Suzanne Newell (one of the top Meadview destroyers and former Meadview board member) bankrupted our Grape Vine Mesa Fire District!
Steve Berg is now doing all he can to keep Meadview free from pesky nuisances like a staffed fire house and functioning ambulance and emergency services. Not one of the board members has done anything to get Meadview staffed. Meadview residents have died because it can take hours for an ambulance to show up. When you have a stroke or heart attack, SECONDS count.
The fire board members actually wondered WHY ambulance revenue is down.Â
Don’t they realize that most Meadview residents would rather not die waiting for an ambulance?
I just don’t know what to say, it’s NOT the heat, it’s how they are all the time.
And just when you think it can’t get any worse, board member Eric Terrill tells me on Facebook that I need to join the fire district to be able to volunteer:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/487286618098409/permalink/799780776848990/
To all who consider joining the fire district, DO NOT JOIN!
Just like with the MCA, you’ll never be able to get out unless the district is dissolved.  Rick Sherwood joined and he regrets it because he got nothing but a $323.44 fire district tax bill!  No fire fighters, no medical service. NOTHING but a tax bill that he’s likely stuck with forever — unless we get Meadview out of the district. And since most home owners are retirees on a fixed income, they really don’t appreciate all these extra taxes for NOTHING.
In the overwhelmingly REPUBLICAN Mohave County all they can think of is to RAISE TAXES!
Taxes, taxes, taxes, taxes …
WHY?
In Jay’s Facebook topic he states that he’s going to file a complaint and several others also posted they were in favor of filing FORMAL complaints. The ONLY reason I have NOT filed any complaints yet is because I really wanted to give the board a chance.Â
From https://www.facebook.com/groups/487286618098409/permalink/800538023439932/
Finally, my chance to ONCE AGAIN tell them how to raise or save money, for the UMPTEENTH time in the last couple of years:
Eric Terrill did NOT answer my question. Some additional suggestions to raise or save money:
As of this writing, neither Eric Terrill nor anyone else from LMRFD responded.  Of course they know that everything I wrote is true, so they have nothing to say.
Now that I decided to start the process to separate Meadview from Dolan’s LMRFD, I invite all to assist with making it as painless as possible for Dolan.
I have friends in Dolan, but living near Meadview, I cannot possibly allow LMRFD to continue to let my friends and neighbors die.
I will be posting agendas, minutes, video of board meetings as well as my forthcoming complaints, correspondence, legal research, etc. at a new forum.
This is a massive effort and I will be asking legislators to review the issues and assist with solutions as well as changes in the law.  It’s nothing but BIZARRE that board members who SHOULD be working to raise funds to get the Meadview station staffed at least 20 hours/week to work for NOTHING. And I suppose that’s why they’re not doing a thing other than attend board meetings.
This fire board VOTED on budgets without having had the opportunity to actually STUDY the financials. That’s INSANE! They all sit there looking at several pages they JUST received prior to the start of the meeting. If I was on the board, the accountant Gabe would have received notice that either the board has all docs to be voted on prior to the meeting or there is a substantial FINE. That’s how it works in the real world.
In closing, I already knew that I could expect nothing from Steve Berg, didn’t know much about the others, but I am so disappointed by Debbie. I don’t remember her contributing anything. I had high expectations after talking to her prior to the election. What happened, Debbie?
