Stewardship is important to us | LETTER TO THE EDITOR


February 2, 2012 · 8:36 AM

To the editor:

A recent letter raised questions about construction costs involving fire stations and spending in our community. I welcome the opportunity to respond.

Costs associated with construction of the stations, including land acquisition, have accrued over more than 15 years — not the few implied by the author. These projects have been part of the fire district’s capital facilities planning process for the past 20 years to meet the safety needs of our community for the next 50 to 60 years. In that same time period, these projects have been openly discussed in regular board meetings that are open to the public.

Hopefully this information will clear up any confusion created by the author. These are your tax dollars, and we take our stewardship of these funds seriously. I invite any citizen to meet with me or our elected board of fire commissioners to discuss our list of capital projects and expenditures. Our job is to save lives. We will spend money on public safety projects and people with skills to help us to that end.

H.L. “RUSTY” PALMER

Fire Chief

South Whidbey Fire/EMS

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