LETTER TO THE EDITOR: “What is IT?”

At the last Dalton village council meeting Councilman Terry Johns made a statement in regards to East Wayne Fire District. I will paraphrase. “It” needs to stop, the problem is we don’t know what “it” is and “it” seems to keep moving. I think I may know what “it” is and that is ego. It seems that we have multiple egos. Some that are local leaders, bitter former firefighters and yes some bitter residents, that for different reasons are working together for the common goal of harming EWFD. Not only are these egos harming EWFD, these egos have cost you, the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and not just at the local level. Don’t forget that this has gone to the county and state level so you tax dollars have been wasted there.

We have been dealing with egos since the inception of EWFD. Many ideas by many people were passed around on how the district should look and function, obviously not all of these ideas were used and it seems as though there are some that could not handle that fact. It would have been nice if these folks would have had the attitude of hey, I don’t like or agree with this plan but since I’m an adult I will give it a chance and see how it goes. If that would have happened then tons of taxpayer dollars would not have been wasted and EWFD would be so much further along.

We seem to now have some new players in the game whose egos manifest in the desire for control. People who thought they have, or should have more control over EWFD than what their position actually allows for and when reminded they cannot handle it because their ego rules.

Another manifestation I think may be in the form of “hurt feelings,” essentially bruised ego. We keep hearing that there has been a bunch of bullying and intimidation, is that really the case? Could it actually be that people were not doing what they were told to do, or not doing a task that they had agreed to and when informed that they needed to follow through or there would be consequences they cry bullying and intimidation. This is not being bullied or intimidated, this is called being held accountable.
So, what is the end goal, and what is the plan moving forward if this goal is accomplished? I think I have figured it out or at the very least I am close, however I do not have the space here and want to focus on the root of the problem. No matter what the plan is, with all of these egos involved any plan will fail, thus wasting more taxpayer dollars. We need to set egos aside and work together to make EWFD the best fire department possible for the benefit of the citizens it serves.

Seth Greegor,

Dalton