I am hoping that this will be the last entry on the firefighter’s ePetition. Last week, I posted TTRC Chair CT Alexander’s Letter to the Editor in which he stated that he signed the firefighter’s ePetition. Research on the ePetition showed that his name was not on the list which caused a major debate about whether or not Mr. Alexanders’ name was simply removed. Only one person who could answer those accusations – Laurie Elliot, the firefighter’s ePetition administrator. It only seems fair that I post her response on the subject – a Letter to the Editor which is in this week’s Main Line Suburban Life.
Included in her statement, Laurie includes a link to the ePetition if anyone wants to check the signatures. Laurie created the ePetition as a vehicle for residents (like herself) to show their support of the fire companies and to encourage the supervisors to reinstate the fire companies budget cut.
On the same subject, it has been a month since the unveiling of the cardboard check at the December 21 Board of Supervisor Meeting. To bring you up-to-date on the promised contributions, yesterday I emailed Supervisors Lamina, Kampf and Olson for an update on money collected. My latest information is that the supervisors have collected $8,950. I am hopeful that more money has been turned over to the Berwyn Fire Company for distribution, but as of today I have no further updates. On the $5K in matching funds from the Tredyffrin Township Republican Committee, Mr. Alexander’s last correspondence indicated that just about all that money has been delivered to the fire company. In my last phone call from Supervisor Olson, he stated that the $23,200 total would be delivered to the fire company by March 31st.
This is all about making sure that the volunteer firefighters receive their promised money — nothing more, no political agenda on my part. Since the township’s 2010 budget was passed with the fire department cut, I take it seriously to make sure that these volunteers receive the total contribution as promised by Supervisors Kampf, Lamina and Olson.
Fire companies need support
To the Editor:
This is in response to a letter in last week’s paper by Tredyffrin Republican Party chair John C.T. Alexander. In it he claims to have signed the “Internet petition in favor of reinstatement of the Berwyn Fire Company’s budget cut from the [Tredyffrin] township’s 2010 budget.”
As the administrator of that e-petition, I monitored it during its 10-day online life and closed it on Dec. 21 when I presented a copy of it to the Board of Supervisors at their meeting that evening. The petition and all those who signed it can still be viewed at tredto.epetitions.net.
In total, 534 people found their way to the Web site and signed the petition. But John C.T. Alexander’s name is not among them.
Further, it is difficult to understand why Mr. Alexander would claim he signed it. His very public position that the long-term needs of our volunteer fire companies can be met through ad-hoc private donations misses the whole point of the petition and clings to a Band-Aid approach.
The fire companies not only needed their 2010 funding restored, but they need a comprehensive, long-term solution that provides support for their operating and capital expenditures in the future. And not until such a plan is in place can the community “move on” as some are suggesting.
Sincerely,
Laurie Elliott, Wayne