I would like to respond to the Anonymous Person who does not seem to have the fact straight.
"Yes" you are right that Larry Angel was not a friend of the Rescue Squad but he did support us. He posted in this blog requesting Twp residents to volunteer. The Rescue Squad over the last 6 years has put 10 people through EMT school. The Rescue Squad has continued to grow even though the Squad does not get the support of the Town Committee. The Rescue Squad has proposed to the Town Committee to lease the old Rescue Squad property to the Squad and let them put up a building. This is a win - win for the Town.
Egg Harbor City is allowed to respond to calls in Mullica. Unfortunately, just like Mullica, Egg Harbor City cannot make their own daytime calls and now has an agreement with Galloway to cover their residents. It is the policy of a Dispatcher to get an ambulance out to a call whomever or wherever they maybe.
Gary Franklin and the Rescue Squad did participate in the study and even went and talked to Egg Harbor City committee about shared services. Before Larry passing, he was going to post the ALL the findings of the Study. The good the bad and the ugly. If you would like to see the response times and the number of calls the Rescue Squad has missed. Come see us on Wednesday. The Rescue Squad meets in the last Municipal Garage at Town Hall. My wife and I have spent the last six years helping the hard working members of the Rescue Squad respond and grow for the residents of our town. I do not appreciate and anonymous person dragging the good names of the hard working people through the mud and being such a coward as not to sign his or her name. Put up or shut up. You never know when a family member of yours may need us and all of a sudden we will be gone. Then What!
Jim and Sandy Cawley
EMT520003 and EMT504370
Mullica Twp Rescue Squad
Monday, November 24, 2008
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6 comments:
Jim and Sandy, your post was most appreciated. I've read through all the posts and the comments since the Nov.16th post about the rescue squad. This discussion started because someone thought the $7500 needed for a veteran's memorial would be better spent on the safety needs of Mullica. The out-dated equipment and sub-standard garage were given as examples.
It seems that much praise and appreciation was extended to the EMT workers. The criticism was directed at Janet Forman, Kathy Chasey and Bill Kennedy.They refused the Hammonton contract and kept Gary Franklin's squad for presumably political reasons.
The argument is: If the Committee thought this was the best way to go, they should have given Franklin the money and support he needed to up-date the squad and make it the best possible for the workers and the citizens.
You, yourselves, stated that "The squad does not get support from the Town Committee". I would think this is the main complaint and these people SHOULD be "dragged through the mud". They have shown lack of concern for both the good volunteers and the safety of the citizens.
Thank you all for your hard work and we are grateful for all the lives you save. It is very upsetting that you have to work under such bad conditions.
If Larry was going to post all of the study's findings,the good, the bad and the ugly,do you think it could be posted here? Who has the results? It would be nice if the public got to see everything out in the open. Why has it been kept hidden?
Anyone can read the reports Larry posted by typing "Gary Franklin Ambulance" in the search blog line at the top left hand corner of the site and a bunch of stuff comes up. If it's the entire report, no one knows and Larry claimed in his posting it had been mailed to him anonymously and contained 8 pages and who knows what was posted and what wasn't.
Of course, there are also two sides to every story.
Larry stated he filed OPRA requests and unearthed some documents and, I quote "and there also was a "Decision of the Governing Body" document issued on the decision to NOT change anything regarding ambulance service in Mullica...that was issued in the name of four members of Mullica Offica DUMB which is signed by no one. cathy THE BAG LADY chasy, janet THE AUTO INSURANCE FRAUD QUEEN OF ATLANTIC COUNTY forman, bill THE GARRULOUS kennedy, & don THE CHICKEN MURDERER kehrli are the names on this document." (Quoted from the Gadfly)
I second Xena, the Warrior Princess' comments here. Thanks for all you do. Its ashame that politics have been injected into one of the most important services/functions that exists in our town. Keep up the great work. Next year we will have a chance to rid Town Committee of Chasey and Forman.
Graebener and St Amour continue to pressure the Committee to spend money to conduct another feasibility study of the rescue squad. Kennedy, Foreman and Chasey have all stated "if it isn't broken don't try to fix it". Graebener and St Amour are against the Township leasing land to the Rescue Squad, so that they can put a building on it.
Once again, "anonymous" gets it wrong...I proposed at the 8/28/08 meeting that we have an agenda item for the next meeting, 9/9/08, to discuss obtaining a grant of State Shared Services money (not the expense of Mullica taxpayer dollars) to provide projections on our future costs to maintain the Rescue Squad due to aging equipment and to determine if there would be a suitable partner for Mullica to team up with to provide services while giving our volunteers access to better equipment. As former Mayor Chasey stated at the 9/9/08 meeting, the impression was that this was why we were in discussions with Egg Harbor City. Egg Harbor City had already moved on, however, contracting with Galloway Township.
Many municipalities are suffering through the same difficult time of attracting volunteers that Mullica faces. All of the members of Township Committee value greatly the contributions that volunteers make to our society. Some of us even want to see them better equipped. In this way, they will be able to provide the best possible services to Mullica residents.
It was Mrs. Forman, not Chasey and Kennedy, who said it wasn't broken and didn't need fixing. Chasey and Kennedy may have agreed, that is not in the meeting minutes, but what I CAN tell you is that this was not some sort of compliment. To the contrary, this was like burying your head in the sand WHILE slapping the volunteers in the face. We owe it to the volunteers to seek the best that we can afford for the Rescue Squad, and more importantly, we owe it to all of the residents of Mullica who depend on the Squad and the volunteers in their time of need.
Mr. Kennedy co-authored the Ambulance Sub-Committee Report prepared for township committee 8/22/2006. That report did not say it wasn't broken...that report said that the only viable option was to contract with Hammonton Rescue Squad full time. Contact me if you'd like to view a copy of the report. The last administration kept this report from the public for months before finally releasing it and once again using the ambulance squad volunteers as political fodder. I didn't see the prior administration, the one that supposedly supported the squad, ponying up money to put up a building or to purchase a new ambulance. I guess by "support", they meant an "Atta-boy" and a pat on the back.
As for leasing the land to the Rescue Squad, perhaps Mr. Franklin should bring this up at a committee meeting. I don't recall this ever having been formally brought to committee, and I for one would not be opposed to leasing the property if the request were made.
Gary, the next meeting is December 16th.
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