Dear Mehlville Firefighters and Emergency Medical Personnel,
I’d like to apologize. I thought you might have been exaggerating the problems of the district for your own purposes. The things I have stumbled on about the current operations of our fire district lead me to believe I have taken you for granted. I’m sorry and I promise to do a better job of being informed and sharing that information with others. You deserve that.
In an effort to learn more about the district, I requested in December to be added to their media e-mail list. This helped somewhat since the district did not follow the law to post their regular meetings. If not for this, there was no way I could find out about their meetings in time to attend. Even with it, it was difficult since they were posted an average of 48 hours ahead of time. This does not meet the spirit and intent of Missouri’s open record’s laws.
After I filed complaints, they decided to comply and posted their regular meetings online and e-mailed the media. I was then removed from the e-mail list as punishment. I have requested to be added back on the list and will file complaints with appropriate governmental agencies until I am added back on the list.
The numerous amounts of obstruction and unethical activities are overwhelming. The sheer number of attempts to hide public meetings and documents from citizens should raise red flags with the community.
Earlier this week, I requested the minutes from the last two board meetings. Missouri law says these documents must be produced in 72 hours. If you call any other public entity, such as the City of Crestwood or the Lindbergh School District, they most likely will e-mail you a copy of minutes within 4 hours. The Mehlville Fire District told me to check back in three weeks. That’s 1.5 months after one of the meetings.
At the board’s last meeting they approved minutes from meetings held 9/26, 10/18, 10/30, 11/15, 11/27, 12/6,12/13 & 12/27. This is absurd and a willful violation of the Sunshine Law.
In addition to numerous violations of the law, the district has shut down other sources of information. Not one contact number or e-mail address is listed for any board members on their website. In fact, not one human is listed. Citizens must write to facts@mehlvillefire.gen.mo.us.
Also, the fire district has not listed one single news release since Aug. 24,2005. There have only been two news releases since 2004.
How did it get this bad? The answer is simple. Call Newspapers and the Fire Board are as thick as thieves. The Call has whined so much about petty Sunshine Law violations over the years, most folks have gotten sick of hearing about it. Now that they are all in this together, you will hear nothing about it from any of them. It was the same thing years ago with the school board and the Call. They complained about the Sunshine Law and then Mr. Milligan attended an illegal meeting trying to get a contract with the district to distribute the school district’s paper. The other media sources find it boring, but then again, it’s not so interesting when it’s not your pension being slipped away.I won’t take you for granted anymore. You were right!
7 comments:
Hum, sounds like the opening of round one to me! When do we get the "good stuff?"
Tom Ford
Tom,
It's a matter of time and timing.
Mike Heins
"You may fire when ready Gridley!"
Adm. Faragut
Tom Ford
Very well written Mike. It is so sad to see the HAMS group pick on an easy target such as the fire district. Everyone in a town, such as this one, loves the fire district, except people who have a grudge and want immediate fame by using the local papers. Crestwood's Mayor said it right, when he will not tolerate this. "The type of people who want to go through the back door, thinking that through the newspaper they'll be able to sort of force us into something."
I'll say this, they made it an art of making people look like criminals. They can make ya believe anything. That's why people need to be educated. Visit the firemen, they love to chat. Although, HAMS group made them look like bad guys and girls. Go to the board meetings, see how the 3 act when asked simple questions, such as "Why is the new 2 house going to be smaller than the old one?" The equipment just keeps getting bigger in my eyes. "Was the property tax decrease really going to work?" I just think it was a political move to make certain individuals look bad and certain others look like they re-invented the wheel. The board has the power to take $0.00 to what ever the ceiling is.
That's my short view on the whole thing
Thanks for your comments. I had little interest in the operations of the district till a few months ago and I tell you I'm amazed at what the board is getting away with. I think the best thing we can do for now is to share information. It is funny that they hired Kathy Enz to push that tax rollback scam when already Walt Bivins has been doing a great job of carrying their water.
Mike Heins
Who is this Kathy Enz Lady? please elaborate.
I too had little interest in our fire district. I stumbled across a few negative web-sites (ie-south county truth and the icall) looking for Mehlville 5 house location. I immediately got defensive about my Fire District. Me, a person who won't jump to conclusions went down to the nearest fire station talked to the men and a women to find out the story. I had their side and I had the HAMS side. Hadn't jumped to a conclusion yet so I went to one of the Fire Districts in my Aunt's area, different Fire District and got their whole side of the story and let me tell you they had a lot more to say than the boys at Mehlville. WOW I was in total disbelief. I researched some more come across this site. I finally found 5 houses' address went to a board meeting, it was a small gathering. Saw how they acted when asked simple questions about things that I thought were no big deal, but if your incompetent I guess you tend to over react. Let me tell you I will not be persuaded any more.
Thanks, a person who knows the real truth!
Kathy Enz is a former state rep who the fire district hired in December to lobby the state legislature. They are paying her 1 grand for legislation that is nothing but a political stunt. This is a waste of our tax dollars! The reason some of the meetings have such a small attendance is the district fails to follow the law and post them in accordance with the state's open meeting laws. When they do comply, it does just barely. None of the other public entities such as Crestwood or the Mehlville School Board would get away with this crap. The'd file a lawsuit and actually win in court for a change. I don't think the directors are incompetent. I think they're arrogant. They can't believe you'd question their decisions or policies.
Mike Heins
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