the people have spoken

I’ve had several local citizens ask me why the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department doesn’t want to open their records. I ask the same questions.

The follow-up to that people ask; “What have they got to hide.”

‘That’s what we are trying to find out’, I tell them.

I’ve talked to Mayor Larry Waters, Tennessee Press Association’s attorney, and several others about it and they all say the same thing; ‘they need to show the public their books.’

If the budget is between $200,000 and $300,000 as Ted Esch, chairman of the SVFD states, then we are talking about $2 to $3 million dollars in the past ten years.

What’s wrong with the public wanting to know where their money is being spent?

Maybe the people might find out that there is insufficient funds budgeted for a particular item and the public, of their own initiative, may help raise addition funds.

On the other hand, it might be discovered that an exorbitant amount of funds is spent in an area that is not in the best use of the deparment.

The point is, it’s the public’s money. What happens to it matters to the public.

The wonderful job that the volunteers perform on a daily basis goes without saying.

There might be tools or other items that the department is in desperate need of that the community could help with.

But if we, the people funding the department are kept in the dark, not allowed to see the books, it leaves many unanswered questions.

Several have told me that if they were the chair of the department they would want to have the books open to the public just to make certain they were proper stewards of the people’s money.

The general public doesn’t have the time to check up on where or how their donations are spent. That’s one of the cornerstone functions of the media. To do the investigating and report to the people.

I’ve instructed the newspaper’s attorney to write a letter to the SVFD’s attorney requesting they open their records. We’ll see where that goes. If nowhere, our next step will be the courts.

It’s unfortunate that Ted Esch has chosen to spend the funds on attorneys rather than something important like better equipment for the volunteers. He probably figures since it’s not coming out of his pocket, why not.

My basic question remains the same as most others; why would you not want to show the public where their money is being spent?

Sooner or later we’ll find out.