This is why you should be an informed voter!

Let me start this off by saying that this is not meant to be a rant, but it may sound like it in parts. I also want to say that I live in a VERY small town of less than 2,000 people spread out over a lot of land (aka the middle of nowhere in the backwoods), so if anything you have to say in a comment concerns population size, please keep that in mind.

So, with those key points out of the way, let me get into my story.

In my town we have two fire stations, so that everyone is within a five-mile range of a station should their house catch on fire. We're an entirely volunteer system, and have seen a lot of changes over the past few years as management has changed. Ten years ago when my father and a friend of the family were in the department, there were always fundraisers going on, and events organized. Mostly because those two could motivate people and get stuff done. However, my father had to go out on social (means he's a part of the department but cannot respond to calls) because of his knee surgeries, and the friend of the family left because he had put in at least twenty years, and decided it was time to get more new people in. After this however, as more and more of the former generation left, everything went downhill. No one organizes fundraisers anymore, politics get in the way of everything, and certain people keep trying to stay in the upper ranks to control the show and have a power trip, not for the good of the town nor the stations. What's sad is that when the board of commissioners tries to rectify this situation, politics get in again, and nothing really gets fixed.

Over the years our fire stations have gone to waste. Maintenance and repairs haven't been done to keep them up to code, and now we're facing the fact that we can't have trucks that are up to code because they don't fit through the station doors. Someday I will snag some photos of how old these stations are, but the one is looking to be condemned soon it's so bad. No one in town is joking when they say that if you kick it, it might fall over.

Because of the disrepair that these stations are in, over the last five years the commissioners have been working on plans to not only build a new station on the land that the soon-to-be-condemned one is on, but to repair the other one since its not in as bad of shape, but it does need to be brought up to code and made to handle the newer trucks that are coming out. Yesterday evening, as everything is coming to a head, the station went up to vote. Do the townspeople want the new station, or not.

I'm sure many of you remember the Scott Murphey update, when he came and spoke at our station. He spoke there so that he could see the station that the grant was being put in for, and so he could better lobby for us to get state money to fix what we need. We're actually in the running to have the entire station built on state money, and have enough to cover the repairs to the other building as well. Meaning that no taxpayer money would be used on these buildings.

However, politics interfered, and one woman (whose name will not be mentioned, but was a part of the planning party for the new station) made it known to the people that she did not want this station anymore, and told everyone she could that it was going to raise their taxes more than was necessary, and basically just slung mud about the entire thing. It is speculated that the unsigned letter that went out slamming everything that our fire commissioners were trying to do was sent by her, based on the writing style and her animosity, but we are not sure. Either way, because of this, things went downhill. And the whole reason she did this, as far as we are aware, is because she didn't want one of the fire-fighters whom she doesn't care for to get something he wanted--the new station.

What's sad is that the new station got shot down last night, because enough voters didn't go to the informational meetings, of which two were held, to learn about everything that the commissioners were doing, and to learn of the grant. The meetings were well-publicized, but because of the mud-slinging barely anyone showed up for the meetings, and no one could be bothered to become an informed voter.

This is their safety that went up for vote, and because they shot down the new station, if and when the grant is offered, the commissioners now have to turn it down because the people said they don't want the new station. Tax payer money will now have to pay for the repairs to the old station, because it has to be brought up to code, and the second station is going to have to be condemned. However, because it's still property of the fire department, it still has to be maintained, and so it's just a money-hole. The station that is staying is over five miles from my house, and I live on the outskirts of town. It's going to probably be faster for the fire department from the next town over to get to my house than my own town, and so I will hope that my home never catches fire now because there'd be no saving it unless we did it ourselves. And this means that a good portion of people are outside that range, and for some insurance companies, that means their coverage can be dropped.

So all their worrying over taxes being raised is going to come right around to bite them, because by shooting down the new station, the grant must now be denied. The town can't accept the grant for a station that's not going to be built. And this all came about because political games won out instead of information.

It was really sad, too, because I heard that after the votes were counted, one woman who is a part of the town council went up to the president of the commissioners and said "I'm sorry, I voted no." And I'm proud to say our commissioner told her "Don't worry, I have a long memory."

How do I know some of this? My mother has been a commissioner for quite a few years. And I know exactly what was put out at those informational meetings, and I know more things that are going on but can't be said publicly. But on behalf of the townspeople, they are going to try to rectify things, but legally they may not be able to.

If you take this scenario of one small town, and then apply it to the country as a whole, is it any wonder our voting system no longer works properly? People are forced to vote based on political games because that's all our politicians play, and it's difficult to get the information they need to properly vote. Or they vote based entirely on what party they are, and don't even try to look at the information given. The majority of this country doesn't make an informed vote anymore, and that's why things are getting as bad as they are!

Politicians, while corrupt, are only as corrupt as we the people allow them to be!

So the next time you're getting ready to vote, and to exercise your right to do so, remember this one small town who may no longer have proper fire coverage because the people were not informed. And instead of just listening to one side, and to the political games, get out there, get yourself informed, and make a good decision based on the information you learn!

I have no issues with the people who were informed and voted no, they didn't want the station. But I don't think they were the majority, based on the fact that maybe ten people showed up for the informational meetings.

So now I can only hope that things can be rectified in the end, and that karma makes sure all of these people are made aware of the decision that they made.

And I truly hope that each and every one of you who lives in the United States, and who is old enough to vote, takes note of this story and never makes an uninformed vote again.