{"id":32767,"date":"2014-09-14T00:26:47","date_gmt":"2014-09-14T04:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=32767"},"modified":"2014-09-13T23:10:45","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T03:10:45","slug":"our-local-fire-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2014\/09\/our-local-fire-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Local Fire Department ……"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Debbie Cunningham a resident, taxpayer, veteran and voter<\/p>\n

\"\"
Flag from Fire Station 104<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I want you to really look at the Flag in this picture, and try to figure out where it was last seen flying. Are you thinking Iraq, Afghanistan, or some other battlefield? Try Lehigh Acres Fire Station #104. Yes, I said Lehigh Acres Fire Station #104. And this flag was left flying for almost a month.<\/p>\n

While the members of our Fire Board were spending $25,000 for a PR Agency to push their agenda on the \u201cSpecial Assessment\u201d, they couldn’t be bothered to replace that flag. It took an ordinary citizen, me, to get it done. The Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 4174 spent $35.00 of their money to replace the flag.<\/p>\n

That $35.00 would have bought $210.00 worth of food for Lehigh Acres hungry from the Harry Chapin Food Bank; or some extra socks and other clothing for less fortunate children in Lehigh Elementary School. Might have even been enough to put gas in a parent\u2019s car so that they could go look for work they desperately need. Mysteriously, the Administration found a way to replace it first on September 11, 2014. And the Firefighters thought it was the flag we told them that we were bringing. We went ahead and presented the flag to B shift of Fire Station #104, which they gratefully accepted. And unlike the administration, we recovered the damaged flag so that we can properly dispose of it. And it\u2019s not the first time. Lehigh Acres Fire Station #102 on Homestead Road had their flag replaced last year by the members of VFW Post 4174. That\u2019s right, the VFW. We paid for the flag and donated it to the Fire Station because we were told there was no money in the budget for a new flag. Really? Couldn\u2019t afford $35.00 for a new flag, but the board can afford $25,000 for a PR Group?<\/p>\n

And now you, the Fire Board, want to place this \u201cSpecial Assessment\u201d on not only the struggling homeowners of Lehigh Acres, but the non-profit organizations as well. The Fire District is \u201cFor Profit\u201d business, but continues to cry about having no money.<\/p>\n

We support this community freely and don\u2019t ask for anything. We collect food for the food banks and homeless in Lehigh Acres. We promote scholarship programs for the children in Lehigh Acres so that they may have a better future; we are here when anyone, not just the veteran, but anyone in Lehigh Acres, needs a helping hand. But we can\u2019t afford your \u201cSpecial Assessment\u201d. And since you have the money to hire a PR group to spread your propaganda, maybe next time one of the non-profits need to raise money for a much needed repair to their building, or to purchase extra food for the hungry, you can step up.<\/p>\n

Every penny that a non-profit collects goes right back to the community. It doesn\u2019t go into any else\u2019s pocket. Most of the non-profits are struggling just to keep the doors open and maintain the ability to help our community. Maybe $.52 per square foot doesn\u2019t sound like a whole lot of money to you, but even our small VFW building, would be charged over $1000.00 YEARLY for the Fire Board to continue their spend thrift ways. Can you imagine how much we could accomplish for the community with that $1000.00?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the concerned citizens of Lehigh Acres need to look at the qualifications of all the board members in November. Especially since none of them have ever run a business, let alone answer a life threatening call on a fire truck or an ambulance. And instead of taking Firefighters off the job, you could trim you administrative staff. Perhaps hiring Fire Fighters from within the community would be beneficial. Maybe the Board should leave their gilded tower and get out there and see the REAL<\/strong> Lehigh Acres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Debbie Cunningham a resident, taxpayer, veteran and voter I want you to really look at the Flag in this picture, and try to figure out where it was… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":32769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32767"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}