Be responsible residents
MOFD board members Baitx, Donner, and Danziger were criticized in a recent letter for failure to spend taxpayer funds for a chipper and its operation from the MOFD budget.? I would suggest that the brush and tree removal that the writer seeks is a personal responsibility of property owners.? When my own pine trees became old and a potential hazard, I paid to have them removed along with the debris.? I also work to maintain brush and other material on my property in a safe condition.
There are numerous private tree and brush removal contractors who are capable, already equipped and make their living with this work.? I think it would be wasteful to buy a "community chipper" and pay professional fire personnel to operate it, probably on an overtime basis with the attendant wages, benefits, and pension liabilities.
We should take personal responsibility for our properties.? We should look to our MOFD personnel for their professional guidance on fire prevention and skills at fire suppression, when necessary.? When landscape and tree removal is indicated we should hire commercial contractors for our individual properties at the owner's expense.
If board members are resisting on the basis outlined above, then I support them fully.? I, for one, am a taxpayer who does not want to chip in for property maintenance that is the responsibility of the individual property owner.
Gary Fryer
Orinda
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