Click on image to enlarge.
While this document starts out saying "Help Us Help You" I beg to differ. From the looks of the way things are run in the SFD, its more like, Help Us Help Ourselves.
"YOUR DONATIONS ARE USED WISELY AND HELP SAVE LIVES."
"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE YOUR SUPPORT...IT IS VITAL...THANK YOU!"
"AS ALWAYS, "YOUR" ONGOING SUPPORT IS TRULY APPRECIATED THANK YOU!"
The first thing I want to know is, shouldn't this say The Salisbury VOLUNTEER Fire Department? Are they asking for money from citizens above and beyond what they already pay in taxes for the "Salisbury Fire Department"?
After yesterday's massive comments referencing the recently found $5,000.00 luxury Fishing Trip for a select few, are they running this 501 (c) 3 Corporation legally?
Do YOU believe Mayor Ireton should open an immediate investigation on the entire spending habits for ALL of the divisions related to the Salisbury Fire Department?
The way I see it is, if this is one item YOU were not aware of, I would think there are many others along the way as well. The Retirement Party for Chief See is yet another perfect example.
We have already heard from numerous Volunteers being very upset that Deputy Chief Gordy is allegedly forcing the Volunteers to put out thousands of dollars for this Party, yet See couldn't stand Volunteers.
Ultimately, when you receive document like the one above, Citizens are lead to believe their DONATIONS, $100.00, $250.00 or $500.00 would be going towards desperately needed life saving equipment and NOT for a $5,000.00 luxury fishing trip.
I'll close with this. To the few that say you don't have a problem with them using "some" of the funds for things like this, you're absolutely wrong. If they stated they were raising money for the above mentioned interests and then added "some of the money might be used to entertain some of the Firefighters", that's one thing. However, since they did not, IMO, they violated their charter/law.