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Show Don't dilute voters' power With the impending departure of Park City Fire Chief Jim Berry, now is perhaps a good time to examine the fire district and see how it has changed and where it is headed. In the not-too-distant past, if your house caught fire a host of volunteers would rush for the station, gear up and race the fire trucks to your burning home. Precious minutes were lost as fires crackled through homes and businesses. Today, Park City has a full-time, 24-hour professional fire department, plus a group of energetic and better-trained better-trained volunteers. The fire department has opened new stations, has new equipment and new procedures. For that, we can thank Jim Berry and the Park City Fire District Commission that hired him and backed his efforts with a $1.2 million, 10-year bonding effort to fund some of those improvements. , If Berry simply was leaving quietly for retirement, we could bid him a fond farewell and just say thanks. But the events that led up to his resignation are disturbing. It all began with an article in the Park Record, quoting an angry chief after a driver and a firefighter were burned when a demolition derby car flamed out July 4. . Berry told the Record he no longer would provide fire protection for demolition derbies, that his liability was too high. It would appear from the ruckus that ensued that Berry has said too much. But perhaps he did not say enough. Fire Commissioner Jeane Buchanan responded to the newspaper report, saying the fire district . certainly would respond to any fire, no matter where it occurs. Berry told the Record in a departing interview that the fire department should provide backup at certain events but at the expense of the promoter. He again emphasized that a law permitting little government regulation of events involving 500 or fewer people invites trouble. He noted the promoters of the July 4 demolition derby asked his department to provide fire protection, but said they could not pay for it. Berry promised to ask for volunteers to stand by. That, he said, was a mistake that has compounded itself, leading to his retirement. The dissension between Berry and the fire commission does underscore, however, one significant fact that fire Editorial protection is a political issue, one that involves a lot of money. The fire commission is a taxing body. It levies mills for property taxes and can and has bonded for capital improvements. All steps must be taken to ensure that the panel is a representative one and sensitive to the community. The Summit County Commission, however, recently approved a change converting the fire commission from an elective body to an appointive one. Such a change is not in the best interests of the people because those who levy taxes should be accountable to the voters. An appointive panel insulated from the voter not tend to be as sensitive to the public's needs as one that is elected. . One aspect of the new format for choosing fire commission members also is disconcerting. The resolution passed by the county commission calls for a five-person panel to select three nominees to the fire commission. The county commission then would select one of the nominees. That is a standard practice in many areas of government, but it is the composition of that selection board that gives pause. Two members of the five-person panel are to be fire commissioners, one is to be a firefighter and one representative each from the city and county will be included. That seems wholly incestuous. In order for the two remaining fire commissioners to choose the third person for their three-member panel, all they have to do is sway one other member of the nominating committee. And-one And-one of the committee members the firefighter representative could be in professional jeopardy. If that members bucks the fire commissioners and they prevail by swaying another committee member, life could be made quite unpleasant for that firefighter in the future. Although it is the county commission that chooses the new fire commissioner from among three nominees, that process, too, can be stacked. The potential for abuse is there. |