How dare you criticize the volunteers of the Gloucester City Fire Department when all you hearing in what is in the City News and Bill\’s webblog! You have no idea of what is going on behind the scenes unless you are involved.
The City Chief brought this to the Four Company President\’s attention one week after he took office at the annual banquet. The President immediately called for an audit of the Treasury and Softball Marathon Accounts. Mr. Kephart tried to come up with an excuse to cover himself but then realized he was caught when the officers said they were going to the bank the next day. The police were called that evening but the officers had to wait for the prosecutor\’s office to complete their investigation.
Nothing was ever tried to be covered up and for you to insinuate that is ludicrous.
As for the volunteers being thieves and the residents not trusting them in their homes, maybe you should refresh your memory a bit. When this happened 20 years ago it was a career man who took the money. A former four company officer said that his father paid the money back so no charges would be pressed against him but that he lost his career job. Maybe no deal should have been made since that person continued to go on to cheat others later on in life. But that was a different time and generation of volunteers.
However, it is a shame that one person can tarnish an entire organization\’s good name, but the majority of men and women of the volunteers are upstanding citizens who are dedicated to helping their fellow man. They leave their warm beds at night, dinner tables, holiday celebrations etc. to give to their community. I think we should commend and praise them for taking the time out of their lives to volunteer for the City of Gloucester rather than bad mouth them and put them down.
As to closing the two volunteer stations and making another career station, Gloucester City is a blue collar community, if anything an incentive should be given to the volunteers for helping their community. Maybe more citizens would volunteer then thus saving the taxpayers any additional output of money.
Barbara Ann Birney
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