Let's Have More Budget Cuts For Vital Services

It's obvious we haven't left enough people stranded. Crime is up (people can't pay their bills, find a job and are really angry?), funding for police and fire services are down and you wonder why your street has so many potholes. Maybe it is because your city and county can't afford to take care of their citizens, the money is going to the state and the nation instead of back to the people who need it the most.

Nearest fire crew not called in fatal blaze: "Had the 'automatic aid' agreement been in place when a Hilltop neighborhood townhouse caught fire June 2, nearby fire crews from just outside the city limits could have responded.

'We have always been worried about this exact thing happening,'' said Supervisor John Gioia, whose district covers west Contra Costa County and who has pushed to reinstate the automatic aid agreement.

Richmond Fire Chief Michael Banks says the City Council dropped the agreement for budgetary reasons in 2002, well before he was promoted to chief. At the time, Richmond officials thought their fire crews were answering calls in unincorporated areas of the county much more often than county crews were helping out in the city. The unincorporated areas are overseen by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.

Whatever the case, there have been repeated overtures from the county in recent years to get the automatic aid accord between Richmond and the county restored -- including a county proposal to help pick up the extra costs for Richmond sending crews outside the city -- but to no avail."

Yes, it is definitely more important that one protect one's territory instead of the people. Twice I have lived in an area where your services depended on what side of the street you were on and it was almost impossible to get help when you needed it. Stupid ideas abound. I'll bet if it had been some drunk with a gun, everybody with a badge would have turned out. Sheesh.

Tags: budget cutbacks, Richmond Fire, innocent children, bureaucracy