Fire Chief Matt Simpson was reinstated!
The annual meeting of the Lake Hamilton Fire and Rescue Department was held on April 1, 2012 starting at 2:00 pm and lasting two and one half hours. The first hour consisted of a debate (argument) concerning the legality of the meeting, based on an interpretation of by laws and Roberts Rules of Order and an objection that the president should not express his opinion unless he steps down as chairman and allows someone else conduct that part of the meeting. An estimated 100 people were in attendance with approximately a dozen 20 from Diamondhead.
Following all this there were a few good things to happen. Some are of interest to Diamondhead.
1. Matt Simpson was reinstated as Fire Chief.
2. The board will consider meeting Diamondhead representatives to negotiate a more equitable number of votes that we will be allotted. We currently have one (1) vote for the 625 residents.
Chief Simpson presented the Departments annual report which was complete and interesting. Briefly, during the calendar year 2011, the group responded to 510 calls. 264 were fire related and 246 were first responder related. A complete report and an itemized list of types of calls will be given to the publisher for inclusion in this publication as time and space permit.
Note: We have 625 residents in Diamondhead, pay $30,000.00 annually and have been allotted one (1) vote. According to the LHFRA this was negotiated some time ago for the privilege of allowing Diamondhead to collect all the fire dues and pay in one lump sum. Apparently, judging from the comments, this is not in their by laws. The LHFRA has 6000 members and it was pointed out that one vote per resident would be 20% of the total voting population. This was stated as an objection to the negotiation suggestion.
Over all it was an interesting meeting. Other than the above two items there was some back patting and voting for two new members of the board.
Jerry McAnear, Sr.
Following all this there were a few good things to happen. Some are of interest to Diamondhead.
1. Matt Simpson was reinstated as Fire Chief.
2. The board will consider meeting Diamondhead representatives to negotiate a more equitable number of votes that we will be allotted. We currently have one (1) vote for the 625 residents.
Chief Simpson presented the Departments annual report which was complete and interesting. Briefly, during the calendar year 2011, the group responded to 510 calls. 264 were fire related and 246 were first responder related. A complete report and an itemized list of types of calls will be given to the publisher for inclusion in this publication as time and space permit.
Note: We have 625 residents in Diamondhead, pay $30,000.00 annually and have been allotted one (1) vote. According to the LHFRA this was negotiated some time ago for the privilege of allowing Diamondhead to collect all the fire dues and pay in one lump sum. Apparently, judging from the comments, this is not in their by laws. The LHFRA has 6000 members and it was pointed out that one vote per resident would be 20% of the total voting population. This was stated as an objection to the negotiation suggestion.
Over all it was an interesting meeting. Other than the above two items there was some back patting and voting for two new members of the board.
Jerry McAnear, Sr.
