Guest Column: Robbed of our chance to vote on new Gearhart firehouse in November

Published 12:30 am Tuesday, October 12, 2021

As a result of two people filing a court complaint regarding ballot title language, Gearhart voters have been robbed of our chance to vote on bond financing on this November’s ballot.

The judge found absolutely no merit in any of the issues presented, but as a result of this tactic, the vote has been delayed and costs continue to increase.

Over the years, several locations have been proposed and each effort has been met with a campaign of “alternative facts.” Gearhart citizens need to rely on credible sources, such as the city’s website and blog, instead of social media posts by those seeking to become “influencers” to the detriment of our community and its reputation.

The resources first responders need to keep themselves and our community safe is something only we the voters can decide. We, the voters, chart the course for our community. When these decisions are taken away from us, we’re no longer living in a democracy.

Supporting the Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department is a point of pride among community members. These are the people we depend on to keep us safe, putting their lives at risk for you around the clock, every day. Many have had interactions with our volunteers and are grateful to them for keeping us safe.

Oregon’s coastal communities have been educating their citizens and visitors for years regarding the need to be prepared for a tsunami. Gearhart continues to prepare with Community Emergency Response Team volunteers, supply caches, ShakeOut events, evacuation signage, etc. Another critical component is the community’s ongoing effort to build a fire station engineered to survive earthquakes and located outside of the tsunami zone.

A 5% increase in construction costs would result in an additional $500,000. Bond interest rates are at an all-time low and the only direction is up. Even a 1/2% interest rate bump would increase costs to taxpayers of more than $1 million over a 30-year bond term. But these are only financial costs, trivial to any loss of life in our community.

Let’s look at some of the “alternative facts” and counterpoint with truth:

• Initial and continuing education of firefighters is critical. One of the features in our new fire station has consistently been a training room for our volunteers. However, those opposed have changed the language to be “increased space for a regional training program,” implying Gearhart was somehow subsidizing other fire jurisdictions.

• Many volunteer fire departments have sleeping quarters in their stations. Why? Sleeping facilities allow on-duty emergency medical technicians and firefighters to respond quicker to emergencies. However, those opposed have mischaracterized this feature as evidence that Gearhart is moving away from a volunteer to a full-time paid fire department.

• The memory of a heroic Gearhart volunteer firefighter who gave his life attempting to save a person in the ocean was used to argue against providing training and rescue equipment to our volunteers. However, the truth is we already have six volunteers undergoing training and certification for water rescue and we already own the equipment.

• A professional construction engineering company provided estimates for building a 13,000-square-foot fire and police station at just over $10 million, with another $900,000 for two independent access driveways. All construction projects have “contingency” line items for handling unforeseen costs. While 8% to 10% contingency is typical, ours is 20% and hopefully will not be required. The $11 million budget plus $2 million contingency equals the amount of the bond vote request up to $13 million. If we are successful in grants and donations, the bond amount could be reduced. However, the opposition mischaracterizes the cost as “upward of $13 million.”

• It has been suggested the Seaside Fire Department, Medix and the U.S. Coast Guard are sufficient to safeguard our community. Gearhart’s brave and dedicated volunteers are demeaned by statements like this. While we work closely with Seaside and provide mutual aid, the Seaside fire station is also vulnerable to earthquake and tsunami. In a major disaster, it is highly unlikely Seaside would be able to respond. Despite the expertise of our Coast Guard, their limited resources will not be sufficient to cover the Pacific coastline. Medix does not have the training or equipment to safely cut people out of a vehicle accident or deal with hazardous waste.

Please join me in giving thanks and gratitude to Gearhart’s selfless first responders and support the bond funding necessary for Gearhart to keep our community members safe.