Ruth Oosting: Why should we put Cal Fire logos on our firetrucks?

Residents of Atwater, please take note of the following:

I’m sure you are all aware that we contract yearly with Cal Fire for services. The contract for 2014-15 increased $75,748, or 3.8 percent over the prior year. So now we come to the new contract for 2015-16, and it shows an increase of 23.1 percent, or $477,364 – almost half-million dollars. Quite an increase for a city that is in a serious financial situation.

Do you wonder who negotiated this contract? I certainly do. Maybe that person, or persons, should be looking for a new job. One other thing regarding Cal Fire, is that they now want to put their logo on all of firetrucks. When I heard that, I thought, “How arrogant!” Will they be wearing patches on their uniforms that say, Atwater Fire Department?

I don’t remember Cal Fire contributing to the purchase of these trucks. No, it was the residents of Atwater who paid for them.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Ruth Oosting: Why should we put Cal Fire logos on our firetrucks?."