This is an open letter to the Rural Fire Protection Association Board, to Koochiching County commissioners, to the mayor and the city council of International Falls, to the mayor and city council of Ranier, to the current and future members of the RFPA, and to all who may have an interest in fire protection in northern Koochiching County.

Several recent editorials in The Daily Journal have pointed out some questions regarding the proposal by the RFPA Board members to create a fire department separate from the International Falls Fire Department. However, there is an amazing number of questions that have not yet been asked or answered; questions that RFPA members need to know the answers to before any poll or vote is taken of them. There are also more questions for the city council of International Falls and for Koochiching County commissioners.

Following are questions that need to be asked and answered before any poll or vote is taken, and before any final decision is made of for or against a separate fire department for the RFPA.

No. 1: In the open letter to RFPA members from the RFPA Board, why did they give only two days notice for such an important meeting, and then held it during deer hunting season and on Veterans Day? Was this intentional? Or just an embarrassing oversight?

No. 2: In that same letter, why did the board state: “non attendance (at their meeting) will be noted as support of the direction taken by your board members”? (They had already voted to create a separate fire department.) That statement, and the action to create, is not only undemocratic, it is also unconstitutional.

No. 3: How did the RFPA Board arrive at the $90,000 figure for the annual cost of operating a new fire department? And how did they arrive at the $125,000 figure for a start up cost? Members need to see precisely how RFPA Board members arrived at these figures.

No. 4: Will this be a true “volunteer” fire department with no pay? What is the board’s definition of “volunteer”? And, how many fire fighters will be part of the new fire department?

No. 5: Will these new fire fighters be paid an annual salary, or just a stipend for each fire call they go to?

No. 6: Will these new fire fighters be afforded a paid health care plan? If so, what will be the annual cost?

No. 7: Will these new fire fighters be afforded a retirement plan? If so, at what cost for each fire fighter?

No. 8: Why did the RFPA Board vote “to begin our own fire department” before providing the above information to RFPA members, and only then attempting to poll them?

No. 9: Why haven’t the RFPA Board, and the county commissioners, sat down with the International Falls mayor and city council and negotiated for the best possible “renewal” contract for the RFPA? Should not this have occurred prior to any decision to create a separate fire department?

No 10: The International Falls City Council has offered a contract to the RFPA board of $125,000 per year for a six year period. What guarantees can the city of International Falls give to the RFPA that cost would not balloon out of proportion in the following contract period?

No. 11: The city council of International Falls is denying that there are any plans for annexing any rural areas (presumably to the east and southwest), but what guarantees are there that “future” city councils will not annex rural areas?

No. 12: If annexation should ever take place, that will decrease the numbers of RFPA members who pay annual dues. What will the RFPA Board do if annexation does eventually take place? Will they then have to raise dues to the remaining members? Or will the county commissioners have to step in and bail them out financially?

No. 13: The RFPA Board has stated that once they establish a new fire department, that they will eventually move into their own facility. Where will this facility be located? If they have to rent, what rural facility would be available, and sufficiently large enough, and at what annual cost? If they build a new facility, what would be the costs of land acquisition and contracted construction? Where are the blue prints? And don’t give the run around that it is too early for these cost figures.

No. 14: Once a housing for the new fire department is in place, what will be the maintenance costs? Water, sewer, electricity, annual maintenance, custodial service?

No. 15: Who will man this new fire department center? A full time fire chief? Part time help? And all at what cost to members?

No. 16: Why is it such a necessity to create a new fire department for so few rural homes and businesses, when the national trend is to amalgamate fire departments in order to create more cost savings and efficiency?

No. 17: Why is it so necessary to make a final decision on establishing a new fire department at this point in time? Many snowbird RFPA members have already departed for warmer climes — they need to be part of this important decision process.

No. 18: Why has the RFPA Board seemingly cut out input from our seasonal, summer lake shore and island residents, who also have a lot at stake in this decision?

No. 19: Why can’t the RFPA Board give themselves more time to get their ducks in a row before rushing to such an important decision? Apparently they could easily renew a contract with International Falls for the cost of $125,000 a year — this would give them the necessary time frame for planning and getting “precise” information into the hands of all concerned, so that a “wise and informed decision” could then be made.

No. 20: This question is directed to the current and individual members of the RFPA Board. How did you become a member of this board? Did you volunteer? Or were you elected, on a legal ballot, by a majority of the dues-paid members of the RFPA? If not, then we may have a problem. How can you say that you honestly represent your constituents, if you were not elected by a majority of them?

The bottom line in this whole discussion is that the RFPA Board members should not assume that they have the power or the authority to make such a momentous decision, such as establishing a new fire department, without the express permission from those individuals and businesses that they purport to represent. After all, isn’t Koochiching County still part of a democratic nation and state? The writer of our Constitution guaranteed that governance in these United States must always be “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Members of governmental bodies and agencies must never lose sight of this mantra.

What ever happens in solving this fire protection dilemma, let us hope that cool heads will prevail, and that individual and institutional rights will be respected and preserved. No name calling. No arrogance, no “holier than thou” attitudes, no abuse of elected powers. Let’s keep the process positive, democratic, respectful, and not autocratic or dictatorial.

Carey has been a long-time member and constituent of the Rural Fire Protection Association.