Citizen government

By Peter F. Carpenter

Local government is the bedrock of our democratic institutions and the place where we as citizens have the most control.

I believe that your Fire District is one of the very best in the entire Nation and that my job is to make sure that it retains that stature in order to better meet your needs and the nation's needs -- as we have seen in the deployment of both our Swift Water Rescue Team and our Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to the Katrina disaster recovery effort. At the same time, the Katrina disaster should make us painfully aware of the limitations in the support that we will receive from the Federal government in the event that we suffer a community wide, or larger, disaster. We must build a community response to such disasters with neighbor helping neighbor and local elected officials working together to provide hands on leadership, direction and inspiration.

Local government only works if citizens such as yourself get involved, if you vote and, most important, if you hold those of us who have been entrusted with elected office accountable. My phone numbers and e-mail are available to you so that you can make sure that I know what you expect and when you have concerns.