EDITORIAL: The sacrifices of time and safety made by emergency services volunteers demand a show of appreciation in this year’s election.
Voters in East Windsor will be faced with a question in next month’s election: Should the township establish a retirement benefit plan for emergency volunteers or not?
If we had a vote at the Herald, we would pull the lever for "yes." We urge East Windsor residents to do the same and vote in favor of establishing a Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) in the Nov. 6 election.
Fire and emergency medical services volunteers often are called upon to put themselves in danger and sometimes to risk their lives. Never has that been more evident than in the aftermath of the tragedies of Sept. 11.
The cliché is to say they do this with "little regard for themselves or their loved ones," but we’re sure that’s not the case. Anytime a firefighter goes into a burning building to pull someone from the flames, we’re positive thoughts of their safety and their loved ones are on their minds, yet they run in anyway.
Unfortunately, the number of volunteers in the township’s emergency volunteer organizations Fire Companies No. 1 and No. 2 and Rescue Squads No. 1 and No. 2 is falling to a level that makes it difficult to safely cover East Windsor.
Because they are volunteers, they receive no compensation for their efforts, other than a heartfelt and well-earned "thank you" from those they have helped.
For those reasons, a LOSAP program should be established in East Windsor Township, and that will happen only if a majority of the voters agrees with us.
This is how it will work: Volunteers garner points for responding to fires and emergencies, attending meetings and serving in an elected capacity, among other things. Firefighters who collect 150 points and EMTs who collect 100 in a calendar year receive a $1,150 payment that is placed into a tax-deferred income account that will accumulate interest. After five years, the volunteers become vested in the program, but since it is intended as a retirement program there are penalties for withdrawing the money before retirement age.
There has been some controversy over the point system for rescue squad volunteers. Some members of the squads have complained that no emphasis has been placed on time during which members are on-call for duty. It’s a valid argument. Volunteers shouldn’t be punished just because no calls for service came in during their on-call period. The fact that they are available in an emergency should be rewarded, if only minimally. Mayor Janice Mironov has said the point system can be revisited if the voters give their approval to spending the money.
We think LOSAP could be beneficial in attracting volunteers in their early 30s and 40s those who are old enough to realize the benefit of retirement savings, but still young enough to be able to collect the annual contribution for a 20- or 25-year period if the townships and volunteer organizations make potential volunteers aware of it. It also should offer incentive for volunteers to stick around.
That’s half of what this is about attracting and keeping more volunteers.
There is also a more basic, human reason to vote in favor of LOSAP. A large part of this country has relied on volunteers for fire fighting and emergency medical assistance for well over a century. Giving them a small economic benefit in return, in addition to saying "thank you," is the least we can do.
That’s why we say vote "yes" for LOSAP on Nov. 6.

