Congratulations to the leadership from the borough of Spotswood for understanding the importance of maintaining its own fire-inspection bureau.
In such less-populated municipalitieswhere the volunteer fire service is the backbone of vital emergency responders, it is a great advantage to have your own members conducting the fire inspections. These inspectors will be answering the emergency calls as first responders and will be on hand with necessary and invaluable information pertaining to all the buildings that they inspect, relaying this information to the commanding officers at the scene. If other than your own municipal fire department performs the inspections, your municipality will have to call in other inspectors who live out of town, and this vital information will be delayed for quite some time.
I did not know that the Middlesex County Fire Academy was designed to take away municipal jobs to attain more authority in hiring its own political connections. All that is being done here is taking your tax money out of your municipal pocket and transferring it to the pocket of the county. In a time when the taxpayers cry to lessen government, the county is trying to enlarge it.
Municipal officials should be caring and giving to the volunteers who help make our community safer and should support them in their endeavors and not be taking away their support. Where is the priority list that should be abided by when public safety should be the first consideration?
Keep safety first before you dismantle any vital service for your taxpayers.
Edward Szatkowski
South Amboy