Belmont fire department and politics

The Belmont fire department does not usually participate in political campaigns.  However, with the split of the Belmont and the San Carlos fire department, politics was at center stage.  They participated in the political scene by attending city council meetings and trying to influence the outcome of the split, but they did not endorse any candidate for mayor.  The new mayor Christine Wozniak was in favor of the split and establishing a standalone Belmont fire department.  The fire fighters had mixed feelings about the mayor’s plan because their pension and benefits would be cut.  The city had to let go of three firefighters because they did not have enough funding to keep them all.  The politics of the split greatly affected the department’s livelihood. 

 On a national level, FIREPAC is a political action committee that supports candidates and their campaigns.  It became the tenth largest political donor during the 2009-2010 elections.  They are a bipartisan political action committee that supports candidates who want to increase funding for fire fighters.  FIREPAC is not about political ideology or partisanship, but rather about finding support and funding for fire departments through political action. 

Belmont FD and community.

In a small city like Belmont the fire department and community have a close relationship.  The obvious can be stated; residents’ property taxes fund the fire department, but the bond between firefighter and resident goes deeper in Belmont.  The fire department, despite all it has been through the last three years, has taken great pains to stay involved in the community.  After 32 years of having an adjoined fire department with San Carlos, Belmont has recently opened its own department.  The split between the departments is still a sore subject for budgeters, city officials, and the residential community.  However, the fire fighters have taken the biggest hit, their salaries have been cut by 8%, and pensions and benefits by up to 20%.  Nevertheless, they still protect our community and volunteer their time to ensure the safety of Belmont. 

           

            One of the ways the Belmont fire fighters volunteer their time is by teaching a program on the weekends called “CERT”.  CERT stands for community emergency response training.  Our local heroes do not get paid for teaching this five-hour program.  They teach citizens first aid, CPR, and basic search and rescue training.  Every citizen that attends this program will leave CPR and first aid certified.  The fire fighters also reach out to the Belmont schools to teach the children fire safety.  They engage with the children by letting them try on their fire gear and explaining what it is for.  The schools can even schedule a field trip to the fire station, where the kids can climb a fire truck.  During Christmas, a fireman dresses up like “fire-fightin’ Santa Clause” and will take picture with local children from the community.   

            Citizen participation can affect the Belmont FD.  Attending city council meetings where the fate of the fire department and its funding is potentially decided is one way to make a different.  Citizens’ voicing their opinions during these meetings encourages community engagement and shows the FD that we care.  Citizens can volunteer there time during the CERT programs as well.  The community can participate by just thanking a fire fighter when we see them around town.  They do a lot for our community and a thank you means a lot. 

Mlk

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, but his legacy still lives on.  His activism at the state and local levels helped enforce the 15^th Amendment which states, “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (The United States Constitution).   It took nearly a century for many of the southern states to adhere to the legitimacy of the amendment so in 1965 the federal government passed the Voting Rights Act.  During the passage of this act, Dr. King gave speeches, created organizations, gained followers, arranged marches, and met and sought counsel from President Lyndon Johnson. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is the face of the Civil Rights movement, but the most brilliant aspect of his legacy is his nonviolent stance on revolution.  He was moving to change hundred-year-old adverse practices, but fought back with peaceful assembly.  After news of the overt injustices of the Alabama state police spread, the rest of the country began to open their eyes to Dr. King’s message.  If Dr. King’s response to these injustices had been aggressive or reactionary, then the masses may not have been as partial to the plight of African American voters. 

During this last election, there were groups that alleged voter suppression was going on.  Certain states passed voter ID laws in which those who chose to vote had to present government issued identification.  Opponents of these voter ID laws claim that this is just a means to make it harder for certain ethnic and socio-economic groups to vote; not everyone has a driver’s license so they have no need for government issued IDs other than to vote.  Proponents of these laws say that the system is being taken advantage of and presenting an ID is a way to protect American’s rights to vote.   Some choose to believe that certain group’s rights to vote are still in danger by laws like this, but that is a matter of opinion.  

My community partner is going to be a police department.  My CP grew from a local need because police departments provide communities with a sense of security.  Although no one likes a speeding ticket, police do more good than bad.  They enable people within a community to feel safe.  It is encouraging to know that if any crime in your neighborhood does happen, there is a department that will be working towards getting rid of that threat.  Policing and criminal procedures usually falls in the laps of state and local governments.  Police departments are generally funded with resident property and income taxes. 

Federal and State law are often at odds with each other, so it is only fitting that law enforcement agencies may harbor some of that tension.  Federal policing agencies such as the FBI, and state-run law enforcement like the New York Police Department (henceforth referred to as the NYPD), may have disagreements about jurisdiction.  A small local government agency like Belmont Police department may not have the same overlap in jurisdiction, at least in individual cases, as a large city such as New York, but Belmont PD is still charged with enforcing federal law.  They cannot prosecute a criminal under federal law, but they may detain someone until a federal officer can retrieve them.  The best example of this is with illegal immigration issues.  Federal law always trumps state law, as sustained by the Supreme Court, so this must be taken into account by local law enforcement agencies.  Adhering to both federal and state law is tricky business. 

Police accountability is often times a concern for citizens of a community.  There are plethora of media stories describing police brutality and abuse of power.  For major police departments such as the aforementioned NYPD, their accountability is to an outside agency called internal affairs.  For small police departments such as Belmont, the local district attorney can conduct an investigation into individual officer’s misconduct.  In drastic cases, and more often because of funding issues, a local police department can be terminated all together and their responsibilities given to the county sheriffs.  A local example of this is the Half moon Bay Police Department.  Due to major funding and staffing cut backs the county sheriffs took over the jurisdiction of the Half-moon Bay community.   It is a change that was not welcome by the locals, but necessary because of the lack of money.