When boys are young they play with toy trains, toy guns, toy fire trucks, and all sorts of little guy fun stuff. And when they get older they play with the real things. Just about any adult can buy a real gun, but the trains and firetrucks are the province of the big boys in government.
The Midland, Texas, City Council raises taxes a little bit every year as a matter of routine, and tax opponents are routinely ignored. The big boys on City Council have shown little sales resistance when it comes to the fire department. And this year the published excuse for the tax hike is need for a new fire station.
Few have questioned the necessity for a new fire station. And to my knowledge no one has done any comparison study with other cities of a similar response area and population. To make the matter worse, few of the emergency fire department calls are even fire related. KWES-9:
MIDLAND- Out of the 13,000 calls Midland Fire Department firefighters will receive this year, almost 90% will be from locals requesting emergency medical services (EMS).
That tracks national trends. A chart from Firefighters Don't Fight Fires:
So is a new fire station necessary for medical services? Of course not. The cost is greater than the benefit. But fire stations are cool. And the new fire trucks have shiny bells on the front bumper.
Let's be grateful that some charismatic salesman hasn't persuaded the local government they need a train.
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