An open letter to the Weathersfield Selectboard

Galen Crandall Jr.
Perkinsville, Vt.
To the editor,

Someone has to point out to the Town of Weathersfield Selectboard that they don’t have unlimited power. The fact is that their total lack of respect for the citizenry gives them the feeling that they can order members of the volunteer fire departments to work toward a unified unit under control by a person they select. Twice the board’s drive to take control has been voted down by Weathersfield taxpaying citizens. Selectboard chair Murphy and her subjects, which make up the majority of the board, keep espousing “safety” as a big problem which only they can correct. I know of no injury, or property loss, that resulted from a lack of safety training or protocol, for at least the past forty years.

That red herring isn’t the only problem they have. Selectman Todd has stated there is a problem with their budgets. This from a member of Town of Weathersfield’s Selectboard, which hasn’t had a clean audit for at least two years. Isn’t it about time to clean their own house first? Then the board also planned on hiring a person to be fire chief of a combined municipal fire department. That alone is a laugher since they hired a person as town manager that has never been a town manager. My guess is they would use the same criteria for a fire chief; that would be someone willing to take orders from the board, especially the chair of the board.

During my 20 years plus as a firefighter, and trustee of the West Weathersfield Volunteer Fire Department with the late Clarence “Sonny” Grover as fire chief, we had a well-trained efficient membership which always acted professionally with who ever we worked mutual aid with. There was always a good-natured rivalry with East Side Dept. Of course we didn’t have any personal conflicts between the departments personnel back then. Then the selectboard decided that training has to be identical. There are essential basics that every fire fighter should know and abide by, yet there are responsibilities that any department might have that add types of training specific to their location. Such as, Ascutney responds to accidents on the Interstate, a factor that WWVFD isn’t tasked with.

Chair Murphy evidently takes the John Wood report as an order that the rest of us must accept, like a single fire department. She also interprets different lines as he fits her conclusions. Mr. Wood’s report tried repeatedly for one department, one chief. Bottom line: Chair Murphy, with assist from town manager, does not plan on dropping her demand for control. That brings up the changes in the culture of the WWVFD. The volunteer force has been corrupted by their chief. He has made statements in the past about not wanting to be chief.

Respectfully,

Galen Crandall Jr.

Perkinsville, Vt.