Vote YES for Elk Creek Fire Protection District's November 2019 Mill Levy

Conifer's wildfire risk is among the highest in the nation; help protect your home, your family, and your community - vote YES on 7B for your Elk Creek Fire Department!

Some of the needs that will be met with this mill levy include:
- Fix failing cisterns
- Replace 2 fire engines
- Replace lost paid firefighter/paramedic positions
- Fund the chipping program and wildland fire mitigation crew

www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investiga...paradise/1801629001/

At the Pine Post Office today, I met a gentleman who like myself had no idea who paid for the expensive mailings regarding yes on the ballot . Pinecom.com has detailed this ballot measure. I was hesitant to bring it up on this forum, should have done it earlier.
There is a very expensive, organized, effort for the passage of this issue. Simply this issue allows for a 45% increase in the budget with no community oversight.
For those of you who shop and clip coupons to provide for your families within your budget, please understand there is NO oversight for budget of the ECFD. The current attitude seems to be Administration conquers all. Give us the tax increase or there won't be ambulances to answer calls. Give us the money or we won't be able to provide fire protection.

Thank you for sharing your concerns ramage. There is indeed oversight for the Elk Creek Fire budget. Every single Board of Directors meeting is open to the public who are always welcome to attend, and each meeting includes a time on the agenda for citizens to ask questions and raise issues. As well, any who wish may call and ask questions of the Chief and Deputy Chief anytime. In addition all budgets are submitted to the state and are audited by an independent, 3rd party auditor. You'll find audited budgets from 2008-2017, and the pending 2018 audited budget all posted here: elkcreekfire.org/transparency/ Please feel free to peruse them.

Nothing is hidden, every budget must balance, and the Board cannot spend above what is approved unless they vote to amend the budget. The $750,000 discrepancy that has been discussed elsewhere was due to the auditors who moved revenue funds out of the 2018 financials that included lease payments from the station 3 tower and reimbursements from the state for wildfire assistance, and into the 2019 financials. The expenses associated with those activities however stayed in the 2018 financials. (We asked Chief McLaughlin for clarification on that issue, which you are welcome to call the station and verify).

As for the mailings, we the Friends of Elk Creek Fire paid for all of that. Our contributions and expenditures report is due to the Secretary of State by October 15th; Neil Whitehead III went ahead and submitted that today. It will be available on the Tracer website, but you'll find that the Elk Creek Firefighter and Emergency Services Association gifted us with $5,000 and the Elk Creek Local 4710 Colorado Professional Firefighters voted to gift us with $11,500 of our total $16,950 in contributions - all local, generously donated by the firefighters that some others elsewhere are trying to claim aren't supporting this mill levy. We have spent $16,610.26 of that on mailings, yard signs, banners, and postage.

Elk Creek Fire Department has lost two positions by attrition to higher-paying fire departments and, without funding, will need to lay off more putting increased strain on an already understaffed fire department. With a reduction in staffing, residents may have to wait longer for an out of district ambulance service, and level of care may be reduced to Basic Life Support instead of Advanced.

On average, there are now three to four 911 calls each day, and busy days can see ten or more calls. Most of these emergency requests occur during the day when volunteers are least available. Many of the calls overlap, with two, three or four calls at the same time. There are two paramedics working each day, and an average medical call takes two and a half to three hours. When that second 911 call comes in and the on-duty paramedics are already gone, the response to the second call is delayed until volunteers can come to the station, then drive to the call, if any volunteers are available.

With your vote to approve this mill levy, Elk Creek Fire can hire to replace the lost firefighter/paramedic positions, and add additional staff to help cover those simultaneous calls that are happening more frequently so that they can continue to respond quickly when you need them most urgently.

Vote YES on 7B!

Sharing with permission from Luca Fabbri, ECFPD Volunteer Firefighter/EMT:
I am heartened to see the extent of my neighbors' support for the much needed mill levy increase for our fire department. This is only a small sample of signs in favor, and I have seen only one against in all of Conifer.

Ballots should be arriving soon - please remember to vote! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Please Vote Yes on Ballot Issue 7B by Elk Creek Fire Protection District Volunteer Philip Koch
(shared with permission)

My friends, We have a simple and yet stark choice in the current local election:  Do we or do we not want continued high-quality fire and emergency medical service in and around our Conifer homes?
 
For the record: I am honored to be among the unpaid volunteers who serve you and this entire community as part of the Elk Creek Fire Department.  While this may provide me more insight than many with respect to the workings of Elk Creek Fire, I am speaking here as a fellow citizen who has nothing more to gain from the passage of Ballot Issue 7B than does any other local citizen.

Only by voting YES on JeffCo Ballot Issue 7B can we expect the level of emergency service in our district to remain as high as what we have come to expect from Elk Creek Fire Department.  Minutes matter in emergencies: Can you, for example, live with an extra 45-60 minute wait for private ambulance service (the most likely alternative to Elk Creek )?  For a heart-attack or stroke, for instance: don’t bet your life on it.
 
And yes, this involves an increase in our respective property taxes - a very small one.  I think of this, however, as a form of insurance against emergencies that I hope will never arise, but that unfortunately do. Please ask yourselves: Is the safety of my neighbors, family, and myself with respect to fire and medical emergencies not worth the equivalent cost to my household of a few cups of coffee a month?   The alternative (without passage of this measure) looks pretty bleak: significantly delayed response times for those fire, rescue, and medical services that remain. (Many services, like local ambulance service, wildland-fire mitigation, and slash chipping, for example, almost certainly won’t remain if this funding measure is not approved by us voters.)

I must also note that, other than the real (but modest) proposed increase to our individual property taxes, I have trouble understanding the ‘facts’ asserted by those opposing this initiative (both on posters and in the JeffCo Notice of Election, neither of which is subject to fact-checking).  In my experience, Elk Creek’s workings are transparent, in keeping with legal requirements, and both managed and governed responsibly.  (I am a retiree with nearly 35 years of business experience and over 40 years of non-profit experience: I know how a lack of transparency, legality, and good management or governance look.)

But don’t take my or anyone’s word for it: be a well-informed voter and check out the records provided on-line by Elk Creek Fire (as required) at elkcreekfire.org .

I also note opponents’ claims of tension between salaried and volunteer firefighters: this has not been my experience, nor do I know ANY current member of the department (salaried or volunteer) who would say otherwise. I can attest that Elk Creek Fire Department is collaborative, supportive, focused, responsible (generally as well as fiscally), disciplined, and well run.  Elk Creek and its membership are here for you, but can only be effective with your help.  I urge you to VOTE YES ON 7B, and to submit your ballot: doing so is in everyone’s best interest. 

But if you won’t do this for our community in general, then VOTE YES ON 7B for the members of your own household and for yourself: their lives and your own may just depend upon it.

What if we said "NO!"

What if firefighters, police, paramedics, dispatchers and even tow truck drivers said "nah I'm not going on that call"...
"Eh I don't feel like it"...
"Let someone else do it"...

What would happen?

Who would know how, have the equipment, the resources to put the fire out in your house...
Save you, your child or parents during a medical emergency...
Pull you out of your totaled vehicle on the side of the road?

What would our roads and highways look like?

Who would clear the car crashes and bring people to the hospitals?

What if we said "No!"?

What would society look like?

Thankfully, we don't say no, we always go.

Often times at our own expense; with our own money and sometimes with our own lives.

We are there.

We can't say no. For many of us it's like eating or breathing. We are compelled from a very young age to want to go. To want to help.

Unfortunately, we can't always afford to go. The funding isn't there. We run out of our own money.

We need things like gas and diesel for our vehicles and equipment.
We need the equipment.
We need to repair the equipment.
Chainsaws.
Axes.
Hose lines.
Ladders.
Bunker gear and boots.
Helmets.
Gloves.
The nozzles that go on the hose lines.
Air tanks and masks.
Tires for our vehicles.
Crowbars and pike poles.
IV lines.
Bandages
Gauze
Oxygen
Insulin
Other life saving medications.
Training to know how to do these things.

What if the choice to not go wasn't ours?

What if we wanted to go but couldn't?

What if the choice for us to go or not go was YOURS?

Well it is yours!

Vote YES on 7B! Choose for us to go.

(Written by a former firefighter and EMT)

Shared from Michelle Festag's page

No, they did not. In the 2018 budget, there is a $783,000 expense that the independent auditors moved the revenue for out of the 2018 financials and into the 2019 financials. These included lease payments from the station 3 tower and reimbursements from the state for wildfire assistance.

So, the expenses associated with those activities stayed in the 2018 financials showing a deficit. Once the 2019 fiscal year is done and the audit completed, it will show a $783,000 surplus canceling out that expense.

Elk Creek Fire's financials are fully transparent. Their budgets are audited by an independent 3rd party, and those audited budgets from 2008-2018 are all on their website here: elkcreekfire.org/transparency/ . Every year, the Board of Directors adopts the budget for the next fiscal year and they are required by law to adhere to that budget. You, the taxpayer, can review these budgets, and go ask questions at the open monthly Board of Director's meetings.

Elk Creek Fire has been fiscally responsible, transparent with their budgets, and cut costs as much as they can. They've had to put off maintenance on stations and equipment, and hiring staff to replace those they've lost to better paying jobs down the hill. We need to support them so they can do their jobs protecting us and responding to our emergencies. Learn more on our website: friendsofelkcreek.org/

#VoteYESon7B!

617 times that someone needed urgent help this year. When minutes count, do you want your ambulance coming from Golden?

Please support our local firefighter paramedics by voting yes for 7B. Thank you!

Have questions? There's more information on our website, friendsofelkcreek.org/ or give the fire department a call during business hours (8:00-4:30) and ask to speak with Chief McLaughlin or Deputy Chief Ware. (303) 816-9385

We'd like to share a message written by a proud supporter of Elk Creek Fire:

911-my child woke up with a severe headache! In the short time it took for Elk Creek firefighters/paramedics to respond, the child was unconscious. Correctly called by the parents, the child was in need of immediate medical services! Firefighter Sander, a trained paramedic, called the Flight For Life helicopter to transport the child to a Denver hospital, his medical skills and experienced observations plus caring attitude as a father telling him the child needed to get to a hospital fast. This child did indeed need Flight For Life and that quick decision altered the recovery of a stroke victim. Firefighter Sander, along with other medical members of the team that treated this child, were honored for their service at a Colorado Rockies game. Yes, one of your own mountain folk were recognized for their quick actions and altered the outcome of a child’s recovery and life. Ask yourself would I want this for someone I love?

911-2 AM my child had a fever now all day and now has a funny cough, keeps drooling, and I can’t get her to drink anything. She’s so quiet and the doctor’s office is closed. Elk Creek Fire respond to find a child who has croup – which could become a life threatening situation. Luckily for these parents, the Elk Creek firefighters have medication to help open the airway, give life-saving oxygen, and determine an ambulance transport to Denver is needed. Ask yourself, what I want this for someone I love?

911-late day, blizzard conditions with 1 1/2 ft snow on the ground. Adult male with inability to walk, severe headache, fever. By the time Elk Creek Fire arrives, the patient is only able to nod his head to questions for assessment. A rapid transport via ambulance is ordered. The patient was transported to a Denver hospital where he was diagnosed with fluid buildup in the cranium. Emergency surgery to place a shunt in the brain was immediately performed. Time was of the essence, not only for a recovery, but to save this patient’s life. The outcome for this person, an active member of your community, was a full recovery and a return to work! Ask yourself, would I want this for someone I love?

Two paramedic positions have been vacated in the Elk Creek Fire Department and need to be filled to keep the current level of service. Elk Creek Fire now has two paramedics per shift (Platte Canyon has four per shift). When an ambulance transport out of district is required, a volunteer firefighter is needed to drive the ambulance so that a lone firefighter can attend the patient, leaving the second firefighter/paramedic to respond to medical emergencies. If a volunteer doesn’t/can’t respond then BOTH firefighter/paramedics have to transport the patient. That leaves zero - no one – left in District to respond to medical emergencies. Ask yourself, would I want this for someone I love?

These TRUE stories about people in your community, perhaps your friend, your neighbor, your family member, are but a few of the situations that these trained firefighters from Elk Creek Fire face. They care about YOU and want only the best for YOU in an emergency situation. Please give them your best and VOTE YES on Ballot Initiative 7B.

Signed,
Lylia Puckett, RN, BSN