To: Mayor Dave Edler

Councilmember Maureen Adkison

Councilmember Micah Cawley

Councilmember Kathy Coffey

Councilmember Rick Ensey

Councilmember Bill Lover

Councilmember Sonia Rodriguez

Subject: City of Yakima EMS Levy Results and Fire Fighter / Paramedics Proposal

June 1, 2009

We thank.you for Yakima Fire Chief Hines letter response dated May 5, 2009 which addressed some of our questions to you in our recent correspondence but left many questions unanswered. SOAR remains steadfastly opposed to expanding Yakima Fire Department services at this time to include paramedics on fire engines. Please be reminded once again of the February 3, 2009 EMS levy proposal which failed by a substantial margin with over 59% NO votes.

Even though Chief Hines continues to seek City Council approval to “just” allow the Yakima Fire Department to utilize the paramedic services of two current fire fighters, Chief Hines May 5, 2009 letter to SOAR clearly states his goal is “to place a Firefighter/Paramedic on every neighborhood fire engine.” What is the start up cost and ongoing cost for his clearly stated goal?? Can the City of Yakima afford this goal ?? Please refer to our previous correspondence in which we stated our strong belief that Chief Hines proposal with the two current fire fighters is

just the “nose of the camel in the tent.”

We believe that our City currently has an EMS system that works with private ambulance services and a user pay system. Our City cannot afford to be and do everything for everybody. We must use our limited resources in the most cost effective manner. During times that the City is discussing closing parks and pools due to shortage of resources, it appears unwise to be considering expanding fire department services.

Chief Hines included his August 4,2008 letter to Bob Hall in his response to our concerns. It is interesting to note that year 1987 to 2007 statistics are used by Chief Hines to show that fire calls of an emergency medical nature increased by over 400% during this time period. These same statistics can show an almost 20% decrease in non-medical emergency calls ( we presume fire related calls) during this same time period as shown below:

1987 – 3,189 responses X 0.48 = 1531 / 49.6K= 31 calls per 1000 population

2007 – 9,009 responses X 0.24 = 2160 / 85.0K = 25 calls per 1000 population

We encourage the City Council to look very carefully at all the statistics being presented to you as very different messages can be delivered from the same raw data.

SOAR continues to respect our Yakima Fire Fighters and the job they are paid to perfonn. We believe the City Council should direct the Yakima Fire Department to focus on vital fire fighting services and let the private ambulance services do their job.

Very truly yours,

M.A. (Mel) Tanasse

Save Our American Rights ( SOAR )

Want to know how President Clinton came to be called the first black President?  How the U.S. taxpayers were fleeced our of $3 billion?  How today the same shill is being used to pick the U.S. taxpayers’ pockets for $5 billion under President Obama? Read Harvest of Lies – The Black Farmer Lawsuit Against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Author:  Louis T. March
Copyright: 2004
Publisher:  Representative Government Press, P.O. Box 18104, Raleigh, NC 27619

If you are interested in reading who is behind the push to burden the U.S. taxpayer with millions of illegal immigrants, the answer is in Breach of Faith, American Churches and the Immigration Crisis.

Author: James C. Russell, Ph.D.
Copyright: 2004
Publisher: Representative Government Press, PO Box 18104 Raleigh, NC 27619

It comes as no surprise that the Obama administration’s $1.75 billion dollar plus spending plan is full of waste.  Here’s some of the more outrageous pork projects:

• $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, CA
• $5,813,000 for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the Senate in Boston
• $17,500,000 to renovate the FDR Presidential Library
• $2,000,000 for the LBJ Presidential Library
• $22,000,000 for the JFK Presidential Library
• $6,838,000 for the JFK Center for the Performing Arts
• $476,00 for the Nation Council of La Raza in Washington, D.C.

Have you heard about the so-called “Fairness Doctrine”?

Leftwingers want to use it to force radio stations that carry popular conservative talk shows to provide equal time for left-wing views that radio audiences don’t want to hear.

…Senator Ton Harkin, D-IA, called for imposing the doctrine by law.  In an interview on the Bill Press Radio Show, Harkin told his host, “We gotta get the Fairness Doctrine back in law again.” Press told the senator, “All we want is, you know, some balance on the airwaves, that’s all…but just make sure that there are a few progressives and liberals out there, right?” Harkin responded, “Exactly.  That’s why we need the Fairness Doctrine back.”

Could we apply the Fairness Doctrine to the local newspaper to get equal time?

According to a May 22, 2008 Freedom Alliance report by By Thomas P. Kilgannon :

Built in 1950, the 38-story UN building mirrors the organization — it is outdated, corrupted, crumbling, wasteful, inefficient, dangerous, and no longer useful. The building, like the organization, should have been condemned, but the UN instead chose to undertake a massive and expensive renovation. The project is currently slated to take five years to complete.

A 2006 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned that costs on the UN project were “preliminary” and should be “expected to change.” They were correct. Just five years ago, the project was estimated to cost $953 million. Now, it is $1.87 billion. But even that estimate has risen in recent weeks.

Last month, the GAO reported to Congress that the project’s price tag now stands at $2.07 billion – $190 million higher than what the UN tells us. The GAO added hopefully that the project’s executive director “is optimistic about being able to get the project back on budget.” That is unlikely given the upward trajectory of the project to date and the UN’s dismal track record on financial matters.

If the UN’s expenses continue to spiral upward, so too, will the cost to the American taxpayers. The Capital Master Plan (CMP), as the UN has dubbed the project, is being financed through the same assessment formula as the UN’s annual operations. Thus, the United States will pay the largest share — 22 percent — or $455 million — based on the latest overruns.

We have reached a point where there must be limits placed on American generosity — and those limits must be applied first and foremost to the United Nations.

The U.S. budget deficit for 2008 will be north of $400 billion. That will be added to the $163 billion shortfall from last year, bringing our national debt to a staggering $9.4 trillion. The trade deficit is over $700 billion. At nearly $4 per gallon, Americans are getting gouged at the gas pump, and the President’s pleas for increased oil production are being ignored by the Saudis and other OPEC nations which routinely vote against U.S. interests in the General Assembly. The Bush administration is bailing out irresponsible investors who gambled on sub prime mortgages and is spending $168 billion in an effort to jump start the economy.

Working Americans are facing a mortgage crisis, lost home equity from plummeting real estate values, foreclosures, higher grocery bills, a sinking dollar, a depressed stock market, sky-high gas prices, increased health care costs, rising college tuitions, and jobs being shipped overseas. On top of all that, should they really be forced to underwrite the comfort of UN bureaucrats?

Giving the United Nations a $455 million makeover during difficult economic times like these certainly explains why approval ratings for the Congress and the President are in the basement.

But the economics are only a part of the problem. We are funding an organization whose goal is to undermine our country and our Constitution. At Turtle Bay right now, the United Nations is working on an Arms Trade Treaty that will prevent the manufacture and possession of  firearms. But for the efforts of John Bolton and the National Rifle Association, it might already be ratified. The UN is also organizing “Durbin II” — a follow up to the 2001 conference turned hate crime which highlighted the UN’s anti-Semitism.

The UN continues to press the United States to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty and the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court – both of which would do grave damage to our Constitution. Through treaties or conferences, the United Nations is trying to influence American policy on the sale and use of tobacco, the death penalty, traffic regulations, health issues, women’s issues, civil rights, and the list goes on.

Before agreeing to fund the UN building project, there should have been a debate in Congress about the utility of this organization. Is it useful? Does it serve American interests? Can we do without it? There was a time when Republicans in Congress would have fought an expansion of global government and a payment of hundreds of millions to an organization that hates America and has a history of waste and corruption. Now they embrace it. It’s pathetic.

 Loading ...

Welcome to the SOAR BLOG!

We will be posting info soon!