Published: September 24, 2008 08:59 am            

OUR VIEW - Sept. 24

Unfinished

business



At a recent meeting of the county volunteer fire governing board we learned that one volunteer unit, Station 42 in O'Brien, had spent more than $7,000 in a three-month period at local building supply outlets. Many of the expenditures appear not to have been authorized in advance, in writing, by then-Public Safety Director Scott Racow, as county rules require. And some of the purchases - including a $1,059 concrete saw that later went missing - seem dubious in their own right.

The county's been reimbursed for the saw, and current Public Safety Director Charlie Conner has said he'll try to return some of the other questionable items for refunds.

We're confident that Conner will ably clean up a mess that wasn't of his making and that he'll do what's in his power to prevent it from happening again. A stricter purchasing policy just put into place will help. Still, questions remain.

First, just how much public money has Station 42 spent in recent months - or years? Roughly three months' worth has been accounted for. We'd like a total. And not just for Station 42. It's our understanding that county purchasing policy has been ignored by other volunteer units as well.

Second, what did any additional funds, beyond the $7,000 already accounted for, go toward? The avowed aim of upgrading Station 42 was to convert it from a traditional volunteer station to a fully manned, round-the-clock facility. We applaud the goal and admire the dedication of the unpaid firefighters who spent many a night there, saving precious minutes that would have been lost in transit during an emergency. Still, we'd like to be sure there aren't any more $1,000 saws out there we didn't know about.

Finally - and perhaps most importantly - what was Scott Racow's role in all of this? Racow, on whose watch much of the questionable spending seems to have occurred, has been painted by some as a casual manager who wasn't much for protocol. Verbal permission would do, we're told, when written approval for purchases was required.

In recent days, however, we've learned from a number of sources that Racow, too, had long been concerned with spending habits at Station 42 and elsewhere. Something doesn't quite add up here.

A closer look - countywide, not just at Station 42 - is in order. We call upon the county commission, pursuant to its power under state law, to look into this matter and give us some answers.



For more on the matter under discussion here, see "Tempers flare at fire board," in the Sept. 19 edition of the Democrat; also posted online at suwanneedemocrat.com.

        

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