I am grateful to live in the United States where we have the ability to elect the representatives who govern us. Let’s exercise our right to petition our county commissioners, because they have the ultimate power to save our local fire station. Below is contact information for each of them.
In your correspondence with the county commissioners, please be polite and civil, and remember that it wasn’t their idea to take away our fire station. My understanding is that the commissioners didn’t find out about this until sometime after we did.
County Commissioners Official Website
DISTRICT 1 – Sig Hutchinson, Vice Chair
Phone: 919-740-8848
Email: Sig@SigHutchinson.com
Wake County Phone: 919-856-5575
Wake County Email: Sig.Hutchinson@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 2 — Matt Calabria (FIRE COMMISSION MEMBER)
Phone number: 704-214-2316
Email: matt@mattcalabria.com
Wake County: 919-856-5576
Wake County Email: Matt.Calabria@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 3 – Jessical Holmes, Chair
Wake County: 919-856-5579
Wake County Email: Jessica.Holmes@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 4 – Erv Portman
Many of us in the Ten-Ten fire district live in Erv Portman’s district
Phone number: 919-924-6025
Email: erv@ervportman.com
Wake County Phone: 919-856-5574
Wake County Email: Erv.Portman@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 5 – James West
Wake County Phone: 919-856-5573
Wake County Email: james.west@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 6 – Greg Ford
Phone: 919-218-0378
Email: Greg@GregFord.com
Wake County: 919-856-5566
Wake County Email: Greg.Ford@wakegov.com
DISTRICT 7 – John D. Burns
Phone: 919-306-6906
Email: john@burnsforwake.org
Wake County Phone: 919-856-5577
Wake County Email: John.Burns@wakegov.com
Here is an email Karen Wade sent to each of our county commissioners
I received pretty much the same response from Mr. Calabria, a member of the Fire Commission, except there was this additional statement in closing…”I have been working to make sure there is adequate opportunity for citizen input on this issue and will continue to do so.”
Really?
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Yes, really. Commissioner Calabria was not the one trying to shut down citizen input.
In an email to me, Matt Calabria said: “I feel strongly that this decision should be made only after substantial discussion and input. I hope that I have demonstrated that by pushing to delay any vote on this, requesting that we open the last meeting up to public comment, meeting with various residents, welcoming very unusual counter-presentations from citizens, etc.”
I can vouch for that. I was present at the July 19 meeting when he recommended tabling the matter for further study. I also heard him request Nick Campasano that he study a way to keep the fire station open.
Yes, there was an attempt to keep us citizens in the dark until after the fire station closing was a done deal, but I have no reason to believe that any of our county commissioners were involved in that.
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Then who is driving this train?
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I want to maintain the highest standards on this website, so I’m only going to post verifiable facts, not speculation. I do know this: At the July 19 Fire Commission Meeting, Fire Services Director Nick Campasano recommended to the commission that they close the fire station and “educate” the public afterwards. That’s not speculation, that’s on the record (I heard it, I was there.) In a future blog post I hope to give you all a link to the recording of that meeting, with the time of that particular comment highlighted so you can hear it yourself. Also, see the slides of the community meeting, available on this site, for a more detailed timeline showing that the the Fairview Fire Department was kept out of the loop. There is more info that I may post later when I get a chance.
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