By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com
The Chairman of the Coventry Fire District said Monday voters in the town are better off pulling the plug on the financially troubled district, rather than attempting to save it.
In an interview with WPRO’s Gene Valicenti, Chairman Frank Palin said the town will be given two choices at an upcoming referendum June 17: to raise taxes and save the fire district, or to dissolve it. Palin said the latter is the best option.
“It saddens me, but I think that may be the best way to go.”
In a release sent Sunday, Palin wrote that decades of deficit spending have led to a grossly underfunded and nearly bankrupt district. In order for it to be saved, Palin said the voter would need to improve a tax increase of 10 percent or more, the town would need to provide further assistance, and the Fire Fighters Union would need to accept major contract concessions.
Palin equates the decision to going to the dentist.
“You have a very bad toothache, and this district has had a bad tooth ache for 25 years, and the dentist looks at you and says ‘we’ve got to do a root canal [using] 1965 methods, or we’re going to pull the tooth.”
Palin said the town’s antiquated fire charter needs to be reevaluated, and dissolving the district may be the next step towards a municipal-wide fire department.
“It might just be enough now to push the town into some type of action,” Palin said.
An informational meeting is set to be held June 10 at Feinstein Middle School.
