Greenfield Fire District

FIRE COMMISSION CONTEST IS A FIRST:

The contest for an open seat on the Greenfield Board of Fire Commissioners is between an incumbent and, for the first time in the district's 60-year history, a non-firefighter.

Bob Hyndman, 47, of Denton Road, said he is running because he thinks the commissioners should communicate better with the public and be more accountable to taxpayers. He is challenging Tom Robarge, 40, a firefighter for 22 years from Bockes Road.

The vote is 6 to 9 p.m. next Tuesday at the Maple Avenue and Greenfield Center fire stations.

Hyndman's interest in the district began when he learned only 160 people of the more than 10,000 who live in the district voted last year in a special election to establish a pension fund for the volunteer firefighters. The move raised taxes in the district by 48 percent. The budget for next year is $597,590. The tax rate will increase from $1.13 to $1.36 per thousand dollars assessed property value.

"The pension is water under the bridge," said Hyndman, who said he isn't opposed to the firefighters having a pension. "The bigger issue for me was no one knew about it."

There will never be a high level of participation in fire district elections as long as they are held in December i.e. at a bad time for weather in many parts of the state and in a separate time and place from regular elections. I represent rural fire districts that routinely have only 10 or 15 people vote and most of them are firefighters.