Support for Emergency Services

We do a lot in Hastings to keep our expenses and taxes down, but it’s as important to understand when to spend as it is when to economize. The investments we make in our Police Department, Volunteer Fire Department, Ambulance Corps go a long way toward maintaining the safety and quality of life we all rely on in the Village.

Supporting our emergency services is not only about votes at budget meetings. As a trustee, I’ve kept an open dialog with our chiefs, joined them on site visits, and gone to bat for them with my fellow Board members.

When Chief Gunther sought a new apparatus for Uniontown Hose Company, I met with him to see their much-repaired, 40-year-old rescue vehicle for myself—and looked right through the floorboards to the street below. I took my impressions back to the Board and successfully made the case that the time had come; the vehicle was too close to the end of its useful life and we should approve this request.

When Chief Dosin came to us for two new police cruisers (after the matter had been deferred in previous years), I went with him and some of the officers to see the EV fleet used by Westport, Connecticut’s police for parking enforcement. We already had one EV in the Hastings fleet, but it was clear that an entirely EV fleet would be neither viable for our round-the-clock needs nor available for purchase on our timeframe. After discussing the options with the Chief and speaking with my colleagues on the Board, I lobbied for our subsequent purchase of one conventional and one hybrid cruiser.

These were just two expenditures by the Village. On a range of other issues—from the location of stop signs to the purchase of new weapons—I’ve worked to ensure that our emergency service departments were partners in the conversation and the decision-making. I have done this as Trustee and will continue to do so as Mayor.