To the Editor:
I totally agree that the firefighters should get a pay increase equal to the responsibility of the job. LIFESAVING!!!! If The Villages doesn’t increase their pay, the local fire department becomes nothing more than a training ground for beginners to learn and then move on to where the money is.
This is dangerous, expensive, and unfair to the faithful firefighters who have made a choice to stay. Let’s see, where could the money come from?
Maybe the flowers could be changed out every six months instead of every three months.
Maybe the Recreation News could be eliminated from the paper and go online with 25 copies distributed to every recreation center every week for those who are not tech savvy. This could save the $153,000 raise plus the $600,000 it now costs for distribution.
Maybe the Community Watch drivers could make only one round a day in every neighborhood,instead of multiple watches, saving money in manpower.
What would be a better advertisement for a retirement community? Pretty flowers, activity guides, or LIFESAVING MANPOWER? I know what I would choose! Let the ad change from the friendliest to the SAFEST community. Put the money where lives matter.
C.M. Black
Village of Belvedere
