It has long been my practice to work hard to share the lessons which I have learned through the living of my life. If, by sharing the stories about times when I have been slapped about, it is possible that I can provide some assistance to you which will allow you to avoid trouble in your careers.
Once again it is my duty to share some thoughts with you that outline a particular organizational situation through which I am now working. Sadly, it is a problem of my own making. Not one that I thought I would encounter, but one that came about because of my attempt to place myself into a position of compromise rather than one of confrontation. It is the sort of situation where nice guys occasionally find themselves from time to time.
Not too long ago I shared some thoughts with you in a commentary here at Firehouse.com about a situation in which I am involved here in my hometown. In line with my view that there is too much confrontation in government, I sought to be a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem. I reached out to offer my services as one who might bring the parties to the situation together in a search for a mutual solution. Well gang, I am here to tell you that the ball bounced in a totally different direction than I might ever have anticipated. Where I sought to be the good guy, the other players to the equation have spun things quite differently.
How many of you have heard the old story about how when you sleep with dogs, do not be surprised if you end up with fleas? Like you I had heard that little bit of advice on many occasions. However, until recently, it had not been my misfortune to have spent time in the position of sleeping with the proverbial dog. In line with my long-term policy of sharing my experiences with you to help you stay out of trouble, I will now share a bit about this recent little tale with you. I come to you as a man who now is knocking the fleas off my trousers.
I have often heard it said that those challenges which do not kill us will make us stronger. It will best serve my interests to lump this occurrence into that ballpark. Let me once again tell you how this all started. Our local government is apparently unhappy that fire protection is being delivered by our five duly-elected fire districts. It seems to me that they want to grab the fire protection money and then use a part of it for the local government’s budget.
As I stated last year, one of the aspects which causes me a great deal of concern is that the tax rate in one of our five fire districts is far higher than that of the other four. It is a matter of the value of the properties in each fire district. In the district with the highest tax rate, the bulk of the land mass is either farms, state-owned park land, or widely dispersed single family dwellings. As I have often stated, you cannot tax deer, horses and bunny rabbits. It seems as though the people who wish to see changes want the other four districts to pay some of the freight for the problem area.
My preliminary read on the situation is that the local government leaders want the four other fire districts to raise the taxes on our residents to cover the problems in the fifth district. Sorry gang, this does not seem fair to me, as my fire district has lowered our budget by more than $600,000 over the past decade. We have been able to cut our tax rate from $.075 to $.057 per $100 of assessed property value.
In addition, we take our fiduciary responsibilities to the citizens very seriously. We paid off our new fire station with a 10-year bond, rather than a 20- or 30-year note. We paid cash for our last two pumpers, saving more than $30,000. We also have a new rescue-pumper on order for which we paid cash. Our auditor has assured us that by paying cash we saved the taxpayers an amount of money which is greater than the amount of interest we could make on our bank investments in a five-year period.
It is my belief that our approach to running our fire district has led to a more fiscally-sensible set of policies. However, despite all of our efforts we are still receiving criticism. There are those who say that we should use our surplus to lower the tax rate and then borrow money for what we need. That makes no sense to me. I would like to ask you to think about that for a moment.
We are not making much in the way of interest from the bank where our funds are on deposit. However, isn’t it better to use cash reserves to make our acquisitions rather paying a five to six percent interest rate on any money we might borrow or bond? However my friends, even the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs wants us to lower our surplus and start borrowing money for our needs. That is sheer madness.
However, rather than get into a battle with the people in township government, it was my intention to approach them in a spirit of compromise rather than confrontation. It was my intention to step forward and offer my assistance to the township government. It was my intention to offer my 51 years’ fire service experience to guide things toward a successful conclusion. It was my intention to offer my 35-plus years of municipal fire risk consulting experience to guide the local government in their deliberations.
This is exactly what I did. Two days before Christmas, I met with the mayor and business administrator of our township for lunch at my favorite restaurant. We had a straightforward, face-to-face discussion of the situation. I made my points and they made theirs. I asked the mayor to define what an acceptable solution this this perceived problem would look like. He shared his view and I offered to help.
He suggested that I work to bring members of the affected boards together to begin discussions on how the problems with the tax rate might be handled. He asked me to call a meeting and invite the chairmen of the other boards to discussion how to handle this tax problem. I told him that I would help him. We shook hands and parted wishing each other a Merry Christmas.
Well my friends, so much for being a nice guy. The next thing I know I am on vacation at the circus in Florida when I am suddenly on the phone at my hotel having an angry conversation with the chairman of the board of fire commissioners which was at the center of the debate, and their attorney. It seems that the person who portrayed themselves as speaking for that district had no authority to speak or act. Surprise! I was now being made to look like the bad guy. So much for trying to help. But wait. Give it some time. It gets better.
Then I was made aware of the fact that the mayor of our community, to whom I had offered my assistance, was now telling the world that the all of this was my idea. Someone had created a Facebook post slamming my fire district and me personally. Wow, what an amazing turn of events. Fortunately, I was able to think my way through this in a calm and rational manner.
No long after I was told of the mayor’s fictional retelling of history, I set out on a "cigar ride." This is the winter time equivalent of me sitting in my thinking spot on the front porch of my home in beautiful, downtown Adelphia, N.J. This ride allows me to carefully think my way through complex subjects like this. As I traveled the highways and byways of my community I weighed the potential impact upon me.
They cannot touch or influence any of my pensions or my social security payments. That’s illegal. They cannot influence my consulting practice. I have a number of jobs under way and I am laboring hard on behalf of my clients. I have solid references who know me and know the quality of my work. In addition, I have had a new book on volunteer fire department administration published. If you want to question my knowledge, you can check out one of my many books.
Let me suggest that the people who really know me, know that I would never be so stupid as to do something like that of which I have been accused. I have been transparent at all times, keeping my board of fire commissioners fully advised at all times. My statements have been published in our board minutes. At all times and in all places I have been honest in my dealings. As a Master Mason, I approach all things on the square and depart upon the level.
The end result of my afternoon of thinking was simple, once I decided upon my course of action. Rather than jump into the fray, I have decided to let the other folks do whatever they think they need to do. I have had enough trouble over the years trying to control my own acts, actions and activities, let alone trying to influence others in theirs.
My friends, this is a bit of advice which I have taught time and again in my leadership seminars around the country. It is my intention to have my students understand what a waste of time and effort it is to try to influence the behavior of other people. That would be a solid part of my advice to you here today. Work to control your own behavior and do not spend time in a useless effort to influence others. What kind of a man would I be if I did not live my life according to the advice I have shared with others for literally decades now.
This is the point at which it is my intention to share the lessons which I have learned. Let me assure you that this was not my first time at a political rodeo. Over the years it has been my good fortune to enjoy some success. It has also been experience to lose on occasion. I guess it is my lot in life to work hard to remain a hardworking, straightforward, and honest man. This is what I shall do. Let me suggest that this is how you should live your life.
The warning is simple. Politicians are like a dog with fleas. If you get too close to one, do not be surprised if you find yourself itching and scratching along with the dog. But since you cannot avoid them, be sure to have a container of industrial strength flea spray. Take care and stay safe.
- Dr. Carter's New Book: Running A Volunteer Fire Department
HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., CFO, MIFireE, a Firehouse.com Contributing Editor, is a municipal fire protection consultant based in Adelphia, NJ. Dr. Carter retired from the Newark, NJ, Fire Department and is a past chief and active life member of the Adelphia Fire Company. Follow Harry on his "A View From my Front Porch" blog. You can reach Harry by e-mail at [email protected].
