Central Platte Fire District is taking steps to professionalize the leadership inside the fire department. This is a good thing. It’s time.
Taking the first step of hiring a full-time fire chief is the right move. In our initial conversations about fire district business, Troy Miller, hired to be the department’s full time chief, expressed some specific thoughts and some general ones as well. Anxious to see the plan get put into action. Miller certainly has the enthusiasm for the job.
From a news gathering standpoint, a full time chief always gives the media a go-to person to contact. That was always a challenge in a volunteer department. Should not be a problem from this point.
The fire district’s board of directors right now consists of Mike Ashcraft, Steve McCullough and Aaron Jung. The board appears to have its stuff together and seems to be on top of things such as transparency, willingness to be open with all public information and other Sunshine issues, which is a major step forward from the not-too-distant past. Even their self-descriptions on the Central Platte Fire District website sound professional. Here’s a sample:
Ashcraft: “As board president my top focus is to ensure our fire department and it’s personnel are well-trained and properly equipped to safely respond to all hazards when the call for service arises.”
Ashcraft’s current term does not expire until 2026.
McCullough, who serves as a board member and treasurer for the board: “During my term as treasurer, I want to make sure that the district is well serviced, and transparent. Fiscal responsibility is of the upmost importance without sacrificing safety of our firefighters and the area residents that we serve. Maintaining a properly balanced budget is key to keeping the tax burden low, and of course the success of our department.”
McCullough’s current term expires in 2024.
Jung: “My service will foster an integrated approach to addressing current and future facility and staffing priorities. Public service will remain at the forefront as we determine next steps for a new fire station location and identify staffing alternatives to provide the highest quality service without burdening our community. Ensuring we foster public trust through responsible fiscal actions and appropriate staffing levels are important pillars to guide our service.”
Jung’s current term expires in 2024.
Thanks to some stats furnished by the full time fire chief, here is some of what the Central Platte firefighters have been up to in the period from Dec. 1 through April 13.
Firefighters have responded to 297 incidents from Station One (that’s the station in downtown Platte City at the corner of Second and Main Streets). The vast majority of those are medical calls. Here’s a breakdown of some of the categories.
EMS calls: 229; Motor vehicle crashes with injuries 22; Service call, other: 12; Smoke detector activation due to malfunction 8; Grass fire 7. Building fire: 5; Smoke or odor removal: 2; Vehicle fire 2; Gas leak: 9.
A whole bunch of other categories had one response.
From Station Two located east of Platte City at Interurban Road and Winan Road, firefighters responded to 31 incidents. Twenty one of those were EMS calls. Four were grass fires.
Hey, the Platte County Commission held a meeting this week and for the first time in recent memory did not try to scare the public with overblown boogeyman talk. Kudos.
A person who served on the 2014 jail committee with first district county commissioner Dagmar Wood once told me this: “Dagmar wants to put everybody in jail.”
Sure, it’s early and the Major League Baseball season is a marathon not a sprint, but I’m feeling good out of the gate about my futures bet. Remember prior to the season I told you I wagered that the Royals will finish with fewer than 69 victories this year. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Royals’ record is 4-13. Yes, that’s a very small sample size but extrapolate that out just for funsies and the Royals are playing at a pace in which they’ll finish with a record of 38-124.
Is that good? No, that’s not good. Not good if you’re a Royals fan. Very good if you’re cheering for my bet to come in.
On Monday I got a text message from the Royals. Maybe you did, too. The text consisted of this offer: “Score 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas, and a parking pass for tonight’s Royals game for only $40!”
Now, comparatively speaking, that was a heck of an offer. Parking alone ranges from $20 to $30 per game. So you in essence then were getting the chance to “score” 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas for $10 to $20. Great offer. The team really, really wanted people to come to the game Monday night. But the Royals are awful. So despite the great offer, still (practically) nobody went.
The Royals listed Monday night’s attendance at 11,068. But keep in mind that number reflects tickets sold, not actual butts in seats. Which is a number that was considerably lower, I’m sure.
This is embarrassing. The product on the field is very bad. One game this year the Royals listed a starting outfield of Jackie Bradley, Jr., Kyle Isbell and Nate Eaton. Here are their batting averages thus far. Bradley .115, Isbell .217, Eaton .045. That seems sub-optimal.
Check the Royals’ Facebook or Twitter account on game days when the starting lineups are announced a few hours before game time. If you see any two of these four names in the lineup, just assume runs are going to be hard to come by. If you see three of those names, the Royals are almost assuredly going to lose that day. If you see those three and Hunter Dozier all in the same lineup, it’s official, the Royals aren’t even trying.
(Ivan Foley can be found receiving desperate “come to the game” text messages from the Royals)