Smokey's Shiny New Truck

The Warbler came across an older copy of the Wilmington newsletter that contained a blurb about the new fire truck, a brand new 2008 International Horton Rescue/Air Truck. The Warbler fell off his perch (a metaphor for a chair) when Smokey said that the new truck "was at no additional expense to the District taxpayers." The article goes on to say that Capital Reserve Funds, a short-term loan and the sale of our 2003 Ford Rescue Truck paid it for [sic]. Very nice. So, are we to believe that this short-term loan is not being paid back by tax dollars? Are we also to believe that we can trade in a 5 year old used truck, and get a brand new shiny fully-loaded truck in return? Unless ALL the money for the new truck (and the old one) came from donations, then we, the taxpayers, paid for it, or will pay for it in some way, shape or form.

I think we should know how much this loan is for, what the terms are, and how much trade-in value we got for the old truck (which, by the way, was only 5 years old!).

Wilmington Stimulus Plan

Well, it seems that Wilmington is ahead of the curve when it comes to economic stimulus plans. Wilmington continues to spend and spend and spend our money. We now have a new work truck, and brand new shiny fire engine Smokey bought last year (it's not like we don't have a bunch of them already). But, fear not, we were told our taxes weren't going up to support these expenditures, however, it seems the fire tax did increase this year - imagine that.

Economic stimulus is one thing, but for Christ's sake guys, how about cutting some of the frivolous spending!