COLUMBIANA CO. Salem GOP chief: Back joint fire district

The chairman said people should support the people they elect to public office.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Charlie Presley, chairman of the Salem Republican Party, is backing Salem City Council's efforts to form a joint fire district with Perry Township, and is urging Salem Democrats to do the same.
"This is a unified council that is looking to do what's best for the future of the city," Presley said. "I have full confidence in this council. They have looked at the hard questions."
Council members have said a merger between the two departments and replacing 16 full-time firefighters with on-call firefighters would save the city about $600,000 per year.
Presley said he has spoken informally to members of council, both Republicans and Democrats. He said all Salem City Council members, four Republicans and three Democrats, were elected and the people who voted them into office should support their decisions.
"There are about 12,000 people in Salem and roughly 5,000 in Perry Township, and there is a shared spirit here," Presley said. "We attend the same churches and support the same schools. I think a joint fire district is a great move."
Putting a plan together
He said the council is forming a plan that will make 30 to 40 certified firefighters available to respond to fires in the city and in Perry Township from two fire stations with a possible third to be added on the city's east side.
"It's my understanding there will be full-time firefighters at the stations and all the firefighters will be paid," he said. "They would respond from wherever they are instead of from a fire station."
Presley said any increase in response time because of the formation of a fire district, as well as any change in homeowners' insurance rates, would be negligible.
"It would take them about the same amount of time to respond," he said. "It's my understanding that about 50 percent of the current firefighters live in areas protected by volunteer departments, so they must believe that volunteer firefighters are capable of protecting their own homes."
Although Presley supports formation of a joint fire district between the city of Salem and Perry Township, he does not see a joint fire district as the first step in a move toward a merger of Perry Township and the city. He said the operation of the two governments should continue.
"This city council is working hard on this plan in a bipartisan effort, and we need to give them our backing and go forward with it," Presley concluded.