Archive: Opinions

Editorial For the Presidential Election of 2008, Lansing had a phenomenal turn out of voters.  There is another election in Lansing on December 9, it is not well publicized, and there aren’t many people who vote even if they know about it.  It is the Lansing Fire District Election.  I believe this year it is very important for residents to get out and vote in this election.  The positions up are 1- 5 year term for Commissioner, 1-3year term for Commissioner and the District Treasurer.  The Fire District has a budget of over a million dollars to administer and that is no small chunk of change.

	The Lansing Fire District Election is this Tuesday, December 9th from 6pm to 9pm at Lansing Central Fire Stateion, 80 Ridge Road.

It has always been my belief if you are going to run for an office you should be well prepared for the commitment and have a good knowledge of what you will be doing.  Running for office just because someone asks you to, is not a good thing.  Being an elected official in any capacity is a huge commitment.  This is especially true in the case of the Lansing Fire District Treasurer.

It’s a little known fact that the Treasurer has the responsibility of administering and distributing funds of $3 million dollars.  George Gesslien is the current Treasurer and is seeking another term.  George has an experienced financial background and has always had the best interests of the Fire District at heart.  I realize that some think that it takes a matter of a few hours a week to write the checks and pay the bills, but with the Service Awards Program for our firefighters there are other things involved as well, such as investments and staying in contact with the company the program is administered by.  Were it not for George’s financial experience, I am sure the District would have to hire another administrator for this function. 

It’s not to say that someone else could not do this, but they certainly should have been spending the last few months at the least attending the regular meetings, the workshop meeting at the end of the month and talking with George as to what is actually involved.  George had not planned to run again. I am sure that he would have happily retired if he was confident the person running for the office was able to handle the function.  That person may well be capable, but at this point has not shown that capability.  He said to me that he is not comfortable leaving 3 million dollars on the table, and he fears the ball my get dropped along the way.

I attended the District meeting on Tuesday December 2, and was very disappointed that the only other candidate that is not currently on the Board in attendance was Mike Day who is running for the 3-year term. 

I ask everyone in the town to get out and vote on December 9, 2008 from 6PM to 9PM at the Central Fire Station in South Lansing. I would urge you to vote for Robert Wagner 5-year term, Mike Day 3-year term and George Gesslein – District Treasurer.  You owe it to yourself and the other taxpayers of the town.  Show the same enthusiasm for this election that you did for the Presidential election.

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