HAMMONTON BLOG

Date: 10:00 PM Apr 23, 2007

RE: Discuss 4/23 Council meeting

Date: 10:18 PM Apr 23, 2007

What a joke ! People understand The Rescue Squad is paid... They get paid to pick you up and take you to the hospital. About 300 a pop!!!! .. Public safety dosen't suffer. the police do they need more cops. The rescue squad should go away. There are outside firms that will come to hammonton for free. YES FREE !!!! and actually make money for the town. by selling the building and the cadillacs that our tax dollars paid for. Jimmy b is and the reps are way off on this.

Date: 10:23 PM Apr 23, 2007

When you say free, I assume you mean that they would come to town without needing a subsidy frfom the town. You can't mean they would come to town and not charge for their services.

Date: 10:30 PM Apr 23, 2007

Companies are willing to operate the rescue squad for the town at no charge. They make the insurance companies pay. That is why the Republicans are so much smarter than stupid Democrats who would just tax us.

Date: 10:45 PM Apr 23, 2007

Most EMS outfits bill insurance only... and don't charge the municipalites a fee. In some cases the EMS company will pay the town a fee for the privilage to operate in Hammonton

Guess Bertino does not want to get reelected.

Date: 10:46 PM Apr 23, 2007

Anonymous wrote:

What a joke ! People understand The Rescue Squad is paid... They get paid to pick you up and take you to the hospital. About 300 a pop!!!! .. Public safety dosen't suffer. the police do they need more cops. The rescue squad should go away. There are outside firms that will come to hammonton for free. YES FREE !!!! and actually make money for the town. by selling the building and the cadillacs that our tax dollars paid for. Jimmy b is and the reps are way off on this.

You are absolutely right. The Republicans are wasting our money. Why do we need to spend so much on the Rescue Squad and why do we need more cops?

Date: 12:02 PM Apr 24, 2007

I was pretty discussed myself.    They are a private enterprise and the town has no business giving them money.    If they would stop "patrolling" and sist in their building for a call to come to them, they could make up the money in gas savings.

Give us more police officers and let them make the call if helicopters are needed or medics or any of the other unnecessary crap they call for when someone has a hang nail.   No more money for them.

We need some Democrats on Council and fast.

Date: 04:55 PM Apr 24, 2007

we need more cops .!!!!!!! without a doubt!!!!!!!
the reps just made the dems election slate look great...
the rescue squad is paid. I heard the tow trucks need more money.
i thought the rescue squad was opening the books. I heard the chief makes 75k wow.

Date: 09:26 AM Apr 25, 2007

Listen, here are the facts: The police department does need more men. As the town continues to grow in population (both seasonal & year-round) more officers are needed. Also take into account that the officers paperwork has increased a total of 100% in the past 10 years!! Also the time needed to complete said paperwork has increased dramatically!! As for the rescue squad, it is a "for profit" business. If the business cannot meet is financial obligations, then the time has come for the squad to "open it's books" for a forensic audit of the finances. Is the problem that salaries are out of the range of other paid squads, or is the operational/administrational costs overboard?? I think Jim Bertino & Rock Colasurdo have made a big mistake in supporting the rescue squad, in saying that this is a public safety issue.

Date: 12:44 PM Apr 25, 2007

Listen, here are the facts: The police department does need more men. As the town continues to grow in population (both seasonal & year-round) more officers are needed. Also take into account that the officers paperwork has increased a total of 100% in the past 10 years!! Also the time needed to complete said paperwork has increased dramatically!! As for the rescue squad, it is a "for profit" business. If the business cannot meet is financial obligations, then the time has come for the squad to "open it's books" for a forensic audit of the finances. Is the problem that salaries are out of the range of other paid squads, or is the operational/administrational costs overboard?? I think Jim Bertino & Rock Colasurdo have made a big mistake in supporting the rescue squad, in saying that this is a public safety issue.
I agree 100% !!!!!

Date: 10:33 AM Apr 26, 2007

I was at WAWA yesterday and saw a ambulance that was not form hammonton. So I asked the guy about the company he worked for. He told me that in most towns they actual pay the town a rental fee for either a buildingor for the right to service the community.. He said they only charge the insurance companies. No fund drives and no fees. WOW once again it's Hammonton. Good job jimmy , rocky and anthony way to support a winner. It is time for a change...

Date: 11:21 AM Apr 28, 2007

Do you recall the squad's name? I would like to contact them to get some input as to if they would service Hammonton. Maybe we can get this other squad to service this town; have it put to a vote to the taxpayers of Hammonton.

Date: 07:44 PM Apr 28, 2007

Hey, Maybe we should look into that. Maybe we can save some money.

Date: 09:18 AM Apr 30, 2007

their are many of these types of squads
exceptional medical transport
atlantic care
medi wheels
monrc
etc

Admin · Status: Offline

There is one problem in just going out to bid and we need to find a solution to this situation. The building that the Hammonton Rescue Squad is in is not owned by the Town of Hammonton, it is owned by the Hammonton Rescue Squad. Click here for listing. Most of the time when the rescue squad service is put out to bid, the municipality owns the building. If we put this out to bid we would have to find a place to house the squad, buy the building the rescue squad presently owns, or the new squad would have to buy or lease the building which may drive the costs higher than the present costs.
The Democrats believe we need to find a solution to this problem, but there may not be a short term solution. We need to put our heads together now and find a way to keep the squad from costing the taxpayers extra money.
Let's discuss this further and see what we can come up with.

Date: 04:28 PM May 1, 2007

Jim it is called public's money . the building that the paid squad now uses for thier for profit company. Was in fact paid for with tax dollars. donations. In fact if you go to town hall and reserch it. The building was purchased by the fire dept. If the squad closes who gets the monies and the building. The members ! No it would become the towns.

Admin · Status: Offline

I just spoke with the tax office and they confirmed that the town does not own the rescue squad building. It is in fact owned by the "for profit" Hammonton Rescue squad.

Admin · Status: Offline

Use this thread to discuss your feelings on the Council meeting.

-- Edited by Admin at 21:51, 2007-04-23

Date: 09:41 PM May 2, 2007

It doesn't look like there is an easy answer to this, but we can't let a for-profit business become a drain on the taxpayers of Hammonton. Tough decisions have to be made on the government level, they need to make some tough decisions too.