Senior citizens in Canton better get prepared to open their wallets to fund the proposed new Fire District being voted on in two weeks by the City Council.
All the councilmen other than Councilman Glen Cummins and Mayor Gene Hobgood are out for blood.
To quote Mayor Gene Hobgood “setting up this special fire district is simply a scheme to do an end run around the senior exemption that was voted in years ago.”
As it was pointed out in the recent council meeting, the most the city can expect to collect in additional money is $436,000 per year.
This will not build a single new fire station, all it will do is help the city to hire some additional firefighters and hopefully protect their ISO 4 rating.
But there is another option.
If Canton consolidates fire services with Cherokee County, this would add two new fire stations, one at Laurel Canyon and one at Commerce Boulevard, two new ambulances housed in the city, and the city would have more firefighters trained as emergency medical technicians.
Apparently the majority of the City Council members do not feel that the senior citizens of Canton are paying their fair share even though these same seniors contribute a generous amount of their time and money to various civic projects, schools, and other community needs.
It seems that only Hobgood and Cummins seem to understand that the exemption passed years ago is a promise that should be honored to the seniors in Canton, and they also understand the value seniors add to the city.
Andy Bonner
Canton
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