[StBernard] Fire District consolidation in best interest of St. Tammany Parish

[Westley Annis]

LA Politics From the Inside

 
            Over the past two decades, St. Tammany Parish has evolved from a
predominantly rural, bedroom community into not only one of the fastest
growing parishes in the state, but a promising anchor in the economically
significant 1-12 corridor in our state. It is important that governmental
entities respond to such growth and demographic changes and seek to provide
essential public services as efficiently as possible. This will not only
minimize the tax burden on citizens and businesses during these challenging
times, but help sustain our economy and growth.      
 
            St. Tammany is currently served by 15 separate fire districts,
many of which began as volunteer districts to serve population clusters
during the parish's growing years. However, there is increasing sentiment
that this structure needs to be modernized, much like parish government did
in the 1990's with the creation of the home rule charter system with a
centralized Parish Council and Parish President to replace the outmoded
police jury system.
 
            Fire District 12 has publicly endorsed a consolidation plan.
Last week, two fire districts serving rural northeastern St. Tammany Parish
(9th and 10th Districts) announced their plan to merge in the coming months,
providing Sun area residents with around-the-clock protection and eventually
helping to lower insurance rates. I believe that such thinking will benefit
the entire parish by consolidating resources from existing fire districts
into a more coordinated system. Fire District 1 has established a group to
study fire district consolidation. 
 
            Fire protection is a critical resource for our citizens and
includes a wide array of services besides fire protection, such as emergency
medical services and virtually all types of rescue assistance. Public
officials, including myself, will be meeting with the fire districts this
week to study and discuss the consolidation and optimization of fire
protection in the parish.
 
            I will keep you posted about our progress and certainly welcome
your ideas and input.      
 
Tim Burns