Just like the rest of the Mills residents I had found out that our Mayor made the decision not to renew the firefighters contract and they would be without a job in less than 3 months. More importantly, Mills would be without firefighters and Emt services.
I made the decision to attend the next city council meeting in person. The room was packed with angry residents speaking out of turn and frustrated that the council couldn't fix the problem. The residents felt betrayed by the Mayor. Many were calling for his resignation. It seems on the surface that the town was facing an impending financial situation that forced the Mayor to cut the entire department of life saving services. Well, that's how the Mayor sold it to the residents and news media. I would learn later that was not the truth. As I sat and observed the first meeting I noticed things were not adding up. We had just funded a large art project and many other expensive city expenditures. So why now is the Mayor deleting an entire department and blaming it on loss of revenue? I did what anyone would do and took my turn at the podium to ask the Mayor questions. My first go round at the podium quickly showed me the Mayor was hiding something. He was dodging questions and placing blame. There was no accountability. He claimed we knew this financial crisis was coming for a few years now. Well Mr. Mayor, if that is true then why did the city pick up the bill for that oversized rusty eagle statue? Why are you giving out raises and raising department budgets across the board? This isn't adding up. It was at that moment at the podium that a fire was lit within me. As I looked around the room I saw wives in tears for fear of their husband losing their only source of income. Older residents with worry knowing life saving services would not be available in Mills. I saw a common thread of emotion "What can we do to stop this from happening"? I went to work determined to find a solution. I will be quick to mention that I had multiple FOIA requests to the city. At one point the city attempted to bill me $28,000 for public records. An attorney told me "they know you are going to find something that will put them in hot water. So they throw this ridiculous number at you hoping you will go away" I dialed back my request to specific line items and budget details. I arranged a meeting with a handful of financial experts and sent them the city budget. I had asked them to look through the city spending and budget for solutions to this supposed financial crisis. We returned as a group about 5 days later. It was unanimous. We all had the exact same take away after diving into the Math of the budget. Mills not only had enough to fund the fire department. It had double the funding thanks to the Mayor's attempts to sabotage them with reckless spending and cuts. It had enough money for two years worth of a department budget. Although this immediately resolved the Mayors lie it actually opened up a substantial can of worms. Why in the world would the Mayor make such a false claim? That attorney was right. I did find something in those records I requested. I found quite a bit actually. Most hasn't been told yet. It will be in due time. But I can say that after seeing the truth in the math it allowed me the power of going to the press to call out the Mayor's actions. I was able to empower the residents with information. At the end of it all I was successful in my promise to those firefighters. I was just a Mills resident and I had very little resources in my tool bag at the time. I accomplished this David vs Goliath goal and held the Mayor to the flames. I used my time to dive deep into the Mills books, pulled financial advisors to look over the records, and used the court of public opinion to force the Mayor to do the right thing. Rework the budget to keep the firefighters on staff. Of course, there is more to it than this short story. More about the Mayors harassing behavior towards those firefighters and much more about the spending decisions. The truth will eventually come to light. Truth always conquers. I think a special thanks is due to the Mayor for lighting my fire. A fire that I promise you will never be put out.
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