John Gaccione

07/11/17

For Immediate Release

New talking points have just come down from headquarters. Recently it has become clear the Kensington Fire District needs to be closely watched and admonished at every opportunity. The faithful need to be vigilant and question the Fire District’s performance and their alarming plans at every turn.

Briefly listed below are seven topics for your use that are sure to ignite controversy.

Promote and encourage the idea that the Fire Board’s decision-making process sorely lacks transparency. Portray the Fire Board as out of touch with the community. Ignore the reality that few residents bother to attend Fire District meetings or keep current on their projects.

Advance the notion that building a public safety building near a known earthquake fault is completely foolhardy. Pay no attention to the fact that most of Kensington is on or straddles a major earthquake fault.

Hammer away at the 12 million dollar cost for the replacement and upgrading of the existing public safety building. Always describe it in flamboyant terms such as the “Taj Mahal” or a “palace”. Minimize the fact that the current public safety building is not compliant with current building and life safety codes.

Seek out neighbors who have had problems with being in proximity to the present public safety building. Encourage them to attend Fire District meetings to vent their issues in public.

At every opportunity feel free to make negative comments about the services provided by the Fire Department and the Fire District. Questioning fire response times is a good example, it will certainly catch the attention and raise the anxiety level of some of our older residents.

Harp on the higher per capita cost for Kensington residents as a result of contracting with El Cerrito for fire services. Disregard Kensington’s smaller population relative to El Cerrito’s much larger population skewing the per capita comparison.

Since our fire services have been successfully contracted to El Cerrito for 20 years, it is being held up as a successful model for how to deal with the future of our police department. That idea must quickly be extinguished before it is allowed to spread.

So sound the alarm bell, grab your gear and man your stations, the firestorm is nigh!

Keeping Kensington “on fire” for the Status Quo