Opinion: Fire District 2 Election is about the truth

Jul 29, 2023

To the editor:

On Monday, July 31, Dartmouth Fire District 2 will hold an election to replace a vacant seat on the Prudential Committee. The election will be held between the hours of 11:00 A.M. and 8:00P.M.  at the District 2 Firehouse located at 1100 Russells Mills Road. 

This election is about the truth. It is also about correcting issues which arose after the election held last year [2022], when two new members assumed seats on the Prudential Committee, one of whom, despite tradition, became the Committee Chair.  From that date forward, there was nothing but turmoil on the committee and issues that arose caused the residents of the district to attend the PC meetings in unheard of numbers based on prior years' attendance. Those same folks, banding together, forced a change at a scheduled election and voted out one of the new members. His replacement, again, outside of tradition, was named the new Committee Chair. During this same period, a group formed to Recall the remaining new member because of the outrageous action of these two fellows, during the year, which negatively impacted the morale of the fire company, the operating budget of the District, and held meetings which were at times raucous. 
 
The District residents have a clear choice to support Paul Abrantes in this election. He is untainted by years of service "in government". Paul is a businessman familiar with operating budgets, the conduct of meetings to discuss all manner of issues, and has attended multiple meetings of the Prudential Committee and weekly drills held by the fire company to acquaint himself with the fire company and the operating procedures of the District, as well as its budget.  The residents of the District can ask for no better candidate.
 
Bernard P. Giroux