BUENA PARK : Group Split on Fire Services Statement

Some residents have formed a group to fight the city’s contracting with the county for firefighting services, but factions were already splitting off after the first presentation at this week’s City Council meeting.

Terry Longacer read a long mission statement from the “Voters in Action” committee seeking to reverse the May 16 decision to close the city’s Fire Department. His remarks left at least two members fuming over the belligerent tone of the presentation, which urged residents to “join in the battle” and not “surrender” to the council decision.

Longacer said the group leaders had contacted an attorney about how to legally reverse the decision. One member said after the meeting that the attorney recommended a ballot initiative as one of the better options.

The mission statement stressed that the group is not seeking a recall of council members.

Two members who attended Monday night’s council meeting said Longacer’s statements went beyond what they had agreed to at the group’s meetings.

Donna Bagley said she did not share the “belligerent” attitude of Longacer’s remarks. “If the decision could be changed without anger, that would be a different matter,” she said. “I don’t want to be in the position of standing up and being threatening.”

Another member, Les McAdams, said he also was disturbed by the tone of the presentation. “We discussed taking a positive approach in the (group) meeting,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that don’t understand the concept of disagreeing agreeably.”

Mayor Donald L. Bone told Longacer that he had heard rumors about the group. He offered to attend the group’s meetings to answer questions and to get information from city staff about the Fire Department closure.

Max Schulman, a group spokesman who did not attend the council meeting, said the members had never agreed to a conciliatory approach.

“When you have somebody who just stepped on your toes, you don’t go up and thank them for doing it,” he said. “And you don’t ask them to next time wear slippers instead of hobnail boots.”