I don't know about anyone else, but I am getting tired of the Sand Cyn Volunteers panhandling in front of Albertsons. They use the ruse "would you like to support the fire department?" Of course most people would like to support their fire department, just not a bunch of panhandlers posing as firefighters trying to make a buck.

Great article in the Mountain Signal with regards to the demise of the Tehachapi Fire Department. It's too bad that the City Council can't see past the money blinders they have on their eyes. They have almost cut the fire protection in our city in half. They were willing to spend 1.3 million dollars to have their own fire department but chose not to spend 1/2 of that amount to have the same protection in the City. Yesterday, some poor person a 1/2 block from the fire station had to wait for an ambulance and fire department to respond from Mojave. At least 25 minutes were spent waiting. I don't know about you, but to me that is unacceptable. The city thinks it is now the County's responsibility, but it's the city that doesn't want to spend any money now on fire protection. The study that they paid for would have added another fireman that would have helped and the county fire chief suggested that the city pay for two additional men that would have been guaranteed to stay in the city limits.

It must be sad for Chief Anthony to see what happened to the fire department that he was so proud to be in charge of.

Another sad thing to see was the questions that the City Council persons asked Monday night at the Council  meeting. Council person Hand asked if they gave away the City Fire Equipment. (They traded it to the County in exchange for payment for the fire protection). They all seem oblivious to what happened to the Fire Protection in the city. Even when Mrs. Schmidt and Mr. Gehricke stood up and asked questions as to why and what happened with the Fire Department, All the Mayor could do is thank and praise Mr. Gehricke for his service.

Tonight, the Tehachapi City Council voted to approve a contract with Kern County for  fire protection. The council proved what many of us feared all along- They don't care about the safety of the citizens of Tehachapi. Because they voted to contract with Kern County? No because they don't want to spend any money on fire protection. They will not follow the recommendations of the costly study that they paid for. They will not even pay for an additional firefighter. As I believe it was Mrs. Schmidt who stood up and stated that this will be the lowest number of firefighters that this city has seen in 50 years or more. They were willing to spend up to a million plus or more each year to start up a fire department, but now they will not even spend a third of that to follow the recommendations of the study. What can we do now? Let the council members know how we feel about this new situation. The Chief of the Kern County Fire Department said he could easily staff a 2nd engine in the city and promise to keep it here for about half of what the city was proposing to pay for their own fire department.  

SPEAK UP NOW AND DON'T WAIT FOR THAT 2ND ENGINE FROM KEENE WHEN YOUR HOUSE CATCHES FIRE!

This was such a hot topic and now it seems like it has dropped off the radar. I know the City Council agreed to contract with the County but nothing seems to be happening. I still see the Tehachapi Fire engine driving around town. When is something going to happen?

I don't know about anyone else but, I think we should look into annexing our city to Lancaster. Why?  Because it's like our sister city- twin sister. They have a strip mall on practically every corner. We are getting close to having one on every corner. They have matching 2-story houses popping up everywhere, so do we. They have their big box stores, We have one and more planned. They tear down perfectly good buildings to build bigger ones, I'm sure we will start doing that soon. They annexed the State prison to the City, So did we. They have their own big fire department, we are going too soon (oh wait, they aren't as smart as we are, they still contract with the county for their fire and police protection).

What do you think we should do?

We need new blood on the Tehachapi City Council and you can help. Local businessman Henry Schaeffer tried to get on the ballot but was denied at the last minute due to technical difficulties. So what you have to do is write in his name. If you are a registered voter in the city limits, you should be getting a mailer regarding Henry. Then before the election, door to door visits will be made. Henry along with many business owners and residents are very upset with what's happening in our city. He is upset with what's happening on our streets, He's upset with the direction the city is taking with the Fire Department, He's upset with the Police Department. If you are upset, talk to Henry at his new store and remember to Write in Henry Schaeffer.