Does Anybody Else But Me Care? Apparently not...
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Assorted photos of Gilford's fleet-- mostly taken at Dunkin Donuts between 6 and 6:30 am
Am I the only person in the town of Gilford that's worried about the effects of the new reality of fuel costs? I have been jumping up and down about the seeming lack of any controls on the town's fleet of vehicles in most town departments for quite some time now, and yet, other than my fellow energy committee members, my concerns seem to fall on deaf ears.
Has anybody stopped to think about what $5 per gallon heating oil prices will really be like this winter? Has anybody pondered what this is going to mean for the budget in the upcoming year? While private homeowners will be struggling to put oil in their houses and gasoline in their vehicles, what of the town and school districts? Has anyone witnessed one shred of evidence that there is a sense of concern and urgency on the part of local government in anticipation? Nah, me neither.
Remember: Five HUNDRED dollars will buy only one hundred gallons of heating oil...
What IS the town planning on doing? There has not been a single directive that I'm aware of-- other than the police department's purchase of 2 smaller, more efficient cars-- that seeks any changes or belt-tightening in anticipation of the coming crunch. Why is that?
Because they'll just come and take more $$ from us, that's why. THEY DON'T CARE!!!!
Oh sure, they care about some things-- like the DPW worker that had the gall to order me to erase the photo I snapped of the Ford gas-guzzling rack body in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot this morning. THAT, they care about...
I went to the last Selectmen's meeting and asked them to issue an order that log books be maintained on EVERY registered town vehicle in order to get a handle on usage and maybe seek ways to reduce costs.
Why am I the bad guy for wanting this? Why should maintaining proper log books be skin off anyone's ass? Unless of course, it becomes too difficult to cover for all the umpteen useless, PERSONAL trips being made in town vehicles each and every day. Then, I guess could understand why there would be those who might not want to check.
"Oh but Doug, that's not true! Why there's absolutely NO waste going on here in Gilford!"
OK, fine. Then logging ALL vehicle miles is no problem, right? What are we waiting for?
[By the way, I checked with someone in the DPW and was told that, per the union contract, coffee time is 9 till 9:15. He had no explanation for the 6:15 coffee/donut stop. Hey, don't bitch at me... You live by the union contract, you die by the union contract. You guys wanted that union...]
