Homeland Insecurity
I just got back from a community meeting in one of the northernmost neighborhoods in the city. The meeting, which included the Chief of the Fire Department, several City Council members, and the City Council President (who is to become mayor upon Sheila Dixon’s resignation), was called to discuss the closing of the local firehouse. The Fire Department is dealing with a 6 million dollar budget shortfall, for FY 2009. In FY 2010, it is projected to be twice that.
Their response to this crisis is to have 4 firehouses closed at all time. They, then, rotate which houses are closed. The further away the fire house, the longer the response time. The longer the response time, the greater the danger for residents.
I appreciate the need to seek out and defeat al-Qaeda, wherever they may be. However, the bitter truth is that our resources are limited. When we find ourselves rebuilding the infrastructure of foreign countries, while failing to provide for the basic needs of our own people, something has gone terribly wrong.
Foreign military engagement can no longer simply be justified by saying that it might have effects that serve the cause of our security. Such actions must be reconciled with all the other duties and demands that “Homeland Security” entails.
In his closing remarks, the Neighborhood Association President, responding to the Fire Chief’s explanation of the cuts, said “I feel less secure.”
He is.
