WILLOW -- Willow firefighters are accusing their own board of years of budgetary neglect that's left the community underserved and potentially at risk.
Responders say they've agitated to raise local taxes to make essential upgrades. But, they say, they've been stymied by opposition from the very people supposed to be on their side: the three-person board of supervisors that runs the local fire service area.
Firefighters and residents say the board drags out decisions for months, doesn't support raising local taxes and fights the borough's stated priorities for firefighting. Several local and borough-level officials said they'd never seen anything like it.
"It's one of the most dysfunctional organizations purporting to do the public's business that I've ever been around," said Randall Kowalke, a regular at Willow fire board meetings who's preparing a run for Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly.
Last week, the Willow Fire Department went public. A one-page "letter of discontent" was circulated to the borough and local media.
Read more: Willow firefighters frustrated over work conditions lash out at board
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