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EDITOR:
Reading the article on the front page of Monday’s paper concerned me. Our fire department in El Dorado County is ailing financially, yet the Food Bank chastised our men and women of the department stating that they are taking from our homeless and less fortunate by failing to wave thousands and dollars in fire fees so the food bank can build a new building and keep the money in their own bank account rather than contributing to the local fire service that will be there to protect that food bank when there is an emergency.
Shame on you Mr. Sproul, other charitable organizations in this county have to pay their fees why should the Food Bank be any different? Doesn’t the Food Bank already reside in a fancy office in Cameron Park rent free due to a donor? Looking to save money on fees is one thing but stating that firefighters and staff are taking from the poor is another as they do truly care about this community. That’s why many of them continue to do what they do for less hours and income due to budget cuts and lack of funding.
RICH HARTSELL
Placerville
This is appalling. Classic case of an overpaid and underqualified president of a charitable organization who has no appreciation for the men and women who save lives in our community. amazing how Mr. Sproul likes to bite the hands that feed him in his own county, the firefighters collect thousands of cans of food each year at christmas in placerville, cameron park and el dorado hills. Many of them volunteer to do this on their own time including my own family. I think this year we will be picking a different organization to volunteer with because this isnt the type of community work i want my children to partake in, they respect the men and women of public service who are hurting financially just like others.
Ms Lee — where would one find the pay and efficiency info on Mr Sproul and the Food Bank? I volunteer there regularly and it would be worth my while to check up on that sort of thing. I’ve dealt with Mr Sproul occasionally and he seems like a decent human being. I know things have been evolving, including that new office close to Applebees and this proposed warehouse. His comment about firefighters was…sub-optimal. While he might not be the most eloquent of PR clones, I’ve seen continuous — if bumpy and uneven — adaptation and improvement in the execution of the parts I see. Depending on flaky volunteers like myself adds an extra challenge. Regardless, salaries and efficiency data is worth knowing…for all our non-profits.
This isn’t really about pay or efficiency it’s about someone having little respect for others in there community by accusing us of taking from the less fortunate this person is known for this for a long time so I wouldn’t be expecting any grandiose apologies. We can only hope that someday if Mr Sproull has a medical emergency or a fire at his business or home he will find some compassion for those that come to his aide and the equipment used to do so.
Mr Stevens — I used “sub-optimal” as a euphemism for “insulting and counterproductive”. The next steps in that little drama are between Mr Sproul and those he trespassed against. Personally, I think the new warehouse adds a marginal demand to the firefighting, traffic, etc infrastructure; the Food Bank should cover those costs. Those costs might be mitigated by how efficiently they convert taxpayer, charity, and volunteer contributions into delivered meals and whatnot. How many bureaucrat-hours does it take to transfer our treasure from one part of the infrastructure to another? I can understand folks being offended by Mr Sproul’s hyperbole. I’m more interested in a well run Food Bank, which is why I’m interested in the data.
Mr Haskins, not Mr Stevens. Doh!