SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

A RESPONSE FROM MEMBERS OF THE ELDRIDGE VOLUNTEER FIRE COMPANY

The Eldridge Volunteer Fire Company has read the City Council coverage from 6/15/26 with great interest. We understand the Council's frustration. We do not, however, accept the characterization of our membership or our conduct put forward at that meeting, and we believe the public deserves a more complete picture.

“A year ago…it was about burnout. Now, it appears it is all about the money."

Mayor Campbell's assertion that our motives have shifted from community concern to financial self-interest gets it exactly backwards.

When this process began in early 2025, our department had full buy-in on exploring acquisition by the City. What followed was nine months of city-imposed obstacles: the City questioned whether it even had a legal obligation to provide fire protection, a question that consumed months of our members' time, combing through historical documents to prove that it did. During this time the City began to require that all communication be routed through their legal counsel and denied us the opportunity to continue conversations directly with council members or be added to the agenda at any meetings.  This change required us to retain our own legal counsel, further wasting valuable resources.  The City raised questions about whether our grant funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would transfer to the City. Then it floated the notion that the county might have legal claim to our assets in any transfer. None of these initiatives or arguments advanced the process.  All of them halted and delayed meaningful conversation, and consumed time, budget, and energy from a volunteer team already stretched to its limit.

What made this period particularly damaging was that the City did not confine its frustrations to the negotiating table. Throughout this process, city officials repeatedly criticized our department in public, characterizing us as difficult and unresponsive. At one point, then-Councilman Campbell publicly dismissed a 10-day response delay, remarking that "they were kind of in a hurry to get things going, and now here we are 10 days later and they haven’t fulfilled their thing.”  During those 10 days, our members responded to 24 emergency calls, all while holding down full-time jobs and family obligations. That 10-day delay is not a sign of indifference. It is a direct illustration of the very problem we are trying to solve. These dismissive comments were not private grievances. They were made in public forums and in the press, directed at a volunteer organization fighting to maintain public services, organize an acquisition, and respond to each of these inquiries that seemed designed to delay rather than inform.

The effect on department morale was significant. The effect on trust was irreversible. You cannot spend nine months publicly criticizing the people you are asking to partner with and then express surprise when those people decide the partnership is not in their best interest.

Sinking morale leads to higher attrition.  That attrition has a direct financial consequence. Fewer active volunteers means fewer calls answered. Fewer calls answered means we need paid staffing to fill the gap. Paid staffing costs money. This is not a difficult connection to make.

The City's own conduct over the past year contributed meaningfully to the increased cost of keeping Eldridge protected. Mayor Campbell cannot manufacture that problem and then express surprise at the price tag.

"I'm disappointed that there hasn't been any communication for two months."

The City is correct that there was a period of limited contact between April and June. What the City has chosen to omit is the reason why.

Immediately preceding our membership vote, the Iowa Capital Dispatch published a story about the termination of our fire chief from his position as city mechanic. City officials, including Mayor Campbell, had already provided on-the-record comment when the story ran. Our department's notification that the story was coming was a voicemail left at our unmanned station from the reporter, hours before publication.  That was our only opportunity to respond…..