TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 29th MAY, 1939. FIRE BOARD AFFAIRS.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 58, Issue 4190, 29 May 1939, Page 4

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 29th MAY, 1939. FIRE BOARD AFFAIRS.

THE decision of the local Borough Council, last Thursday evening, to make a change in its representatives on Te Awamutu Fire Board, by replacing Mr H. C. Rainey with Mr C. J. Spiers, is, most people who have any knowledge of Fire Board affairs will agree, somewhat of a mistake. With all due regard to Mr Spiers’ qualifications and willingness to. act for the public, it can be said without fear of contradiction that Mr Rainey’s services on the Fire Board were outstanding. He had held office as? a - borough councillor for nine years, part of which time he filled

th'e k office of deputy-Mayor and chair-

man of the finance committee, and as a Borough Council nominee on the Fire Board he brought to that body’s deliberations a keen business knowledge and an enthusiasm that were

applauded, for his enthusiasm was tempered with sound judgment, united..'admirably with a progressive spirit.. He had been chairman of the Fixe-Board for several years, and his fellow' members all recognised his worth in that capacity—a position that carried with it responsibilities for which Mr Rainey was well fitted. Mr' Spiers, ever since his entry into local public affairs, has given very freeily .of his time and experience, but it is no disrespect to him when we say that his abilities and energies

could be very fully availed of without calling upon him to fill another onerous office. It is not as though the re-appointment of Mr Rainey to the Fire Board left the Borough Council without a means of securing first-hand reports of the Fire Board’s business, for it still has Mr W. J. NortKas. one'.of its direct representatives, and Mr North is himself a borough councillor. The Fire Board, like the Power Board, •is a specialist organisation, and our opinion is that when the burgesses and ratepayers have p good man doing service willingly and successfully it is in their interests to retain those services, instead' of appointing a man, however willing, who has so many other calls

upon his available time. Looking back through the year’s of Mr Rainey’s. association with the Fire Board —and the Fire Brigade, too —we can say that the interests of the ratepayers have always been conserved, and whenever expenditure was decided upon the borough ratepayers obtained their full twenty shillings’ worth for every pound expended. The representatives of the Underwriters’ Association (who, be it noted, contribute a like amount to that provided directly by the borough ratepayers) and the Government’s nominee have always worked most harmoniously with the Borough Council nominees, and that smooth working is reflected to a considerable extent in the harmonious working of the Fire Brigade —a very worthy and necessary organisation not so much in the public eye until a fire alarm is sounded —and then appreciated to its full worth. It is assumed that Cr Spiers was not looking for the appointment, but if a councillor was required it would seem that a councillor with fewer calls on his time might have been chosen on the basis of all shouldering an equal share of the responsibilities of office.