Beaver Dam PFC is taken to task I find it extremely offensive that the Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission unanimously voted to reject paying a recent Meriter Hospital bill for sex assault nurse exams (SANE). The commission's rejection of paying this bill was not based on logic, such as the bill being erroneous, or we didn't use the services of Meriter Hospital. Instead, the commission used the logic that some other communities are not paying their SANE bills, so we also won't pay. I wonder how many people would prefer not to pay their credit card bills? After all, surely some others are not paying their bills so why should we? How about not paying our tax bills? Of course, to do so would be irresponsible. Yet this is exactly what the Beaver Dam Fire and Police Commission is encouraging with its action. Does anyone else see the irony of the Police leadership voting to become deadbeats? What happened to leading by example? This is not the type of leadership we deserve in Beaver Dam. This is the type of logic that has placed our current economy in jeopardy. It is time for all to accept responsibility for paying bills rightly incurred. If the PFC doesn't want to pay future Meriter Hospital bills, I think the PFC should focus on identifying ways to replace the required SANE services Meriter provided to us. In the meantime, if we've used the service, let's pay the bill! Please keep in mind that every bill that is not paid by a user, causes increased bills to every other user. Meriter, after all, still has to pay for the nurses, supplies, lab and overhead that the BD PFC used, and that money must come from someone. I'm going to choose to believe this is an isolated bad decision by the PFC, and they will promptly pay this bill and any others they may have set aside. If that's not true, I think it time for a change in the leadership in the Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission! — Joe Egan Beaver Dam PFC’s decision: shock, anger, shame After reading the article PFC Rejects Hospital Bill, many words come to mind. Shock, anger, shame. Shock: The "leaders" of our Police and Fire Commission have decided not to pay a bill for services rendered because they do not believe it will be turned over to collections. This amounts to nothing more than stealing, and it is being done by people who have sworn to uphold and enforce the law. A service was rendered, now it is time to pay for that service. How do you feel this is saving the taxpayers money? If bills are not paid, costs of services rise to cover those unpaid bills. Anger: The city does not feel it necessary to pay their bills, but yet would expect that anyone owing them money would be obligated to pay. Please tell me how you would explain to the children of our community that this is OK? Explain to them that it is not OK to go into a retail store and take something just because the store can absorb the loss better than they could if they paid for it. Yet, it is OK for the city of Beaver Dam to do the same thing. Mayor Tom Kennedy was the first to weigh in on the topic, saying that since there was already a precedent of other communities not paying, he would follow suit. Since everyone else is doing it then it is OK? "I think Meriter probably has a bigger budget than we do, so I say if they aren’t going to pursue it, my position would be to let it go," commissioner Casey Carney said If they’re not pursuing anyone who’s not paying, then it sounds more like a suggestion than a billing. Do you really believe this? You believe they send you suggestions in the mail and call them invoices? Are tax bills a bill or a suggestion? Shame: Shame on all of you who voted to not to pay for services rendered and shame on you for teaching our youth that stealing is OK if the other party is not going to push the issue. Shame on you for showing poor moral values. Have you consulted the city attorney on this? What do they advise you to do? But in the end, the commission, which was missing members Nancy Conley and Rodney Kreitzman, voted to ignore the Meriter invoice. Are you kidding me? I am ashamed with this behavior coming from our "leaders" and wonder what other forms of "tax saving measures" are happening. — Susan Rechek Beaver Dam