Is Opticom coming to a town and/or County near you? Sounds like a transformer, e.g. Optimus Prime. In a way it is, I mean it transforms a red light into a green light for emergency responders. The system adds another layer of safety for both responders and citizens when emergency units are responding with lights and sirens.

Chino Valley had the older version of the system at one point, but it is no longer functional. The City of Prescott has Opticom that is used by police, fire, and Life Line.

We will be asking the Board to approve the purchase of the system for all of CAFMA’s areas at the August Board meeting. As you can imagine, the price of the system is more than we initially budgeted; however, if we wait to move forward the price goes up another $100,000. Fortunately, we have monies budgeted for the system and have money budgeted than can be repurposed to cover the overage.

We’re working with the communities we serve regarding the infrastructure costs. To that end, there will likely be some future cost shares that would reduce how much CAFMA spends on the infrastructure. Each entity will bear its own expenses for the installation of the devices in its vehicles.

Life Line/AMR is on the Prescott system. The challenge we have is that the Prescott Opticom has been installed for a while and uses some older technology. This means that we cannot use their system with our equipment and they would be unable to use ours. Life Line/AMR can opt to put the GPS device that our system requires in their units along with the Prescott device as they will work together without interference. Priority will likely install the GPS devices in their units.

I’ve started a conversation with Chief Durre regarding Opticom as we would like to see the systems work together since we respond across jurisdictional boundaries multiple times a day, every day. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about Prescott’s system or the one we are proposing to understand what would be involved in getting the systems to work. In case you have not noticed, I’m not the tech person 😉

There’s a changing dynamic when it comes to purchasing regular, non-fire engine vehicles these days. We prefer RAM trucks and have moved our fleet that direction; however, RAM is moving away from government contracts. It’s not that we can’t purchase a RAM, it’s just that government pricing will not be available. Apparently, Ford is still doing government contracts, but they are limiting the time in which you can submit for purchase, and not guaranteeing that you will get what you order. GM leans more towards the way Ford plans to run things. It sounds like a good plan doesn’t it? I mean, we will take your money, probably won’t provide the vehicle for you when we told you we would, and then we’ll make you eat the increased cost to actually get what you ordered.

These changes seem to be the result of supply chain and inflation issues which have been quite a challenge for us as we try to replace a few of our fleet vehicles. After two years of trying, we were finally able to purchase three RAM 2500 pick-ups. However, in order to secure the purchase, we were required to put money down to hold the vehicles and then approach the Board for approval to purchase. The last time we had an opportunity to purchase, we did not put money down and they sold the next day. We also had to purchase from two separate dealers in order to secure three vehicles. We are living in some very strange times…

Two of the three RAMs were picked up this week. The third, that was supposed to be at the dealership, is still on a train en route to the dealer. Because it was not onsite as promised, the dealer has agreed to deliver the truck without any additional charge. On top of all of the other challenges, the prices of the vehicles have gone up which means we had to spend more than we budgeted – all approved by the Board.

During our July Senior Staff meeting, we addressed a major issue we will face moving forward, i.e. it seems all of our Capitol expenses will come in over budget. To that end, we’ll be evaluating what is a ‘must have’ and what we can delay. We cannot go to the Board every month for Capitol expenses that are over budget with no plan on how we keep the budget in check. Inflation does not impact our agency any differently than it impacts individual families, which means we make choices and do without.

Jake and Josh are on their way back this week from Pennsylvania driving our new delivery vehicle – an Isuzu box truck. Wait a second… Were Jake and Josh a show on Nickelodeon?? Anyway, this unit will replace the “Marshmallow,” and was approved over a year ago. We’d ordered a new one; however, supply chain issues happened. This one was found new sitting on a lot out east, and met our spec, so, we grabbed it before it could be sold out from under us, as has happened on other occasions. We did go back to the Board for prior authorization because it had been a while since their initial approval.

Hopefully, we’ll get some leadership back in Washington D.C. at some point that can curb inflation, correct our supply chain challenges, and get America back to the prosperity we enjoyed not that many years ago. As the meme says, you know what’s not stuck out at sea on a boat? Products produced in America. That’s not a political statement, it’s just true.

The upside is that we, as a country, have been through turbulent times like this before. As a kid in the 70s, I had no idea what my parents were facing with fuel shortages, out-of-control interest rates, etc. They just seemed like good times to me, but then again, I was not the one that had to worry about making ends meet. Americans were frustrated then, which caused them to reengage and make changes at the ballot box.

I think the unique challenge we have today is that we have two extremes in charge. One is on the left, one is on the right while a majority of Americans are stuck in the middle. Quite honestly, I think they both need to go. We need to replace the extreme politicians with moderate folks willing to work for us, not against us, or in a way that is meant simply to out extreme one another – that’s not good for anyone. This isn’t an R v D statement, I vote for who I think is the best candidate, people who will work across political party lines to do what’s right. Hard to find candidates like that today, and when you do find a candidate who fits that mold, they tend to lose to those spewing mindless and meaningless words at the greatest volume.

Social media/circus media certainly has not helped our society become more educated, that is abundantly clear. Personally, I just shake my head and continue to do what I can to do good work for my small part of our country.

Hadn’t really planned to get political this week, but when I start talking about inflation and supply chain issues, it’s hard not to call out the idiocy that we have in high places these days. This too shall pass, and we’ll get our country back on the right path again.

CAFMA has now introduced The CAFMA Connect Podcast! Get to know the personnel and stay connected to your local fire service agency. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on their youtube channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UCshgJvK9iKOILA-Z3TEDvVQ.

Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3k2m0az Google Podcasts: bit.ly/38fRB6n Spotify: spoti.fi/32DIN6J 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Our Hometown DMCA Notices Newspaper web site content management software and services