Leesburg Station 26 — Maurice River Township Fire District 1 Election
Quick summary: I attended one district meeting on November 24, where I was told two gentlemen (Corey Shaffer and Rob Creamer) would be up for re-election. I handed over business cards to encourage participation with my project, but I have not received communication from them. The meeting in December did not appear to occur as expected. I may be able to get more information at tomorrow night’s meeting, weather permitting. No known ballot questions or district-specific issues came up at the November meeting.
Candidates
Candidate information is currently based on in-person meeting notes from November 24 and is not fully confirmed through official posting.
Corey Shaffer(reported as up for re-election)
- Business card / outreach handed over
- Response received
Name and candidacy details will be updated when confirmed.
Rob Creamer(reported as up for re-election)
- Business card / outreach handed over
- Response received
Name and candidacy details will be updated when confirmed.
Ballot Questions
Each ballot question is posted with the literal language and a plain-English explanation.
No ballot questions currently known
No ballot questions were raised at the November 24 meeting. This will be re-checked at the next meeting and/or through district confirmation.
Issues
This section is split into district-specific issues and county-wide issues (which will appear on all district pages).
District-specific issues (Leesburg / Maurice River FD1)
No district-specific issues stood out at the November 24 meeting. This section will be expanded if issues come up in future meetings or documents.
County-wide issues (applies to all districts)
- Staffing: Most, if not all, districts need more firefighters and EMS personnel.
- Volunteer model vs affordability: The use of volunteers versus the cost of living and affordability situations should be discussed.
- Turnout: Low voter turnout should be re-discussed, as it calls into question the strength of election processes.
- Visibility gap: Lack of public attendance and press coverage of meetings leaves the public and voters in the dark regarding essential emergency services.
- Legal Notice vs Meaningful Notice: Traditionally, public meetings across the county only needed to be advertised in one or two newspapers. As the digital age takes over, there is a push to publish on websites, but is that enough? Vineland's current data center issue and low awareness in fire districts suggest more advertising could be done.
- EMS uncertainty: The ongoing Inspira contract discussions leaves districts in limbo about how to handle EMS coverage on a long term vision.
- Radio programming: The lack of a radio programmer hinders inter-county communication during mutual aid endeavors.
Coverage
District-specific coverage links live here (posts, interviews, meeting notes, etc.).
Coverage log
- Post / article: TBD
- Interview: TBD
- Meeting coverage: Attended the district meeting on November 24. The December meeting did not appear to occur as expected. Planning to seek updates at tomorrow night’s meeting, weather permitting.