To the editor:
As a former Monterey Select Board member and current member of the Monterey Finance Committee, I’d like to comment on the decision of the Great Barrington Select Board and Finance Committee not to recommend approval of a $131,000 subsidy for the Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service.
Over 20 years of public service, it has become clear to me that the days of volunteerism are long over. That any nonprofit, life-saving emergency service should be so under-appreciated that members of two town boards would castigate the Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service for “paltry fundraising” and for waiting “so long to deal with annual shortfalls,” rather than acknowledging the true costs of providing such non-discretionary professional services to residents, strikes me as somewhat naive and ungenerous.
Towns pay competitive rates for water, sewer, roads, police protection, snow removal, street lights, general government, building and health inspectors, transfer stations, education and so on — even, ironically, tax collection — yet transporting residents to a hospital in time to save their lives is still provided to towns free of charge. And the provider must also fundraise.
Historically, many towns have relied on volunteer fire departments and ambulance services. While there may have been a good reason for this custom — we all lived and worked in small communities and helped each other out — it has become unfeasible to ask uncompensated or under-compensated women and men who may have families and other jobs to “volunteer” additional time — and in some cases to risk their lives — for the protection of life and property.
I’m certain that Great Barrington officials greatly appreciate the good work of the Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service and I encourage them to reconsider their decision about who should carry the gap in costs while they pursue research on long-term solutions such as regionalization.
Jonathan Sylbert, Monterey
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