Go get them Chuck! We need you on the Menlo Park Council. Show that Peter Carpenter that you’re the best!!!

"Mr. Carpenter early in the process nominated Rob Silano, who had just served as board president in 2016. The nomination received the support of only Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Silano, with Mr. Silano having to second his own nomination."

Sounds like the kind of move Carpenter would make. Glad he is no longer the president and looking forward to him no longer being on the board, hope they can heal the damage he has done to the district and the reputation of the board.

Chuck, congratulations. Hope you have a great tenure and many us us support you as the "Scrooge" and reigning in the spending that seems so free under the last president.

I am glad to see Chuck driving the bus as the District enters the next 100 years. He has a strong record of managing a performance based budget. Perhaps he can get the rest of the Board to pay attention long enough to follow his thoughtful lead.

Hooray for Chuck Bernstein if he is fiscally minded with the people's money. Now we have to clean house with the rest of the buggers on the Board starting with Carpenter
and then management who must go starting with Shoppelman.

Menlo Park Resident:

I didn't know the fire district was in debt? I thought it had high reserves and operates on a balanced budget? Menlo Park Resident, you're not informed?

The current fire board is a great mix. Maybe they disagree at times, but they all work together and the entire community benefits. Let me when an agency gets a 98.5% approval rating from the community they serve....

BE REAL: MENLO PARK RESIDENT!

Peter Carpenter:
He is one of the reasons why it's run so well and stays within their budget!

Who's driving the bus?

It's hard to believe Chuck is driving the bus when he usually votes against a lot of items. I think it should be that the other 4 fire board members are!

That's why he's needed on the Menlo Park Council!!! They need him!

The Fire District has a balanced budget, paid cash from carefully accumulated reserves for its property acquisitions , has no parcel tax and has a 98.5% approval rating from its residents.

What city/town can match the Fire District's financial and service performance?

Glad to see Mr Bernstein as the new president. Good Luck
Please fix things. Be responsible with the publics money
Do not forget who you work for and don't take the " My way is the only way" view that the last president had

Chuck Bernstein's worst enemy isn't Peter Carpenter, or any other person. Chuck Bernstein's worst enemy is Chuck Bernstein. Whether he's right or wrong on any topic, he undermines himself with his bomb-throwing, dyspeptic style. Maybe he can change, but we've got decades of evidence to the contrary.

Slightly off topic, but is it just me or do there seem to be an inordinate number of stories in the Almanac about the fire district and all their politics? I’m sure it’s important and I have nothing against firefighters (who does?), and in this case the fact that there’s a new president is worth noting. Nevertheless I find it bizarre how often there is some political story with regards to the fire board or the fire district.

There don’t seem to be nearly as many stories or opinions about other civic institutions like the school district, the mayor’s office, the police, etc. But the fire board — which is not something people traditionally think of as political— seems to be in the news all the time with some dust up, shake up, controversy, etc.

Since when did firefighting become so political? I just find it weird. Maybe it’s just me \_(ツ)_/¯

(from above) "there seem to be an inordinate number of stories in the Almanac about the fire district and all their politics?"

You bring up a good point. It does seem like the Almanac writes a great deal about the Fire District, perhaps at the expense of interesting stories with a number of other elected or appointed officials, such as with the 1) West Bay Sanitary District, 2) Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce, 3) the Menlo Park Water District and a host of others.

A more balanced reporting would likely be of interest to the community, as it seems that no one is exempt from both successes and occasional mis-steps.

Observer and Question!!

You both are absolutely right!!

It appears that the Almanac Reporters could be one sided against Peter Carpenter and anyone who sides with him and his views. How about Ms. Kiraly holding 2 offices as an elected official? How about Mr. Bernstein's interest in a run for the Menlo Park City Council? How about city or town councils that don't run their towns or cities lean $$$$.

Fire District runs on a balanced budget, high reserves, and has a 98.5% approval rating? Almanac, get off their back? Almanac, some of your reporters may have some type of bias for some fire board members?


How about some stories about East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and some human interest ones.

"Almanac, some of your reporters may have some type of bias for some fire board members?"

I have met, at his invitation, with the now former Editor, Associate Editor and Ms. Woods to discuss this very bias.

In my opinion the reporter does have an earnest and deep felt bias against the Fire District [portion removed; don't speculate about what others believe.]

[Editor's note: The meeting Peter Carpenter refers to was requested by the Almanac's editors to discuss Mr. Carpenter's increasingly hostile attacks of the Almanac on our website; it was an attempt to restore reason and civility to any debate over our coverage of the fire district. Although Mr. Carpenter accused the Almanac of biased reporting during that meeting, we believe the accusation is baseless but acknowledge that he's entitled to his opinion.]

In my opinion the reporter does have an earnest and deep felt bias against the Fire District [portion removed; don't speculate about what others believe.]

[Editor's note: The meeting Peter Carpenter refers to was requested by the Almanac's editors to discuss Mr. Carpenter's increasingly hostile attacks of the Almanac on our website; it was an attempt to restore reason and civility to any debate over our coverage of the fire district. Although Mr. Carpenter accused the Almanac of biased reporting during that meeting, we believe the accusation is baseless but acknowledge that he's entitled to his opinion.]

Why did the Almanac edit Mr. Carpenter's opinion. Another way the media controls what is printed and reported. WHERE THERE IS SMOKE, THERE'S FIRE...pretty fitting for the fire districts coverage.

[Editor's note: Citizen, if your neighbor were to post that, in her opinion, "Citizen believes that he is Caligula reincarnated and is entitled to put his subjects to death at will," and I were to remove that post saying, "don't speculate about what others believe," would you object? Do you distinguish between an opinion on an issue and a baseless assertion about what another person believes? A little less hysteria is in order, in my opinion.]

[Portion removed; unless you can provide evidence of involvement in these campaigns, this is mere speculation.]

The MPFPD should be more concerned about being on the payroll of PG&E. This TV spot (Web Link ran on CNN today.