Retired Firefighter Running for Dalton Board of Water CommissionersBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
12:53PM / Friday, May 03, 2024 | |
 Ken Sagendorph, a former firefighter and emergency technician, is running for a three-year seat on the Board of Water Commissioners. |
DALTON, Mass. — Ken Sagendorph, a former firefighter and emergency technician, says his goal is to improve communication between the Fire District, residents, town, and department if elected to the Board of Water Commissioners.
"The purpose of the district is actually to be the town representative between the firefighters and the town. It's going to be like the middleman," he said. "You not only represent the town, but you represent the firefighters [and everyone associated with the water district] at the same time."
Sagendorph is running against incumbent Michael Kubicki for the three-year seat on the board in the May 14 election.
The district's communication is getting better, but it is important to let the community know what is going on and encourage people to attend more meetings, Sagendorph said.
He has attended a few meetings but found turnout has been very low and thinks lack of communication with residents may be a factor.
"I think it's just because some people in the community don't know when the meetings are, or they don't know what's on the agenda in the meetings, which has gotten better in recent months," he said.
It could also be the "I don't care" mentality that many people have, Sagendorph said.
Building communication between the commission, department, town, and residents will improve turnout because it will show the firefighters why they are serving the community and inform residents of what the department does, he said.
The internet is a valuable tool to get information out there and having a website will definitely help improve communication, he said.
Sagendorph also highlighted the importance of everyone being educated on how the fire service works.
"The fire service is, as well as any public service for that matter, its own special way of working with people. The people who work in these public safety positions have a special place in their hearts for the communities they work, and some people don't understand that," he said.
"The community needs to understand these people are here not because they have to be, is because they want to be. Some of these guys could probably take jobs somewhere else and get more money, but they're not doing it for the money but doing it because they enjoy doing it and giving back to the community and I think that is important."
As an elected official, people vote for you because they have faith in you and trust that you will represent them to the best of your ability, he said.
"You have to represent the community. That's what you're there for. That's your job. Everybody likes to have somebody to help them save money. Sometimes, you can't, but you have to understand why you can't," Sagendorph said.
"And I think when it comes to buying equipment for the water district and for the Fire Department, you need to understand where the rubber meets the road, shall we say, where can we spend money and where do we need to not spend our money."
He noted Dalton is an old mill town, and the way the buildings are constructed, there are a lot of hidden dangers.
"If one of these houses catches on fire, do these new firefighters understand how the fire is going to react on some of these buildings, some of these structures," he said. "I think the general public would feel safer knowing that the firefighters were that much educated, that much more educated about their community."
Sagendorph's experience as an instructor for the fire academy would provide the Dalton Fire Department with a resource to become better trained, he said.
In addition to that, having someone who is educated on public safety would inform the decisions being made, he said.
Sagendorph has been in public safety for more than 30 years. He started at the age of 18 with the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department and got his emergency medical technician license in 1989.
"My little league baseball coach, of all people, said, 'Hey, you want to get on the fire department, and I joined the fire department … and fell in love with it," he said.
During that time, Dalton Fire Department was the model because it had the equipment, apparatus, and personnel, Sagendorph said.
"Over the years that has, for some reason, I don't know what the answer is, has deteriorated, and it's not so much that everybody wants to be like Dalton. It's just like Dalton is just another town, just another fire department," he said.
Sagendorph went on to serve on the Agawam Fire Department for more than 20 years and was a fire academy instructor for five years during that time. He also worked as a paramedic for a private ambulance service in Springfield.
This experience gives him more insight into how things work and what things cost, he said.
The fire truck situation raised many red flags from the start. Based on his experience in the field, the price of the refurbished fire truck was way too low, which should have indicated that something was wrong.
"How can you get a piece of apparatus that should be a multimillion-dollar piece of apparatus for the price you can even buy a house for," Sagendorph said.
"That, to me, is a red flag. I would have questioned what is the condition that apparatus is in and what does it need for that money."
If there had been someone on the board with a background in fire service, they would have questioned the price tag from the beginning, he said.
"The guys on the water Water District do a great job. From what I've seen so far. I mean, there haven't been that many big issues, from what I understand," Sagendorph said. "It is well managed, well maintained, I think that they do a fantastic job. I haven't really seen a lot of big issues on the water side of it, but I have seen some things in the fire service because I was because of my background."
The Fire District will hold its annual election on Tuesday, May 14, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the fire station. Offices up for election are one member of the Board of Water Commissioners for three years; one member of the Prudential Committee for three years; and one moderator and one auditor, each for one year.
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