I think it's time the citizens of New London County start taking a look at the history of how "fire districts" evolved. The first question that comes to mind is at what point did municipalities abdicate the responsibility of organizing and funding paid and volunteer fire departments? Who gave "the fire districts" the power to tax the residents and businesses of certain sections of a town? How consistent is that with the practice of having elected officials in each community set their budgets through the process of voting, referendums, a board of finance or finance department? Who is the watchdog protecting the citizens? Most of all how is it determined what expensive pieces of equipment are needed, what manpower is needed, and where should those resources be deployed? The firefighters in our community do a great and courageous job of protecting us and I think they would benefit from better organization and leadership from our town fathers.