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Recently, a story was run on the front page of The Gazette in which I was quoted several times ["Residents question fire department fundraising"]. The story highlighted what I considered to be questionable fund raising practices by the Bethesda Fire Department. It is my opinion that since the Bethesda Fire Department does not provide any fire services or make any meaningful contribution to the fire services within the community, it should not be pretending it does in its fundraising campaign. I was a board member and corporate officer of the Bethesda Fire Department for four years and resigned recently over this issue.

In its recent fundraising mailer, the Bethesda Fire Department says, "We need your generous contributions to continue offering you the best possible fire protection." This statement is absolutely untrue. The Bethesda Fire Department does not offer any fire protection or fire services to our community. It is important to note that the firefighters that serve the Bethesda community as are employed, supervised, trained and paid 100 percent by the county. All equipment and all facilities maintenance are provided for by the county and state.

To bring this questionable fundraising practice to light I wrote a letter to several county officials about my feelings as well as the basis for my objections. Those officials included: Fire Chief Richard Bowers, Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews, Vice President Roger Berliner, County Executive Ike Leggett, and Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy. The only response I received to my letter was a phone call from an aide to Mr. Berliner who told me that, although he saw my point there was nothing that Mr. Berliner could do about this problem. I find it quite incredible that Mr. Berliner, the Vice President of the County Council, finds himself so powerless. None of these other officials bothered to respond to my request.

Now, I understand the political realities of taking on anything to do with volunteer fire departments. There is a great downside in terms of losing their election support. But, since the Bethesda Fire Department has no volunteers other than its board members this should not be a problem. This disingenuous call for funds should be stopped and all funds raised from this effort should be returned to the donors. If the Bethesda Fire Department wants to raise money it should be forthright in stating its role in the community.

James B. Winkler, Bethesda