Retired Firefighter Joins Race For Dalton Water Board, What Is Next?

DALTON, Massachusetts — If elected to the Board of Water Commissioners, Ken Sagendorph, a former fireman and emergency technician, says his objective is to enhance communication between the Fire District, residents, town, and department.

The district’s actual goal is to serve as the town’s representative in relations with the firefighters. It will function similarly to a middleman,” he remarked. “You not only represent the town, but you represent the firefighters [and everyone associated with the water district] at the same time.”

In the May 14 election, Sagendorph is challenging Michael Kubicki, the current board member, for a three-year term.

Although the district’s communication is improving, Sagendorph noted that it is still critical to inform the public about ongoing events and entice them to attend more meetings.

After attending a few meetings, he noticed that very few people showed up, and he believes that this could be due to a lack of connection with the population.

“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 stated.

Additionally, many people may have an “I don’t care” mentality, according to Sagendorph. Increasing communication between the commission, the department, the town, and the people will, he added, increase turnout by explaining to the people why firemen serve the community and what the department does.

Sagendorph has already noticed gains in communication with Fire Chief Christian Tobin’s initiative to upgrade the district’s website in his brief tenure with the department.

He stated that having a website will undoubtedly help to increase communication and that the internet is a useful tool for disseminating information.

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Sagendorph also emphasized the significance of educating everyone on the operations of the fire department.

“The fire department has its own unique method of interacting with people, just like any other public service. Some people don’t realize that the personnel in these public safety roles have a special place in their hearts for the communities in which they serve,” the speaker remarked.

“The community must realize that these folks are here voluntarily, not because they are required to be. Although some of these individuals could likely find better employment elsewhere and make more money, they work because they enjoy it and want to give back to the community, and I think that is important.”

People vote for you as an elected person because they believe in you and know that you will represent them as best you can, he continued.

“You must speak for the community. That is the reason you are present. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Everyone appreciates having financial assistance. Sometimes it’s not possible, but you have to know why,” stated Sagendorph.

“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 pointed out that Dalton is a historic mill town with many hidden hazards due to the way the buildings are built.

“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 stated. “I think the general public would feel safer knowing that the firefighters were that much educated, that much more educated about their community.”

Sagendorph stated that the Dalton Fire Department would have access to a resource for improved training because of his experience as a fire academy instructor.

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Having someone knowledgeable in public safety would also help with decision-making, he added.

Sagendorph has over 30 years of experience in the field of public safety. He began working for the Richmond Volunteer Fire Department at the age of eighteen, and in 1989 he obtained his license as an emergency medical technician.

“I joined the fire department after my little league baseball coach, of all people, said, ‘Hey, you want to get on the fire department.'” and became enamored with it “He stated.

According to Sagendorph, the Dalton Fire Department was the role model at the time since it possessed the necessary staff, apparatus, and equipment.

It’s not so much that everyone aspires to be like Dalton, but over time that has, for whatever reason—I’m not sure what the answer is—deteriorated. He remarked, “It seems like Dalton is just another town with another fire department.”

Sagendorph went on to work for the Agawam Fire Department for over 20 years, including five of those years as an instructor at the fire academy. He was employed by a Springfield-based private ambulance service as a paramedic as well.

He claimed that this experience had increased his understanding of how things function and what they cost.

There were a lot of warning signs with the fire truck problem right away. His knowledge of the industry told him that the reconditioned fire vehicle was considerably too cheap, which ought to have been a red flag.

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“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 asked.

“I think that’s a warning sign. I would have asked what kind of condition the equipment is in and why it needs the money.”

He claimed that if there had been a firefighter on the board, they would have raised concerns about the cost right away.

“The Water District crew members perform excellent work. based on what I’ve already observed. From what I understand, there haven’t been many significant problems,” Sagendorph remarked.

“I think they do a great job; it is beautifully maintained and handled. Because of my experience, I haven’t seen many significant problems on the water side of things, but I have seen certain things in the fire department.”

The Fire District’s annual election will take place at the fire station on Tuesday, May 14, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The following positions are up for election: one-year positions for moderator and auditor, one-year positions for members of the Prudential Committee, and one-year positions for members of the Board of Water Commissioners.