This announcement by John illustrates the commitment he has to the program. It shows that he wants to see it move forward and to be able to serve the community better.

We have grass in some of the outlying areas of the county that are well over 3 or 4 feet tall, and once fire season starts, they will create very hazardous conditions for us.

John is going to focus on education of the community and fire district personnel. He as a great wealth of knowledge and experience that needs to be passed on to benefit the future of the fire department.

When John announced his plans to retire, we discussed how we would shift the duties. We plan to incorporate the deputy marshal and other qualified personnel from the fire districts to fill the gap during the transition of the department.

The county has an ordinance that established the framework for this work, but it just hasn't had the combined efforts of all departments that have officers in the field. Now we have the manpower behind the ordinance to do the job.

I think our addiction to war is nurture rather than nature. We learn to hate, learn to want more, learn to kill. It's what we teach our kids everyday on TV, in the movies, on video games, etc. We mythologize war and conceal its horror. We have managed a scenario in which we have disinfranchised segments of our population, women and gays, demanding equal rights to become victims and killers on the battlefield