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The recent report in the Express-Times, of Northampton D.A. John Morganelli having launched an investigation into the finances of the Safety First Social Club (SFSC), apparently has some thinking it will be the end of the Safety First Volunteer Fire Company (SFVFC).

The SFVFC will remain operational and provide fire protection to residents and businesses in West Easton, no matter what conclusion is derived from the District Attorney’s investigation.

D.A. Morganelli stated the investigation is “wrapping up,” and also noted that a determination has not yet been made of whether the financial problem of the social club is criminal, or that of sloppy bookkeeping.

Leading up to the complaint were a number of Right To Know (RTK) Requests submitted to the borough in January of this year, which sought financial information between West Easton and SFVFC.

Another RTK was submitted on June 24th by that same requester. It requested information on the SFSC membership policy. The requester had been previously rejected for membership into the Ladies Auxiliary, according to two members who voted against acceptance and wish to remain anonymous, fearing RTK reprisals from the requester.

Since West Easton Borough does not control the Safety First Organization (consisting of the independent entities of the Fire Department, Social Club, and Ladies Auxiliary) the RTKs the borough could not answer were forwarded to the appropriate entity of the Safety First Organization for their response.

The complaint to the DA’s office was submitted at some point following the June RTK request and Morganelli launched an investigation.

Previous to this complaint, Fire Chief Bogari had met with West Easton Council’s  Safety Committee in September of 2018, and informed the committee of the financial situation SFVFC found themselves facing.

The Safety Committee Minutes of that meeting, which I wrote myself, were passed on to Council, the public was notified of the Minutes during the October 2018 council meeting, and they were also posted on this website.

Council then waited to see if the financial problem of the social club and its lack of support to the SFVFC would be resolved among themselves, expecting to publicly hear from Chief Bogari at a future date through a formal presentation at a council meeting, if no resolution was achieved.

In July of this year an indication that the Social Club hadn’t solved their financial problems and was continuing to fail in their support of the SFVFC became apparent when Fire Chief Bogari approached Council about insurance payments needed.

Council ultimately covered the cost for the fire company’s insurance, reimbursing the Ladies Auxiliary that had paid the bill and has been providing most of the financial support to the SFVFC through Bingo and other fundraisers.

At the October 14th council meeting of this year, Fire Chief Bogari presented to West Easton Council and the public, the state of affairs within the fire department organization, the intent of SFVFC to disassociate itself completely with the SFSC, and the requested donation to keep the SFVFC running through 2020.

The Council’s Finance Committee then crunched the requested donation amount into the 2020 budget preparations.

At the December meeting, West Easton Council voted to approve the 2020 budget as advertised, which includes a total of $70,000 in donations to the SFVFC. Details of the donation disbursement to SFVFC and their budget reports that will be requested from Council are to be determined.

Despite many decades of the Social Club achieving their main purpose of funding the SFVFC, that funding became increasingly difficult to obtain in recent years, as the club showed financial losses on their books.

I am re-posting Fire Chief Bogari’s presentation to Council on October 14th. It can be viewed below: