To the editor:

Keeler Township voters elected me trustee last November specifically to carry on the tradition of past supervisor Bill Kays, one of three board members recalled three months earlier for replacing Sister Lakes Ambulance (SLA) with Pride Care.

The recalled board members were vindicated by my election and the fact that SLA supporters elected only one of five candidates, Supervisor Joe True, who won only because we mistakenly had two pro-Pride Care candidates running against him, who together actually received more votes than he did.

The primary reason for the change was to save taxpayer dollars.

SLA at the time required almost $200,000 in subsidies while Pride Care requires absolutely no tax dollars.

The recall occurred because voters were told Pride Care was inept, ill-equipped and unable to match SLA response times because they “were from out of town.”

These scare tactics worked for the August recall, but by the November election voters understood that Pride Care could not have 28 municipal contracts, providing service for almost all our neighboring townships and cities, and be as inept as SLA supporters led them to believe.

After 18 months on the job, they have consistently met or bettered their contractual response time and none of the disasters predicted by SLA supporters has occurred.

Like the movie “Groundhog Day,” Joe True and his supporters are playing the scare game again, continuing to badmouth Pride Care, but now adding the ridiculous threat that if he and his slate of candidates are not elected, we will disband Sister Lakes Fire Department. A threat he, as supervisor, should know is ridiculous because Keeler Township has neither authority nor jurisdiction over a private non-profit company.

Keeler Township voters beware. Joe True has only one item on his agenda: to reinstate SLA. However, he conveniently fails to mention it will immediately cost Keeler Township at least $100,000 more on top of the $108,000 we receive from Van Buren County. A subsidy we are mandated to pay to whoever our ambulance provider is.

My primary goal if re-elected is to petition Van Buren County  to amend the emergency services millage, set to renew in 2014, that generates the $108,000, because Pride Care, as stated in our contract, does not require  subsidies thereby freeing it up to use for police and/or fire protection. With that change we could put another full time patrol car on the road.

If you are concerned about needless waste of hard earned tax dollars, take the time on Aug. 7 to vote for me and my fellow candidates, Bill Kays, supervisor; Carl Davis, clerk; and Matt Sexton, treasurer.

Tom Landis

Trustee, Keeler Township