Town hall meeting addresses tenant concerns

By Millie Diaz

Staff Writer

Ganado’s Volunteer Fire Chief Bernard Scott banged twice on the table with his hand, demonstrating for nine McFarland tenants how he alerted apartments #7 and #5 after arriving at the fire attacking their building at 2 a.m. on Oct. 20.

“I was the first one to attend to the fire,” Scott said. “I didn’t wait for a response at the doors; I knocked twice and had to move on.”

How the tenants were alerted that night was one of their concerns at the town hall meeting Mayor Clinton Tegeler conducted on Dec. 13 at City Hall. Jairo Martinez and Austin Plier, two Ganado high school students and volunteer firefighters, also sat with the Mayor and Fire Chief.

Martinez served as Scott’s translator and the tenants, too; over three-fourths of the 22 tenants only spoke Spanish. 

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