We deny what is unpleasant

Hey everyone. Hope all is well with you and yours. Here's a quick blog entry for ya!

We all have our own challenges to overcome. Some of us come to the place in life where we have to finally face those challenges or we continue to live with those challenges ignoring them in denial.

Denial is: 1. the refusal to admit the truth or reality. : 2. assertion that an allegation is false :3. refusal to acknowledge a person or a thing.

These definitions of the word denial in all three instances are a perfect description of the Bullhead City Fire Chief Rick Southey.

In the first definition the Chief refuses to accept the truth as spoken by his own employees and others that have publicly asserted that Chief Southey has fire stations in his fire district that have (in the words of his own men) been "shut down to do inter facility transports".

This was also stated by a Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department Battalion Chief that stated at a fire board meeting that Bullhead was (using the same terminology) "closing stations".

This was also reported to me by Chief Eno on August 9th when he debriefed me on a meeting he had with Chief Southey regarding this issue that had occurred on the morning of August 8th.

So, I'm to believe THREE people have told a lie?? What is their motivation to lie about this? Why am I being accused of telling a "half-truth"? Someone please tell Rick Southey there is no "half truth". It's either the truth or it isn't. So Chief Southey,in my opinion, has used a psychological defense mechanism in which confrontation with a problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality

In the second definition of the word;(2): assertion that an allegation is false. That definition was what Chief Southey did at last Thursdays Fire Board Meeting. He asserted the allegations were false, providing NO evidence to back up his claim. At least I had three independent official sources.

And the last definition; (3)refusal to acknowledge a person or a thing.

Chief Southey's refusal to acknowledge my role (person) in the community in the media on KTOX (thing).

He's another one of those public officials who only will appear or do interviews with media sources that he knows will not ask him or even be aware of the issues I raise on my program. He wants the community to believe that somehow I'm the bad guy for asking tough questions and getting no rational answers to them. Chief Southey is afraid to face the truth.

The truth is that sometimes they (BHCFD) have had to "close" a station or severely undermanned it. Why not just admit it? Why make it worse by denying it? Instead he fills a fire board meeting with everyone who has to work under him, to play to HIS audience and face the bad man.....Dave Hayes, who caught him in a lie.

I think Chief Southey is in denial: refusing to admit the truth or reality of something unpleasant.

On a side note. Although I am disappointed in the "truth department" of Chief Southey. I have to admit that I do believe at heart he is a good man and has done many wonderful things for our communities. I believe he wants to do the right thing, he just hasn't quite found his way there yet on this one.