Recently this newspaper was criticized for not taking a stand on the issue of members of the Auburn Fire Department's attendance at a graduation party.

The party was for the daughter of a deceased firefighter.

We believe that it is time to give our opinion and to put the matter to rest.

We do our best to give the community a forum for good dialogue but will not continue a back-and-forth that produces nothing new and nothing valuable for our readers.

It has come to the point of “beating a dead horse.”

American's, especially after 9/11, have always had pride and respect for the men and women that work so hard to keep us, our homes and businesses safe from tragedy.

Firefighters share a bond that most of us are in awe of; there isn't anything that they wouldn't do for their fellow firefighter.

It is our opinion that the firefighters should be commended for wanting to be sure that they showed their respect to their brother and their support to his family. However, there is no excusing taking city vehicles to attend a function that was not an emergency. Members of the AFD could have gone in shifts to the party in their own vehicles and not given anyone a photo opportunity.

The effect would have been the same; they would have shown their support and not have been the subject of such scrutiny.

Whether you blame city management or firefighters for the overtime issue, it's done and it cost us all a lot of money.

They need to work together to ensure that we have adequate coverage for emergencies while not bleeding the taxpayers.

In the end, there is still that respect and admiration of what the department represents and does for our city. An error in judgment hasn't changed that in the eyes of residents. We trust that acting chief Terry Winslow has set the record straight on the use of city vehicles and is trying to move on, we are too.