Garfield Township Trustee Steve Duell used a metaphor of three farmers to describe why he believes the township should leave the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department unless changes happen.
These three farmers own farms of differing sizes — one small, one big and one medium, but each has equal say in what their neighbors do. Owners of the medium and small farms both could agree to something and the big farm's owner would be outvoted.
"We are losing that representation, it's taxation without representation," he said. "That's not fair to our constituents who pay taxes in Garfield Township."
That in a nutshell is why Garfield Township trustees voted 5-1 Tuesday to leave the three-township department, effective Dec. 31, 2019. Trustee Dan Walters voted against and Trustee Molly Agostinelli was absent.