Barbara Bedell Responds to Orcas Issues Questions for Fire District Commissioner #3

Barbara Bedell

Orcas Issues asked candidates for elective races to respond to questions. Barbara Bedell’s and Pierrette Guimond’s answers are featured today.

Candidates Duff Andrews and Clyde Duke, running for Orcas Fire District Commissioner #2, will respond to the same questions later this week.

Candidates for the Eastsound Sewer District Position #3 (Harvey Aldort and Greg Ayers) will respond to questions tomorrow.

For further information on each candidate, contained in the Official Voters Guide, go to the official San Juan County website:

https://wei.secstate.wa.gov/sanjuan/Pages/OnlineVotersGuide_20091103.aspx

Readers will be able to refer back to the candidates’ answers on previous days by typing their name in the “Search” window at the top of the website.

Questions for Fire District Commissioner #3 position:

1)      What in your experience and vision brings you to put yourself forth as a candidate for the three-member Orcas Fire District Commissioner’s position? (100 words or less)

I was appointed by the current Fire Commissioners to fill a vacancy in the number three position and am now running to complete the remaining two years of that term.  I believe the appointment was based on my prior experiences serving on a 2005 Strategic Planning Committee and the Boards of the Spring Point Homeowners Association and the Orcas Island Medical Center Association, among others, where I dealt with complicated legal and financial issues. I have great respect for the personnel of Orcas Island Fire & Rescue and consider it an honor to serve the Orcas community as a Fire Commissioner.

2)      What do you consider the most important responsibilities of the Commissioners? Please state your unique contributions in fulfilling those responsibilities, including the number of hours you envision working as a Commissioner, both in and outside of public meetings. (100 words or less)

The Commissioners’ responsibility is to provide the best Fire and EMS services possible to the Orcas community within the constraints of public funding.  Key Commissioner tasks are governance of OIF&R, implementation of the 1999 levy and yearly budgets, careful and consistent planning that goes beyond reaction to crises, and constant dialogue internally and with the Orcas community.  I will work tirelessly on these tasks, actively contributing my best efforts and my independent judgment in a spirit of cooperation with the public and the other Commissioners. I expect to devote at least 20 hours per week to this work and more if needed.

3)      The Fire District levy expires in 2014 – please comment on the levy status, if you foresee a new levy happening before 2014, what needs to be accomplished before the current levy expires, and what a new levy should look like. (100 words or less)

Levies are taxpayer decisions: part of the Commissioners’ work is to bring information to the public that bears upon taxation matters.  I do not anticipate any new Fire and EMS levy during the 2010-2012 term for which I am running because the current levy is fulfilling its voter-mandated requirements: the Eastsound Station and new equipment are realities, and the Deer Harbor station will be completed in spite of the necessity to rebid the construction costs due to budgetary constraints. With fiscal responsibility and public support, I believe that any additional funding for OIF&R in a future levy can be implemented appropriately and effectively.

4)      According to current Fire Chief Mike Harris, the District’s Strategic Plan of 2005 focused on three areas: 1) updating Fire Dept. equipment and stations; 2) installing fulltime paramedics and cross-training volunteers in both EMS and firefighting roles; 3) improving communication within the Fire Department and with the public.
Please comment on the implementation of those plans, if you see the need for revisiting that strategic plan and/or forming a new strategic plan, and what you see as the essential considerations in a new strategic plan. (100 words or less)

I believe that the focus of the 2005 Strategic Plan was clear and that those goals still challenge us today.  Currently, I do not see the need for a new strategic plan so much as the need for continued hard work toward already identified needs.  Resources are limited, and the Commissioners’ mandate is to make judicious decisions within budget on new equipment, new station construction and/or improvement, personnel issues, suitable training, and effective communications. I favor steady progress within available resources, and I do not believe that we should wait for catastrophic situations to occur to justify much-needed Fire and EMS improvements.  As my record on other Boards shows, I support careful planning, open discussions, and timely decisions based on factual information.

5)      Other county taxing district boards have declined increases to their stipends. Do you see a need for this or other cost-cutting measures in your assessment of the financial situation of the district? (100 words or less)

I have declined to take the Commissioners’ stipend and am volunteering my time.  However, not every elected official can do so, and the Commissioner positions should not be the exclusive venue of those individuals who can.  Therefore, I have no pre-set agenda with regard to stipend increases or decreases.  While promising cost-cuts and tax breaks is always a campaign sugar pill, I will not pander to that line where public safety is at stake.  What I do promise is that I will work tirelessly to assure that public funding voted BY the public FOR public safety is used exclusively for that purpose in an economical manner and to the maximum effect.

6)      If you were to communicate one message to the voting public regarding your service as Fire District Commissioner, what would that be? (100 words or less)

Fire Commissioners do not drive the red trucks, man the fire hoses, or apply the defibrillators.  Rather, they support the dedicated and skilled people who do.  Therefore, the “tools” or qualities needed in a Fire Commissioner are the abilities to govern effectively, to think critically, to communicate with both OIF&R and the community in a positive manner, to remain dedicated to this elected service, and–above all–to maintain good judgment.  These are skills which I have demonstrated on other Orcas boards and which I will do my very best to apply if elected to serve as an Orcas Island Fire Commissioner this November.