||| FROM KAT BARNARD for ORCAS FIRE & RESCUE |||
Effective June 30, 2024, Chief vanSchaick will be leaving OIFR. During her tenure, OIFR’s volunteer numbers increased significantly, and voters approved a new five (5) year levy. Simultaneously, Chief vanSchaick was successful in renegotiation of the union contract resulting for the first time in predictable overtime costs to the District, which is essential for long term financial planning. We are grateful for her service and wish her well in her future endeavors.
A Separation Agreement between San Juan County Fire Protection District No. 2 D/B/A Orcas Island Fire & Rescue and Holly vanSchaick, Fire Chief, was executed and entered into during the Board of Fire Commissioners meeting on June 17th, 2024, by a vote of 3-2 (For: Commissioners Hansen, Gaylord, and Ehrmantraut, Against: Commissioners Fuller and Biddick) and signed by Brian Ehrmantraut, Board Chair.
After a ten-minute recess, Commissioners Fuller and Biddick immediately presented Chair Ehrmantraut with letters of resignation effective immediately.
After brief discussions about the next steps, the remaining three commissioners moved to recess until Friday, June 21st, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
Board documents and recordings are available on the Orcas Fire website for more information.
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Why do the same names hold so much power on the island?
Chief Holly deserved better and hope she is paid double and respected fully in her next role. The universe knows she is worth it!
What goes unsaid here is that the original contract that the chief was contracted under was not a legal contract, both in formation and in execution. Standing on the sidelines through this entire process has been several citizens who were prepared to challenge the legality of that contract. Nothing to do with the terms related to the Chief’s pay, nothing to do with the Chief’s incentives, but because it violates State law in its construction and the improper meetings that were held by the board in its creation and approval. That places the district at great financial risk and places the then-sitting commissioners with individual liability concerns.
When the three new commissioners stepped in, they knew that the contract was illegal and sought to correct it. The Chief took their inquires about the contract as an attack on her and her work. Such an attack that she immediately signaled her intent to sue the board, filing an accusation of harassment. At that point, the boards ability to work with the Chief in any way on the contract was eliminated. The Board was required to complete a full investigation of the harassment, which took months to complete and cost the district thousands of dollars. Through the full process, the board could not discuss anything related to the contract, as the allegation was that the harassment and the contract discussion were one in the same.
In the end, the allegations of harassment were not determined to be valid but the Chief also refused to allow the contract to be reopened and opted instead to propose a settled buy-out almost simultaneously with the release of the investigative findings.
The Chief has expressed her desire to stay and the board has expressed a willingness to allow her to stay. The citizens support her, the volunteers support her and the staff supports her. Were she willing to allow the contract to be reconfigured to remove the illegal declarations and were she sincere in her desire to continue to serve the citizens of Orcas Island, that opportunity still exists. Her settlement agreement allows her to void the full contract up to a week after it is signed. I guess we will know what the answer is next week.
This is victim blaming.
In addition, I witnessed numerous micro-aggressions towards the Chief in the many BOFC meetings I attended in person, and in those I listened to. One of the more egregious examples stems from the Chief making a suggestion only to have a commissioner offer the same idea a bit later in the meeting with zero acknowledgement that the Chief had already put the idea/thought forward.
Sadly, the Island is losing a phenomenal leader who was at a disadvantage through no fault of her own before she even had a chance to prove her abilities. Shame on those who feel it necessary to have wished for this so quickly. It’s funny how swift this kind of stuff happens to women in leadership.
Signed – A new volunteer with the department who signed up, in part, because Chief Holly was a leader I wanted to learn from
Hi Chris,
From what I saw on the recording, the Board was unwilling to discuss this due to privacy or personal issues, so I find myself wondering how you obtain this?
Everything discussed is available as a matter of public record. The public simply needs to desire to understand the totality of the situation.
You are 100% correct however that the Board has no option to discuss the issues in the public realm, as employment issues are highly protected. This places the board at a distinct disadvantage in these situations with regard to pubic facing information. They cannot, by law, defend themselves.
There is fault to be laid on all parties here, but this travesty starts with the previous commission and their failure to execute the business of the board according to the laws of Washington State. They only compounded the issue by walking away from their oath of public office at the last meeting, and taking zero responsibility for the actions which led us here.
Can you please elaborate on your allegation that the contract “was not a legal contract, both in formation and in execution?” For example, are you alleging an OPMA violation? An issue with previous appointed v. elected commissioners? I’d like to craft a thoughtful response but am unable to do so based on the generalized nature of your comments.
Claire,
Here is the legal review document published by the BOFC earlier this year regarding the contract issues. This was an independent legal review of the contract and process.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PxIgkO4yFtYakN9zyruCRydLHi7zFTjl/view?usp=drivesdk
@Christopher Malman: Thanks for the reply. I encourage you to read the memo I wrote in response to the Pacifica Law Group document you linked: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Sx7oCzjU66NrnKdz2lCm9q2Z171GJJJS
In short, the Pacifica memo does not establish that the Chief’s contract is illegal. Contracts almost always contain room for argument and Pacifica merely took one side of the debate (for which reasonable counterarguments exist – see my memo). At the very least, the Chief’s contract has a severability clause and any objectionable terms could be severed without invalidating the overall agreement.
If you’re (perhaps understandably) thinking “Who is this Claire Palmer and why should I listen to her?” I respectfully offer that I’m an attorney (WSBA license #55624) and, more importantly, a volunteer EMT who cares deeply about her community. Happy to discuss any of the above further, especially if it advances civil discourse on this matter.
Here is (I believe) the correct link to access my referenced memo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jCQFMJwkck0RYV5EI6qPCMDd6L4xbKNY/view (alternatively, you could go to the other link I posted and scroll down to “2024-03-01 C Palmer Correspondence.pdf” and click it to open).
Sorry everyone for the confusion! Let me know if you’re still having trouble finding it.
Claire,
Thank you for the link and your thoughtful assessment of the legal and other aspects of this issue. I’m so excited that you will be running for port commissioner next year.
@Mia Kartiganer: Thanks for the comment (and for wading through dense legalese). For the record, I have zero intent to run for Port (or any) Commissioner position anytime soon — but I appreciate the excitement nonetheless :)
…because we overwhelmingly elected them to make desicions for us. Have the universe call me, we need to talk reality.
That reality also includes less than 50% of the population turning out for the vote in an odd year, when it’s known there’s less turnout. I disagree with your overwhelming description when I include that in my reality.
Ms. Morelli,
The only “victims” here are the community and the new board members. We’ve been played by a person who makes her living suing former employers and walking away with large settlements.
If she truly loved the community as she claimed she would have done everything she could have to work with the new board members. Instead,
After the first regular meeting in December she threatened to sue them as a board AND individually. She also threatened to have Commissioner Gaylord disbarred! All of her accusations were proven false!
Finally, if she truly loved this community the chief wouldn’t be walking away with a boatload of our hard earned money and THEN tossing a grenade into the what’s left of the shambles she left behind.
.
What a loss to have a fire chief as valuable as Chief vanSchaick resign.
The Fire Chief has done an exemplary job during her tenure with our now-again beleaguered fire department. In addition, the OIFD staff and volunteers have been doing a great job with a very competent leader, under extremely trying circumstances.
Once again, our fire department has devolved into turmoil, thanks to the 3 newly elected commissioners.
Of these remaining commissioners, one has a hidden agenda, is totally self-entitled, and is incapable of treating people with courtesy and respect; one doesn’t know what they are doing and is just playing follow the leader; and one should know what is the correct path forward, but doesn’t have the where-with-all to do what’s best for our community or the Chief.
The community knows who is who….the members of the OIFD Board of Shame.
What might be the reasons that two important departments overseeing our health and safety are each split in half by what sound like internal brawls and external mudslinging? This is a serious question. Do those who serve Orcas in an official manner need a course requirement before or in the first few months of service? And what would that course be? There is debate and discussion and then there is this: people hurling insults and accusations back and forth without the public having a clue as to what has gone on. Could people actually state their complaints, charges, or whatever they are and follow them with actual specific evidence of the complaint/offense? Right there next to the complaint? Or am I suppose to devote a week or two or three researching things on my own to find out what’s behind these street fights? As I have observed different fracas here on the island and within the county, it seems many fights and even scandals begin because people don’t appear to know what the governing guidelines, rules, laws are and the ethics behind the rules. I am frankly surprised there aren’t more lawsuits, legal costs that are the burden of the taxpayer, sanctions, etc. Things I have read about here: a sheriff using security cameras to spy on the defense team, ordinances being submitted with illegible sentences and phrases (and passed, even though the errors were pointed out to them!!!!) and now, these public spats where people in the public SERVICE are not backing up each accusation with evidence right then, but allowing accusations to just hang in the air! Slander? Maybe. Outright lie? Maybe. Delusion? Maybe. I think at the very least people could learn to argue in a productive fashion, which means if you say someone is guilty of something, give the specific instance with evidence, right then. Don’t tell them to go to a website and read a long document. If you deny, also, present evidence of your argument, please; not just, I am a good person so that did not happen. And be civil! I would go so far as to say it is your DUTY to learn some things about civil discourse and definitely DON’T take the U.S. Congress as your model. Because this here sounds too much like that nonsense.
Some valid points, but the one about the sheriff spying is not one of them! That was an honest mistake; you should do your research on that one for sure!
As a former Firefighter and Commissioner, I think we are losing a great “leader”. It will be interesting to see the future pick for the job. I think the public should try/demand to keep the present Chief.
There is bound to be some turmoil when a new board is elected and tries to straighten-out a dysfunctional organization. This often includes removing the administration that presided over the creation of the existing mess. I suggest everyone take a deep breath and remember why we fund a community fire department; to put out fires and provide emergency response/transportation. Anything or anyone that gets in the way of doing those two things effectively and efficiently should be moved along.
Maybe Holly vanSchaick did a good job, in which case she should get a good recommendation. Maybe she didn’t do a good job, maybe no one could have, but either way, she is clearly disruptive to delivering on the mission. It’s way past time to quit the in-fighting and get on with the job.
Way too much administrative drama on this island. The local politics of utilities, services, and nonprofits are starting to resemble a reality TV show.
I mean at some point we need to take a look at ourselves as a community and ask why there’s so much drama here? It’s not like this in other communities and on other islands. Not as consistently as we see it. I think it’s due to having so many strong personalities move here who are used to being in charge and used to telling others what to do, combined with a strong sense of entitlement and ownership, but I’d be curious to hear other theories.