— by Margie Doyle, Updated Aug. 23 at 9 p.m.–
Commissioner Jim Coffin, far left, announced his resignation at the OIFR commission meeting. He will be replaced by TJ DiCaprio (next to him). Barbara Bedell and Wes Heinmiller also serve on the elected board.
Fire Commissioner Jim Coffin resigned at the Special Meeting of Commissioners on Monday, Aug. 22. His replacement, TJ DiCaprio, was announced following an Executive Session of the Commissioners.
(Update: Commission Chair Barbara Bedell wrote in to this article on Aug.23: I want to thank Mr. Paulsen for pointing out a possible procedural difficulty. I am calling a special m”eeting next week–date to be determined.” See comments below)
Coffin said, “It’s been a good run — 10 years — and now it’s time. I’ve had a few health challenges and I think it’s time for fresh ideas and a fresh face. I intend to continue to be involved with the department and, if the commission so wishes, I could be of some use as an unpaid consultant.”
DiCaprio has been the Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft, responsible for the financial sustainability for climate plans in emerging nations. She was a participant in the 2015 Paris Climate Change talks, where she received an award for her work at Microsoft related to developing an internal carbon footprint strategy.
She’s obtained degrees in Environmental Studies and Energy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she received the 2015 Environmental Studies Alumna of the Year award; and an MBA in Sustainable Business and Government Policy Administration from Marylhurst University in Portland, Ore.She is an Aspen Institute Fellow for 2016. She has also been an equities trader for Merrill Lynch.
DiCaprio said, “It is very much an honor to carry out your term, A few decades back in California, I had a horrible motorcycle accident, and the fire department rescued me.”
Coffin said, “What really matters is the mission, I’m glad to see the mission will continue on track.”
Financial Reports
Earlier in the meeting, the district’s financial reports for June and July with approved. OIFR has entered into a new system with the county; with administrative team Mary Tanner, Micki Nichols and Jim Schuh tracking financial needs for the department. The switch to the county administered finance system has been a labor-intensive project, Acting Chief Williams said. “We’ve had a lot going on, your [Commissioners’] continued support for our admin team — Mary, Micki and Jim — has been crucial for our accuracy and efficiency to balance our workload.”
District Financial Officer Horaski has offered to be involved as a consultant, using the county’s new bars code system as OIFR develops its annual budget.
Service Calls
Acting Chief Scott Williams said that the service load on the Orcas Fire and Rescue Team is a little lighter this summer than last year. From January to mid-August in 2015, there were 743 calls; during that same time frame this year, there were 627 calls.
Although the call volume is a little lower, Williams also reported on the “hectic-ness” in overlapping calls, in which department personnel are dealing with one call during which they may be “paged out” to respond to another call:
- In June, there were 33 overlapping calls, or 34 percent of the monthly call volume;
- In July, 28 calls overlapped, for 30.43 percent of the monthly call volume;
- And so far in August, there have been 22 overlapping calls, or 30 percent of the total volume so far. wages
Cost Recovery Program
Williams reported that he is working with the company Systems Design in implementing the cost recovery program; currently they are designing the billing process. Williams said, “Since it’s new to us, we’re taking a little more time to be sure we’re accurate.”
Facilities Maintenance Contract
The Commissioners also discussed a facilities maintenance contract with the county. Contractor Greg Sawyer currently holds a service contract with the county for maintenance on HVAC, painting, plumbing, electrical and janitorial contracts for county buildings such as the Senior Center, the Road Shop, the Stage at the Village Green and the ferry landing. Staff for these maintenance project currently come from Friday Harbor. “We’re looking at adding a maintenance worker base on Orcas Island,” Sawyer said.
An agreement to maintain the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue buildings would require an interlocal agreement. Sawyer said, “It seems that OIFR staff has a pretty good grip on the status of their facilities. You could develop a worklist that is not so much a bid situation as direct hours and direct cost. Whatever it costs the county is what it’s going to cost you.”
Williams commented that OIFR already has a facility needs assessment from which to draft such an agreement.
Chief Search
Commissioner Barbara Bedell reported that the Chief Search committee has met three times and will have a final application packet, which it hopes to finalize on Aug. 29. The cutoff date is Oct. 14.
SAFER Grants
The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants were created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. OIFR’s current SAFER grant for a volunteer recruitment and retention officer is in effect until June 2018. The district just received payment of $168,000 from that grant. The position is held by John Ahrens.
In addition, OIFR received notice this month that they received a SAFER grant that will fully fund a Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician for wages and benefits for two years. “This comes at a perfect time for us,” said Williams. OIFR currently has a FF/EMT for three of its four shifts and “this will allow us to fill the fourth shift.”
In new business Commissioner Bedell announced that OIFR is being sued by two individuals. She and Interim Chief Scott Williams met with attorneys last week regarding the suit brought by Victory Lonquist for wrongful dismissal and pain and suffering. “They are asking for a hefty settlement,” said Bedell. Williams said that the case is still being investigated before the district will make a settlement offer.
The second lawsuit was brought by Paul Turner, County Deputy Fire Marshall, whose contract with Orcas Fire and Rescue was terminated as of Sept. 13, 2013.
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Well, isn’t that interesting. Out of the blue, an OIFR Commissioner resigns and the two remaining Board members select a replacement without any notification to the community of an opportunity for others to consider serving.
I am disappointed that the election process has been subverted, and an opportunity for candidates to express positions to the public has been lost.
It is incumbent on the OIFR Board to explain its hasty decision.
I have to agree with Ed on this one. A few things stand out here:
The action taken at this special meeting fails to meet the necessary standard per RCW 42.30.080 regarding Special Meetings. This alone should nullify the action taken by the Commissioners.
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(3) The call and notices required under subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. Final disposition shall not be taken on any other matter at such meetings by the governing body.
The published agenda does not include any reference to the appointment of a new commissioner. Any binding action/vote to appoint is therefore not permitted.
While I did not witness the sequence of events that happened at the meeting, it sounds as if the commissioners adjourned to Executive Session and then reconvened with a selection of a new commissioner. Based on the article, it sounds as if there was a discussion -in Executive Session- concerning the appointment of the new commissioner. Discussion regarding the selection of the new commissioner is not protected by Executive Session and MUST happen in open session. While no record exists for Executive Session periods, it is highly suspect that the decision was made in that forum. RCW 42.30.110 requires that any interview or appointment of a candidate must be done in open session.
While I don’t doubt the qualifications of Ms. DiCaprio, it is highly suspect that she “just happened” to be at the meeting in which Mr. Coffin resigned, and “just happened” to be appointed as the new commissioner. A serious inquiry needs to be done to find out how much communication related to Ms. Dicaprio happened prior to Coffin’s resignation and if any of that communication violated the OPMA by allowing communication to happen amongst the commissioners outside of the public forum.
Like Ed, I encourage the OIFR Board to very quickly explain their course of action. I encourage them to call a special meeting and explain their actions – and as necessary, take actions to correct any procedural errors. I further encourage them to present a complete record of all of their communications relating to this manner for full public review.
I was at the meeting and the executive session was to review the performance of a public employee for 10 minutes . The Commissioners then announced the appointment of TJ DiCaprio and introduced her. Jim Coffin had resigned earlier effective September 4th.
So now we have a photo of the 4 Commissioners.
I feel that TJ DiCaprio has an impressive resume and
I would welcome her but the Commissioners did not go
about this the right way and there had not been a public
meeting for two months now. As a regular attendee of the fire department meeting, I often bring irregularities to the Board’s attention. Commissioner Heinmiller is gone again for another week so good luck on a special meeting. The good news the department is doing well under Acting Chief Scott Williams and his current staff and volunteers, they have been very busy so I thank them all.
It would seem the the provisions of the WA State Open Public Meetings Act were violated and all actions and decisions made at the Special Meeting are null and void.
Those actions as suggested by Justin were NOT procedural. They were a violation of the State Law. The Board needs to start over by 1) accepting Jim Coffin’s resignation, 2) advertising the vacancy on the Board, TWICE, as required further by State Law, 3) schedule a public meeting to interview any candidates that file within the terms of an agreed period, and THEN 4) deliberate, in public, on the merits of the candidates resulting in a decision to appoint Jim’s replacement.
Also the paramedics contract is still under negotiation.
There was a comment made about possible lawsuit against the department but no specific at this time.
I want to thank Mr. Paulsen for pointing out a possible procedural difficulty. I am calling a special meeting next week–date to be determined.
Barbara G. Bedell, Chair
Board of Fire Commissioners
San Juan County Fire Protection District #2
As a member of the Orcas Island Public School board, and having gone through several members of the board resigning and the needing to appoint a new member, I don’t see how doing this in one special meeting is even close to being legal.
Usually in one meeting you accept the resignation and then alert the public of the opening, and allow people to come forward in open meetings to apply for the open position, then in another meeting (or even at that meeting), you then discuss in public who should be selected.
This doesn’t seem open or transparent, and I’m sure is a violation of State Law.
As I understand it, there is no requirement to advertise for the replacement nor is there any actual requirement to consider multiple candidates. It would be highly advisable as a point of transparency – but I believe an appointment can be made at any time (of course provided that a sitting commissioner has effectively resigned). (RCW 42.12.070 – 1)
To Ed’s point – I believe that some of the violations may be simple procedure violations, but I agree that it appears that there also may be some fairly serious violations of the OPMA.
Finally, it sounds as if Commissioner Coffin sat in on the Executive Session and was part of the appointment of his successor. This is not permissible, as the appointment can only take place once he is officially resigned – which if stated correctly above will not take place until next month. (WA Attorney Generals Opinion 1978 No.20)
While all these comments have merit, the sad thing is, we have gone from an island-wide representation, to three commissioners residing in Deer Harbor.
RCW 52.14.015 speaks to changing from a three commissioner to a five member and the importance of equal representation. I think just for fundamental Transparency, even more critical with only three, this is just my opinion.
My heart goes out to this board, I believe their intentions are honorable, but there is a learning curve here. We all can help and show our support for our Fire District.
Clyde
“Learning curve”? Commissioners Bedell and Coffin have been on this board for what, ten years?
Mr. Coffin is an attorney! This is beyond learning curve. This is malfeasance.
Maybe, a call to the Washington State Attorney General’s office is in order. It may be time to clarify the legality or illegality of the Board’s actions. Spirit Eagle
Given the size of its budget, critical importance of its function, the parade of Chiefs who’ve passed thru the doors, present vacancy in the top leadership position, and questionable observance of relevant RCW’s amid the resignation of a commissioner, it would seem to be abundantly clear that the present 3 member Board is inadequate to cope with both the scope and dynamics of the present situation.
I would like to extend my gratitude to Leif for the generosity, the understanding, and the accuracy of his statements. Certainly there was no ill intent on the part of the Commissioners who are in “the middle of a critical set of transitions” that will be more responsive to the needs of both islanders and members of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue. During the past few days, we have lost a fine candidate for Commissioner Coffin’s position and hope that another equally concerned and committed individual will step forth to assume this role. And, yes, we certainly can see the wisdom of having a five-person commission, and that expansion is under serious consideration. However, for now we need to remember that we are blessed with members of OIF&R who are dedicated not only to the mission of the Department, but also to the maintenance of an exceptionally high level of service.
With my gratitude to Leif once again for presenting a reasonable perspective on the issue at hand.
Barbara G. Bedell, Chair
Board of Fire Commissioners
San Juan County Fire Protection District #2
Chapter 42.30 RCW
OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT
RCW 42.30.010
Legislative declaration.
The legislature finds and declares that all public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of this chapter that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.
Most importantly, I would like to thank Jim Coffin for his many years not only as a Commissioner for OIFR but also for his early participation in Orcas Fires long Range Planning way before becoming a Fire Commissioner.
His roll was a huge asset that we as a community get the privilege of enjoying today! Medical Contol, that is state of the art; multi use WASP Fire Engines, that can actually make it up our many twisty driveways and Water Tenders that bring in our critical resource, WATER.
All with a smile.. Jim, you are awesome, as a past firefighter, THANK YOU and SALLY Too, (Jim’s BOSS).
You two have given our community something special!!
Clyde