||| FROM KATE HANSEN, BRIAN EHRMANTRAUT, RANDY GAYLORD, TONI KNUDSON, FIRE COMMISSION CANDIDATES |||
In light of the resounding defeat of the August Levy for Orcas Fire and Rescue, the four challengers for the Commission are looking for citizens to explore and evaluate options. The four challengers for seats on the Fire District Commission are Kate Hansen, Toni Knudson, Brian Ermantraut and Randall Gaylord. They are taking steps to form a citizen advisory group called the “Fire District Stability Group.” The purpose of the group will be to review the needs of the district and the alternatives to fund those needs and the timeline for taking action.
In July, The Orcas Board of Fire Commissioners approved putting an identical levy on the November ballot. That levy will result in a one-time 82 percent increase in real property taxes for the district that will then be extended permanently. “We believe, if the first levy attempt was defeated by a margin of 25 percent in favor and 75 percent opposed it means there has been a real disconnect with the citizens” said Toni Knudson.
This Stability Group will look at desired level of service for the community and short term and long term solutions to fund those services.
“We hope the group can meet this fall and then have a recommendation for the Fire Commissioners in late November.” said Kate Hansen.
This should not be a big commitment from Citizens. It is hopeful that they will spend some up front time to understand the current level of service, review current and projected budgets, and participate in a group dialogue to come up with desired services going forward and potential solutions to fund them responsibly
Persons interesting in being part of the Fire District Stabilization Group are asked to contact any of the four candidates personally or Kate Hansen at Kate@KateForOrcas.com / 360-622-7010 or Toni Knudson at ToniForChange@gmail.com / 360-472-0239.
Future meetings will be announced so that the public can attend.
Super idea!! Looking forward to seeing this take shape.
Is that our first volunteer?
Good idea to involve citizenry before elections. (No, I’m NOT volunteering! At least, not unless and until more details are worked out and revealed.)
Please note that for people who work and are raising families and just trying to be able to stay on Orcas and afford exorbitant rents, mortgages and land taxes, being involved in a group like this would probably not be possible; as for poor people – which is too bad, because we need these people and we need younger people to weigh in and get involved. Maybe they would if they knew more about what’s expected of them, since this levy would impact any homeowners in the working class group the most. Maybe there could be some kind of survey or surveys to reach out to the entire populace when things are a little further along with the group that gets formed. It would be great to keep the whole community involved with this process. The group could also reach out to those with expertise in the areas examined or needed for examination.
Will the 4 challengers for seats be doing the work along with citizens in this stability group? What size of group do you have in mind? What categories would need to be addressed? That would determine size of the group and number of sub groups, and size would determine roughly how much time and energy would be needed by each person or subgroup, and how often the group and various subgroups would need to meet – and how much research they’d need to do for their area.
Wouldn’t finances need to be examined in detail first, to see where things veered off and capital expenses were not being met? I think that we have to know when and how we veered off the rails in order to fix and advise from where we are, to where we want to go.
As always, I have questions for clarification – to see who would be in it, and how this advisory group would approach the problem of stability. I think fleshing that out – whatever your mission statement is, and the areas you want to explore, would attract more people, and the right people.
Right now, it’s mostly retirees who volunteer for commission or advisory positions; or people wealthy enough to not have to work, or people with a vested interest – sometimes a conflict-of-interest. Let’s change that demographic to attract more of a cross-section of the populace. Tell us more of what you are thinking.
Thank you for your engagement and questions, Sadie!
We wanted to get word out to the community as soon as possible. But we are still solidifying details of timing and process. Many of the questions you asked we are currently working to answer with the help of a facilitator. And will make note of the rest.
We will get more info out to the community in the coming weeks! In the meantime, please let us know any additional questions that you and others have so we can take those into account in our planning!