Among the races to be decided in the Nov. 2 general election is South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue RFA Commissioner Position-at-Large 6, with Derek Daniels facing Maya Ojalehto. Those voting for South County Fire & Rescue Commissioners will live in the regional fire authority boundaries (the City of Lynnwood or unincorporated areas). The cities of Brier, Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace contract with South County Fire for fire and EMS services so aren’t represented on the commission.
We requested statements from each of the candidates and received a response from Derek Daniels, as follows:
Hi, I’m Derek Daniels, a candidate South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue RFA, Commissioner Position-at-large 6.
Did you know the Washington State Legislature defines the authority of the fire commissioner as establishing and maintaining policy for the district, managing and conducting the business affairs of the district (budget and finance), and ensuring the fire chief is properly carrying out the duties of their job? This description is not too dissimilar to what is expected of a corporate board of directors and their oversight of the CEO.
I have been a homeowner in the North Lynnwood area for 10-plus years, and have sat on various finance committees and community councils. My business experience includes over 10 years working as an IT Consultant using my soft skills to help clients make better- informed, data-driven decisions. I believe all of that makes me the best candidate to serve as your next South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue RFA, Commissioner Position-at-Large 6.
Endorsements include: South County Union Firefighters (IAFF Local 1828), Fire Commissioner Greg Urban, Pam Daniels, former Snohomish County Clerk, and Ned Daniels, former Lynnwood City Councilmember
I’m asking you to please hire me to represent you.
We can be curious of the South County Fire candidates or commissioners, but they don’t need to spend anytime vying for the vote of residents of Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, or Brier as we don’t get a vote. We turned over control of our stations, equipment, and personnel to the RFA, asking that they in return (for a preset contract fee) maintain our level of service. We have no say in how they accomplish that mission, and are now feeling a bit of a squeeze as they are asking for more money to do the same job.
Brian: Jurisdictions “in the RFA” as opposed to “contract protection jurisdictions” do get a vote. If the remaining South County cities vote to go into the RFA, then the citizens would be added to the voter and commissioner candidate pools.
Sadly, the cost of doing business –in emergency services or any other government or nongovernment field– generally goes up every year. Labor, fuel, equipment, supplies, etc. are what drives the increases in the contract every year. As a retired chief officer myself, I did plenty of these budgets.
I will tell you that the economies of scale and the increased resources available make these big regional fire agencies a very good deal for the taxpayer. I’m happy to support South County Fire and am grateful for those citizens that step up to run for Fire Commissioner. Best wishes!
What I gathered from the RFA presentation at the ECC meeting a couple weeks ago is that Edmonds citizens need to basically give back at least the 1.4M that they “saved” in the switch over from city to regional control of their personnel and equipment and giving back 2M or more would be even better because Edmonds is being way over served by the regional service (according to their Chief). What have we achieved in terms of savings on this deal under those circumstances? I could see that we maybe got rid of some H.R. headaches in giving up local control but I strongly suspect the big tax savings will have been a delusion in the end. Things that cost big money, just cost big money and that’s how it is. Fire and Police protection cost big money, any way you slice it. Why not at least, maintain local control of both?