With the closure of the Edmonds Waterfront Center Monday, Feb. 3 due to snow and ice, the Edmonds Civic Rountable’s presentation on the South County Regional Fire Authority (RFA) annexation vote has been postponed to Monday, Feb. 10.
According to organizers, if you registered prior, you don’t need to re-register for the Feb. 1o event. Those interested in registering can do so at this link, although just a few spaces remain.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, 220 Railroad Ave. N., Edmonds.
Edmonds residents in April will be asked whether the city should join the South County Regional Fire Authority (RFA). The RFA and its predecessor Fire District 1 have provided fire and emergency (EMS) services in Edmonds, on contract, since 2010. However, the RFA exercised a two-year cancellation clause and that contract will expire at the end of this year. Now, the City of Edmonds is placing before voters a ballot measure that asks whether Edmonds should join the regional authority as a member, rather than as a contractor, joining cities such as Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Brier.
The program will include background on how Edmonds got to the point at which the city is faced with this decision. The Edmonds Civic Roundtable will summarize what benefits would occur by annexing with Regional Fire, as well as a report on what is currently known about what happens if voters reject the idea.
Following presentations, the audience will participate in table discussions in which participants can discuss what they heard and questions they have. Going forward, the roundtable said it will provide a list of other local community forums and available resources for residents to aid in gaining additional information in the coming months.
At the end of the program, others knowledgeable about this topic will be available to answer the questions informally. Also attending will be representatives of the Edmonds City Council who helped to negotiate the proposal and representatives of Regional Fire Authority.
“The Edmonds Civic Roundtable will summarize what benefits would occur by annexing with Regional Fire, as well as a report on what is currently known about what happens if voters reject the idea.”
Does anyone else recognize the bias in this sentence? Both options offer benefits.
And, since the RFA and majority of the Council support annexation, why are the “others knowledgeable about this topic” relegated to an informal Q&A at the end of the program?
At the end of the program, others knowledgeable about this topic will be available to answer the questions informally. Also attending will be representatives of the Edmonds City Council who helped to negotiate the proposal and representatives of Regional Fire Authority.
Will those who don’t favor giving up local control through annexation be represented on the dias?
Who will be moderating the tables?
Must one wait for the voting pamphlet to obtain an equal and reasoned assessment from both sides of the issue?
Sorry for the confusion our outreach should say “services” rather than benefits. We strive to create programs that are non biased and non partisan.
This is just semantics and pretty silly on top of that because the same “services” will occur even if the vote fails and the one year contract kicks in. And even if the one year contract was up, the state has provisions in law that would prevent SCF from refusing to put out fires or save people in Edmonds. This whole thing is really just about having to raise property taxes and by how much; and whether it is smart to give a Regional agency taxing powers with no local city strings or controls as part of the deal. Talk about scare tactics being peddled. ECR you have to do better than this to have any credibility of being unbiased on this.
Hi Lou, some additional information that may help in understanding all that is part of this upcoming vote.
1. Council in the 1.28.2025 packet on page 251 has outline more details for the upcoming levy vote. MEN had a link in the write up for that meeting.
2. Council tonight will be selecting citizens to represent the Pro and Con sides for the statements and rebuttals for the voters pamphlet. Not much space for each and we will not see the pamphlet until sometime in April. Dates are also in MEN notes for that meeting. A total of 9 taxpayers have volunteered, 4 on the Pro side and 5 on the Con side. Council could have waited until the deadline; I think it was Feb 25 but the added 3 weeks is good. Elsewhere there will be other town halls and community forums to help us all understand this important issue.
3. ECR seems to be first out of the gate with a public forum. If that forum will have a video we can all use it as a foundation to begin the interesting challenge of first gathering the facts and then trying to put the whole puzzle together and finally sit down with our ballots and make an informed decision.
Lou your questions can turn into future answers for us all to learn.