Thursday, March 28, 2024

Chelan Fire and Rescue 7 Commissioner Peters vacates seat

Provides letter outlining unresolved issues leading to decision

Posted

CHELAN – Chelan Fire and Rescue 7 Commissioner Tom Peters made public his decision on turning in his resignation as fire commissioner after over four years of service, which he submitted Monday, March 12. In a two-page letter, Peters expressed his frustration with several aspects of the duties of a commissioner, as well as policies in place that he felt were restrictive in the board’s ability to communicate and strategize without constantly being in the public eye, he explained. “At the outset of my term,” he began in his explanatory letter, “I said I would serve as long as I continued to help improve Chelan Fire and Rescue (CFR). After lengthy consideration, I concluded I was no longer able to do so.”
Peters continued to express his opinion and support of each individual through CFR, and their mission, which states is “to protect the lives and property of the citizens and visitors in our district and community through emergency response, education and prevention,” he then supplied, “this has not changed.”
In his letter of resignation, Peters outlined and explained four main factors that swayed his decision. The first of these explained Washington State’s Open Public Meeting Act, which allows all commentary to be made available to the public, regardless of the discretion of delegating authorities. “As a result,” he explained, “commissioners are forced to limit all discussions with fellow commissioners to public meetings under scrutiny of the public and the media with every word open to interpretation and potential legal scrutiny … sensitive and candid discourse among commissioners in confidence is necessary at times to produce quick, effective decisions about services that have real life and death consequences.” Interpretation of circumstances is not an unusual occurrence and is frequently seen in what’s commonly referred to as “fake news,” which misconstrues information without presentation all the facts behind situations or statements.
Peters continues onto his second reasoning, which discusses budgetary items and his frustration with the restrictive nature between the difference of funds needed and funds received. “The public cannot expect any organization to function on a budget which, by law, is only allowed to increase one percent per year,” he voiced, “despite inflation rising at higher rates.” He explained further that he cannot recall ever seeing wages and benefits grow by one percent or less, more often than not, he explained, it’s been three percent or more. “People are the single most important and most expensive asset of Chelan Fire and Rescue,” he emphasized, “it is unrealistic to expect the department to survive on an increase of one percent per year. Many people in Chelan have voiced that they expect the same level of service from the fire department over time,” he added, “with no additional increase in revenues. This simply does not work.”
By law, Washington State limits the revenue sources for fire departments, Peters began leading into his third deciding factor. CFR’s is heavily dependent on property taxes, he conveyed adding that the department’s income is occasionally supplemented by federal grants as well, which he described as “unpredictable.” After researching the dramatic population increase from 7,500 to nearly 2 million between May and October, he began the search for taxation methods the district could potentially use during the highly-populated season. “After researching this, I have found no practical way for our district to tax these visitors to help pay for services they may receive while they are here,” he described, “nor does our district appear to have any practical way to tax businesses that benefit from visitors.” He revealed his opinion that the given situation is “an unsustainable situation,” asserting that he does not “condone, nor could (he) support the reliance on a single primary source of revenue that promotes this outcome.”
In his last explanatory paragraph, Peters spoke to Chelan Fire and Rescue Community Task Force’s statement in its final report that “tax initiative, burgeoning personnel/operational costs for providing services and increased demands for services have outstripped the ability to effectively fund most fire departments at their current level,” he reiterated, “yet, I have not seen effective plans from the department to contain substantive means to cut costs in the future,” he stated. Instead of listening to the department’s volunteer members and the department working in unity to find long-term solutions for the funding issues, he proceeded to explain, “the answer to increased demands is always the same old model I’ve heard since I’ve been here: more paid staff, more money and more taxes.” He concluded by stating that the hospital board had an opportunity to collaborate its Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with the department’s fire services, however, he said, “they deliberately failed to engage actively because the Manson Fire District would not join the conversation.”
Finalizing his statements, Peters stated, “I have come to understand that Washington State, the residents of the Lake Chelan area, and Chelan Fire and Rescue all have set unrealistic expectations that cannot be met using the current system of governance and taxation. Compromise on all fronts will be required to arrive at a system that does work.”
Fire Chief Tim Lemon briefly expressed that, as a district, they support Peters in his decision, but could not provide further comment at that time. Peters was not able to be reached at the time of print, however as more information uncovers you can count on the Lake Chelan Mirror staff to keep you updated.
For Peters’ full later, see page 5 under “Letters to the Editor.”

Chelan, Fire and Rescue, resignation, tom peters, commissioner

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