Claudia Jones wants integrity to return to Fire District 16

Jones seeks election for Pos. 2 on Board of Commissioners

Nate Hulings

of the Gateway

Claudia Jones is running for the Fire District 16 Commissioner 2 position, but she isn’t a newcomer.

Jones has spent the past seven years as a volunteer EMT and medical responder for the district, and she’s run a number of public programs. For the past three years, she’s also been treasurer for the Key Peninsula Firefighters Association.

Jones said her motivation to serve the community always has been rooted in giving back.

“I want the community to blend again, as they used to with the fire department, and I want the fire department to understand that the community backs them,” Jones said.

Restoring economic stability and the integrity of the department are Jones’ two main goals. Getting the lid lift levy passed is the first step, she said.

“If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to be in really big trouble,” she said.

One service she doesn’t want to see disappear during the budget crunch is free ambulance ride-ins.

“In our EMS levy, eight years ago, if you are a taxpayer, you are not obligated to pay your portion (of ambulance fees),” Jones said. “That is a promise our chief made ... I really want to hang on to that novelty, because it just doesn’t exist anymore.”

Jones also would like to see the bickering and infighting within the board of commissioners to cease.

“My main obligation to myself and the fire district is to get past the embarrassment and move forward,” she said. “There are some great people on that staff, and we just need to move forward. Every little place has its quarrels. All this needs to end, and we need to get down to business.”

If elected, Jones said she also would like to see the Fire Chief Tom Lique’s role change from its current state.

“(My) biggest concern is to let the chief run the department instead of micro-managing,” she said. “If the chief is running the department instead of answering to all the micro-managing, they (firefighters) will feel like more of a team.”

When Jones isn’t volunteering at the station, she works at Key Center Chiropractic, is a substitute teacher for the Peninsula School District and is on call at the Peninsula Market in Key Center. Jones also runs a grief support group.

Jones and her husband, Bill, have been married for 24 years. She is a mother of four and a grandmother of five.

Jones enjoys boating, taking trips to Florida, rock hounding, camping and family activities. She’s lived on the Key Peninsula for 12 years.