Editorial: Fire service on Key Peninsula may face cuts

Key Peninsula voters who rejected Fire District 16’s attempt last week at lifting the lid on its current levy are putting the department at serious risk. An already understaffed fire department spread across the entire peninsula will now look at ways it can cut more than $190,000 from its 2010 budget. The trick will be ensuring fire and EMS personnel will be able to arrive at emergency situations with an adequate force to make a difference.

Voters shot down Proposition 1 by a margin of about 13 percent, a number slightly larger than similar attempts in 2006 and ’07. And while that may seem overwhelming, it only pans out to about 200 votes between passing and failing. The fire department was closest to passing the proposition two years ago, when only 100 swing votes would have made the difference.

Last week’s result has firefighters scratching their heads. The local union wants answers so badly that it set up an online survey to ask voters why they continue to reject the lid lift levy.

Is it political strife between the department’s board of commissioners? Is it the overall impact of the economic recession? Is it a lack of confidence stemming from a perceived lack of physical fitness or drug testing policy?

Since voters approved an expansion of the fire board from three members to five in 2007, the elected body primarily has focused on activities related to its No. 1 goal — public safety. The board makes policy decisions, but it doesn’t fight fires or rescue people from car accidents or other emergency situations.

Fire district officials believe voters are confusing the issue of commissioner politics — namely between Allen Yanity and Jim Bosch — and the quality of service the fire department provides. The fact is, fire commissioners are public representatives who serve six-year terms once they’re elected.

If voters want the fire board to change, the positions currently held by Bosch and Sheila Hunt will be on the November ballot. Claudia Jones and Richard Hanna are their respective opponents. But, barring a recall challenge, Yanity will serve at least until his position is up in 2011.

Voters who insist they won’t vote “yes” for anything involving the Key Peninsula Fire Department until changes occur on the board will only be hurting themselves in the long run.

Thankfully, at least one of the commissioners is trying to turn the public relations machine around. Hunt, who was appointed to the board along with Ruth Bramhall when it expanded in 2008, has “thrown down the gauntlet” and requested to serve the rest of her time without compensation. She’s challenged the rest of the commissioners to do the same, saying it would save the fire district about $24,000 annually. The simple act of stepping forward to suggest such a thing should reset the board’s priorities.

Another issue at hand is the amount requested by the fire district. Instead of asking voters for the maximum allowed — $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value — the district only asked for a 22-cent increase, to $1.09 per $1,000. That should show voters the department is only asking for what it needs — not for luxury.

While the fire department prepares for the worst, commissioners have approved a fourth attempt at a levy lid lift for the November ballot.

If it fails, too, then the ones who really lose will be those a depleted department attempts to serve.