Community Update

My fellow Fire District 28 citizens, I have been reading about Enumclaw Fire Department for the last few years.  While everyone loves firefighters and appreciates the work that they do, we need to hold the leaders (Fire Commissioners, Fire Chief) accountable for their own actions.

The leaders of this department do not seem to understand the problem that citizens and property tax payers have with the way they have managed “our” department, yes it is our department not theirs.
The Fire Chief and one remaining Commissioner, who officiated over the Department during these past few years, state today that the actions listed below were in the “past” and we should all now move on and “look to the future”. 
As long as these individuals remain in power, what assurance do we have that such poor business practices and actions will not take place again?

The recent fire department property tax proposition, Fire Commissioner vacancies and commissioner election have brought many issues to the forefront. Let me point out a few of these issues that the leaders of this Department have chosen to sweep under the rug or claim they are no longer “relevant”.

1. The Board of Fire Commissioners opted to purchase a used mobile home from one of the sitting Board Members (still currently on the Board). 

The State Auditor said, “The District violated state bid law and cannot be sure it obtained the modular home at the best possible price. Further, the District Commissioner is violating state ethics laws.”

One of the current Board members( the chair of the Board) profited from this purchase. It is my understanding that the Department has now spent in excess of 310,000 to place a used mobile home in Cumberland.

2. The Board of Fire Commissioners purchased a parcel of property in town without having the parcel appraised or without attempting to negotiate something less than the owner was asking. Who would purchase real estate without an appraisal?

3. The Board of Fire Commissioners approved the hiring of 6 new firefighters in 2011 knowing that they could not sustain the cost of these employees. Now they want to raise our taxes.

4. The area outside of the City does not have adequate fire or emergency medical response. The station in Cumberland has two volunteers who provide 24 hours of protection a week, there is no coverage from this $ 300,000 dollar investment 85% of the time! Response to Cumberland comes from town, almost 15 minutes away!

5. The fire station at 212th has only one person assigned to it, yes ONE.  This person lives there, there is a sign at the front door with his name and a sign saying “private residence no entry”. This fire station is not EVER staffed to respond to emergencies.

6. While the rest of us were tightening our belts, the Fire Chief who has been there for a couple of years, received a $ 50,000 a year raise. The Board claims that this was due to increased responsibilities occurring from the merger of the City and the District. The size of the District, size of the population protected and the number of fire stations have not changed….what increased, other than his salary? Now they want to raise our taxes.

Yes we all think fire and emergency medical services are important, but these leaders have been fiscally irresponsible with OUR money.
Perhaps it would have been better to purchase new equipment instead of squandering the “surplus” of 2.5 million dollars on a used trailer from one of their elected officials or speculating on real state.

These leaders have failed us and the fire department.

Please vote and consider these things before marking your ballot. 

Liz