PORT TOWNSEND — David Seabrook has been reelected to the East Jefferson Fire Rescue commission and Art Frank has been reelected to the Quilcene Fire commission.
Seabrook won 62 percent of the vote in his race with David Codier, who won more than 21 percent of the vote.
Frank won with more than 63 percent of the vote over Ken McEdwards, who captured more than 23 percent of the vote.
“The challenges of delivering service for our community, for fire rescue, emergency medical services, are the ones you might expect — having enough people and equipment to respond in an efficient and rapid manner to people who are having emergencies or need our service,” Seabrook said.
East Jefferson Fire Rescue is limited to collecting 1 percent from property taxes, Seabrook said, but the expenses related to fighting fire and providing emergency services are dictated by inflation, which rises at a quicker rate, 4 or 5 percent.
EJFR also is looking at steep increases in health care premiums.
“The number I heard was a 15 percent increase,” he said. “For these reasons, we’re already in deficit spending. We’re spending more than we’re taking in, and we’re taking money out of our reserve fund to do that. That’s unsustainable.”
That is why the commission voted to put a levy lift on the ballot for next February, he said.
Another core focus of the commission is providing direction for how the department can prepare for increased wildfire risk.
“With the increased risk due to increasing temperatures and changing weather patterns, such as drier summers, we are at increased risk for wildfire in our community,” Seabrook said. “So, yes, we have set some priorities to bring more of our firefighters up to be certified in wildfire fighting skills and techniques, and to have updated equipment such as the brush rig we recently purchased.”
Seabrook underlined the importance of not just fighting wildfire but mitigating wildfire preemptively.
Codier said his motivation for running for the position was to fully represent concerns around inadequate funding for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the coming years.
The levy lid lift would just mean maintaining levels of service for EMS, he added.
Codier is the supervisor of the emergency operations center in Jefferson County’s Department of Emergency Management, at least until the end of the year, when funding cuts could end the positions of four grant-funded DEM employees.
Codier said he already has spoken with Seabrook and the two plan to form a partnership and work together collaboratively moving forward.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com
