Elk Creek Fire Protection District May 2 Board of Directors Election

There are less than a couple hours left to vote if you haven't yet done so. Every vote counts, so please stop by Station 1 if you live, or own property, in Elk Creek Fire Protection District. Below you will find an excellent missive from one of ECFPD's volunteers, Philip 'Flip' Koch who encourages everyone to vote for Sharon Woods and Dominique Devaney. I, too, highly endorse both of those ladies as they are the most knowledgeable about the district having served on the board, and Dominique having extensive experience working in special districts and being involved in the ECFPD auxiliary as her husband is a long-time volunteer firefighter.

I have been attending the ECFPD Board meetings since 2012. This district has been run with integrity, transparency, dedication to the community, and sacrifice by its staff and volunteers. Opponents have claimed that there's no transparency - that is not true. Every Board meeting is open to the public and available to attend either in person or online via Zoom. The district unveiled a new website a couple of months ago and you'll find meeting minutes back through 2021, annual budgets, and independent audits which have shown nothing amiss in the financials. The Chief is available to talk to anyone anytime, and the department has always participated in community events such as Elevation Celebration and the Conifer Christmas Parade.

Over the past few years, this district has implemented

• the immensely popular Chipping Program run by an effective Fuels Crew
• shared personnel hires with other districts saving taxpayers money
• swapped out costly vehicles for fuel-efficient models
• created a Community Ambassador Program to better connect with residents
• built up a Wildland Suppression Module that conducts fire mitigation and is available as an incredible resource when fires break out
• won millions in grants that directly benefit residents
• fulfilled all of the obligations in the past two mill levies they promised voters

They've done this all while sending people out of district when fire danger was low allowing them to build experience and skills, and generating additional revenue for the district for the day we have a big fire for which we need to call in outside help.

Two candidates who are running, Todd Wagner and Debra MacPhee, finally showed up for their first full board meeting in April. As evidenced in their answers during the Candidate Forum, they don't know this district's assets, challenges, or opportunities and base what they know on one outside consultant's report; a report which also recommended consolidation which they both are against. They claim that there's friction between paid staff and volunteers which is not true. They haven't bothered to get to know the personnel, and they insinuate that it hasn't been run fiscally well which the evidence proves otherwise.

The challenges our mountain fire departments face require forward thinking. The days of relying on all volunteers is past, and the days of this district being able to handle all the calls is long gone. ECFPD, Inter-Canyon, and North Fork Fire already rely heavily on each other, with over 35% of ECFPD's calls overlapping (not 3% as Debra stated during the forum) and requiring mutual aid. North Fork Fire doesn't have young people moving into their district and trying to recruit new volunteers is extremely difficult for them. At their Open House last month, they told me about a rescue for an injured hiker on which the average age of the first responders was 61.

Chuck Newby, Todd Wagner, and Debra MacPhee have indicated they are against consolidation. If elected, they would be able to prevent that option from even being put on a ballot for voters to decide for themselves whether they want to move forward with that action or not. The fires that have threatened Elk Creek Fire's residents in the past 20 years have mostly started in North Fork Fire's district (or USFS's beyond them) - Hayman Fire, Lower North Fork Fire, High Meadow Fire, Buffalo Creek Fire. While consolidation isn't on this ballot, the ability of voters to decide for themselves possibly is and it's clear that including North Fork Fire and Inter-Canyon Fire, and increasing the combined district to 3 full-time staffed stations (one in each district's current footprint) would make all 3 districts residents better protected and improve the level of service they can provide.

Please vote for Sharon Woods and Dominique Devaney so you have that opportunity. Thank you.