Fire District Incumbents Face No Challengers, Many Challenges

For Tom Gregory and Joe Dawson, the Nov. 4 election won’t represent much of a challenge.

Both are incumbents seeking to remain on the Spokane Valley Fire District’s board of commissioners. Neither faces an opponent.

As a result, they’ve focused their sights on the bigger challenges ahead. The Valley’s primary fire protection agency faces several pressing issues: growth, traffic, expansion, new equipment and technology needs.

Dawson is new to the board, although he’s currently serving as an interim commissioner. He took over for commissioner Jim Fox, who stepped down last month.

Gregory, a six-year veteran of the board, is a staunch advocate of controlling costs. One of his biggest disappointments during his first term was the need, this spring, for the board to borrow $1.75 million to cover a temporary money shortage.

Sick leave and long-term disability costs which soared to $400,000 in 1996 contributed to the shortfall. Following some tough questions and close monitoring, the costs have once again fallen below the annual $150,000 budgeted, Fire Chief Pat Humphries said.

Holding down costs at a time of growth is one of the biggest challenges Gregory says the board faces.

“I want a bare-bones budget, with every penny being spent actually required,” he said. “I feel the board has been pretty diligent about that.”

Some of those upcoming spending requirements include a new fire truck, which the board wants to have in operation by the middle of 1998. It will cost just under $300,000.

The district also plans to update its computer system, which currently uses mostly 386s, which are not Windows based. The present system doesn’t even allow staff to pull up fire reports on their computer screens, Humphries said. It requires printouts, wasting time and money, he said.

A new system will cost $100,000 to $150,000, and should be in place by the end of 1998.

Another district goal for 1998 is to increase staff training in hazardous waste response. With a higher level of training, district firefighters could deal with some incidents on their own, and provide more services when they arrive on a hazardous materials calls.

This is important, Humphries said, because firefighters are the first to arrive on a scene and it can take a hazardous materials team 20 minutes to two hours to arrive.

Dawson, a school administrator and former teacher, hopes his fellow commissioners will approve the hiring of a full-time fire educator next year. The person would go into schools, senior centers and community gatherings to teach people about fire safety. District staff have recommended the position to the board.

The fire district continues to scope out locations for a new Greenacres fire station, but commissioners have not yet decided when it should open, Gregory said. Humphries hopes to have a site chosen by mid to late 1998. At the earliest, the station could open in the year 2000.

Commissioners continue to seek a tenant or buyer for the district’s old Greenacres station at Appleway and Michigan. It was replaced early this year by a new Station 3 on Harvard Road north of Interstate 90.

, DataTimes