Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

State auditors criticized Riverside Fire Authority for inadequate controls to verify that more than a half million dollars in radio equipment was used in accordance with the requirements of the grant which helped pay for them, according to a report released yesterday.

The fire department that protects Centralia and its surrounding area was responsible for administering the money that purchased communications equipment which was distributed among all fire districts in Lewis County in 2009.

The Washington State Auditor’s Office separately also made a finding that Riverside missed a federal deadline for an audit.

The two findings are related, Riverside Fire Authority Jim Walkowski said today.

“In order to submit your SEFA (Schedule of Expenditures for Federal Awards) you have to have the feds close out the grant, and the challenge was, the feds didn’t close it out,” Walkowski said. “When we realized that was going to happen, we contacted the auditor.”

In terms of the monitoring of the so-called sub-recipients of the equipment, Walkowski said Riverside neglected to list every requirement to the various fire districts.

There is no allegation of misappropriation of funds or equipment, Walkowski said.

The issue stems from an initiative from the Lewis County Fire Chief’s Association which helped secure a grant of $601,317 from FEMA, part of the Department of Homeland Security, according to the chief.

The new equipment to improve emergency communications between entities included about 300 portable radios, 90 mobile radios to go inside vehicles, 12 base stations and 39 mobile computers, Walkowski said, noting the particular numbers were not in front of him as he spoke.

Each fire district signed an agreement with Riverside about the responsibility for compliance with grant conditions, but upon being made aware of the deficiency, Riverside added further formal procedures to ensure compliance, according to the chief’s response to the auditor.

It was the first time Riverside had a federal grant which was passed through to sub-recipients.

More details and related issues can be found in the Washington State Auditor’s Office report.

Also released yesterday was a financial statements audit of Riverside for the year 2008 and a “close out” audit of Lewis County Fire District 12 for 2008.

District 12 and the Centralia Fire Department joined forces to create Riverside Fire Authority in early 2008.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

After longtime Toledo area Fire Commissioner Lorraine Spahr died last spring, both her husband and daughter-in-law decided they would try to fill the vacant position, although neither knew the other was interested.

Clark Spahr

Clark Spahr, 64, and Jacqui Spahr, 39, are both on the ballot for the fire commissioner race in Lewis County Fire District 2.

Both have roots in the fire service and both want to give their time to lead the district that protects some 98 square miles with less than 20 volunteer firefighters.

Clark Spahr thinks of it as a way to serve a community of people he’s come to care for very deeply following some 35 years of working as a volunteer firefighter.

“I figured with my background and experience, I could help the community a little longer,” he said.

The now-retired millwright joined the department in 1970, trained soon after to get certified as an emergency medical technician and worked his way through the ranks, even serving as chief in the early 1990s.

Way back when, his wife was his ambulance driver, and he recalls fondly those at the other end of the emergency calls, such as two different elderly couples who would phone the Spahrs at home when they needed help.

“In a way, it was a real compliment,” he said. “Instead of calling 911, they’d call Clark and Lorraine.”

Jacqui Spahr

Clark Spahr retired from the department in early 2006, and two years later, retired from Longview Fibre.

Now he’d like to like to get involved again with the fire district, to “make sure the bills are paid, the books are in the black and help the citizens get good service,” he said.

Jacqui Spahr, who married Steve Spahr, Clark Spahr’s son, and moved to Toledo in 1999, first got involved in firefighting as a high school student in Rainier, Wash.

When she was in her mid-20s, a close call during a structure fire caused her to hang up her turnout gear, but she then launched a fire auxiliary group for the department.

She attempted a run at commissioner after moving to Toledo, but after losing out to someone else, turned to raising her family.

Today, Jacqui Spahr works for the state Department of Natural Resources in Castle Rock, and has been part of its wild land firefighting system for the past decade.

This summer, she applied for the interim commissioner position and was selected to be commissioner until this week’s election, when she will find out if she continues.

Jacqui Spahr says she feels like she has to work a little harder in the race, because her father-in-law is so well known.

She put a float in the Cheese Days Parade in July, and tossed some 60 pounds of candy, she said.

“When I vote, I think about, when it’s close, who put in the most effort,” she said.

She’s interested in using what she calls her natural leadership skills, and “common sense like you wouldn’t believe” to ensure top notch emergency services in the Toledo area. She has a particular interest in doing what she can to recruit new volunteers.

“I have a well-rounded background with business training and education that gave me the job to begin with,” she said. “And, experience in the fire service.”
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Brief bios

Candidate:  Clark Spahr
Age:  64
Occupation:  retired millwright from Longview Fibre
Resides:  Toledo
How long there: since 1969
Education: Winlock High School 1965; studies at Centralia College, including the second EMT class to be offered there in 1974
Political experience:  none

Candidate:  Jacqui Spahr
Age:  39
Occupation:  technician at Department of Natural Resources in Castle Rock
Resides:  Toledo
How long there: twelve years
Education: Rainier High School, 1990; studies at Centralia College and South Puget Sound Community College
Political experience: ran for fire commissioner in Toledo in 1999 and lost

•••

Ballots are due before or on Tuesday. Review other local area races for fire commissioners:

• Lewis County Fire District 6, rural Chehalis: Kirk Johnston and Jim Martin, here

• Lewis County Fire District 15, Winlock: Randy Pennington and Dan Godat, here

• Lewis County Fire District 5, Napavine: Kevin Hanson and Jamie Guenther, here

•••

For preliminary election results shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, click here or go to the “elections center” section of the county auditor’s page on the web site for Lewis County government.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Incumbent Kevin Hanson says the board of fire commissioners in the Napavine area have made huge improvements in a fire department that sometimes didn’t answer emergency calls until the third dispatch tone.

Response time was 10 minutes, now it’s six, according to Hanson.

Kevin Hanson

Today, Lewis County Fire District 5 boast 25 active volunteers, some of whom don’t even live in the district but choose to volunteer there, he said.

The mostly volunteer department that protects 66 square miles surrounding Napavine, has seen 14 chiefs in the past decade, according to Hanson.

Hanson attributes the positive changes in District 5 to the commissioners’ decision to hire a full time chief at a competitive wage.

“I’ve taken a lot of heat for what we pay him,” Hanson said. “I know without effective leadership, we’re not going to be able to provide the service people want.”

The 45-year-old Napavine man is seeking a second six-year term as fire commissioner and much of the heat is coming from challenger Jamie Guenther.

Ballots are due in the Lewis County Auditor’s Office on Tuesday in the vote-by-mail general election.

Guenther, 52, decided to run when last year, the district went to taxpayers twice asking for more money. District 5 doesn’t need more revenue, it just needs to spend more wisely and shift its priorities, according to Guenther.

Jamie Guenther

“I sat at home and thought, you know, this is crazy” given the economic climate, Guenther said.

“I’m basically of the mind if they want the spending to stop, the outlandish spending, that I’m the person to vote for,” Guenther said.

Guenther is an equipment operator for Lewis County Public Works. He owns the now-shuttered Jackson Prairie Speedway adjacent to his Mary’s Corner area home where he grew up.

He served as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for District 5 right out of high school, for about five years.

He’s been attending fire commissioner meetings and finds several areas he thinks the commissioners overspend.

Primarily, they are “administration heavy,” he says.

Besides Chief Eric Linn and three paid firefighters, they have a well-paid, full time secretary, Guenther points out.

The adjacent Winlock fire district pays one of its firefighters about $4,200 a year to handle secretarial functions, he says.

The Winlock chief is paid just $6,000 year, and the nearby District 6 chief was earning $72,000 year without benefits, he said.

Chief Linn is paid some $80,000 a year, with benefits such as health insurance.

Guenther can’t understand why the commissioners threatened to pull out of the paramedic program, saying it didn’t have enough money. He wants to make sure the district continues it relationship with Lewis County Medic One.

“What you’re getting is 24-hour, seven-day coverage of, basically a rolling hospital,” he said. “It’s very much worth whatever the costs are.”

The current board of fire commissioners worked out a deal, but Guenther doesn’t think the solution put in place is necessarily permanent, he said.

Since the District has a six and a half year employment contract with its chief, there’s not much that can be done about his salary, according to Guenther. But they can watch his spending more closely, he says.

Chief Linn’s discretionary spending limit is too high, he says.

For example, he purchased a lawn mower for $3,700 and paid a Tacoma firm some $4,000 to have the parking lot resealed, according to Guenther. And, Guenther wonders, why didn’t they choose to hire that work out locally?

“I think the commissioners need to make those decisions,” he said.

“I just want people to know I’ll be a very good steward of their money, and be very involved in how it’s spent,” he said.

Hanson is adamant he’s a good steward of the taxpayer’s money.

He points out District 5 is the third busiest department in the county, and had the third lowest tax rate.

Hanson especially defends the board of commissioner’s investment in the chief’s salary.

“It’s worth every dollar I spend on personnel,” Hanson said. It goes back to those two things I’ve said over and over again – saving lives, saving property – without him, you’re not going to get it.”

Other areas of contention:

Guenther: The fire chief uses his work vehicle to commute from his home in Thurston County.
Hanson:  He lives in Grand Mound, is on call 24-7, and the truck is not for personal use.

Guenther: The district flew personnel to Palm Springs to buy a rig for the department.
Hanson: They paid $9,000, including airfare, for a 2008 surplus Dodge with factory-installed winch, worth more than $20,000.

Gunether: The district purchased a vehicle from its assistant chief
Hanson: They  paid $14,000 for a Chevrolet Tahoe he says Blue Book is over $20,000.
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Brief bios

Candidate:  Kevin Hanson
Age:  45
Occupation:  Jail administrator for Lewis County Sheriff’s Office
Resides:  Napavine
How long there: past eighteen years
Education: Associate of Arts, South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, 1989
Political experience: ran six years ago for commissioner and won
Find Hanson’s campaign info: on Facebook

Candidate:  Jamie Guenther
Age:  52
Occupation:  equipment operator, Lewis County Public Works
Resides:  near Mary’s Corner
How long there:  all his life
Education:  Napavine High School, 1977
Political experience:  none