By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Two longtime volunteer members of the rural Chehalis fire district are running in next week’s election for the position vacated when fire commissioner Dana Williams resigned.
Kirk Johnston and Jim Martin are running an amicable race, saying they share many of the same views on how to run Lewis County Fire District 6 and neither will be particularly upset if the other wins.
Kirk Johnston
Johnston, 49, is a paramedic and one of two instructors who train emergency medical technicians locally.
Martin, 40, works at Cardinal Glass in Winlock, overseeing the computer programs that deal with customer orders and shipping. He’s also the plant’s emergency response team instructor.
Both live in rural Chehalis.
Johnston said he was asked by several people to run; he was appointed this summer to the three-person commission in the interim until the election.
He’s been studying the budget of District 6 and other fire districts for the past few years, watching where the dollars have been going, he said.
While Johnston’s campaign doesn’t include knocking on doors and handing out flyers, when asked, he tells people, “I feel I have a little more experience and understanding of the budget and history of the department,” he said.
Jim Martin
The board of three commissioners meet twice a month and are paid a stipend, the amount of which Johnston said he didn’t know exactly.
The district protects about 145 square miles outside Chehalis, with some 40 volunteers, according to Johnston. Martin says he thinks the number of active volunteers is somewhere between 20 and 30.
The commissioners are in the process of a nationwide search for a chief, following the recent resignation of Chief Bud Goodwillie. And they are in the in the midst of a building a new fire station in Adna – outside he flood plain – to replace the one ruined in the December 2007 flooding.
Both candidates talk of finding the balance in making sure citizens get a good value from the tax dollars that fund the department.
Johnston says the previous commissioners have done well; in that the district has very good equipment, probably some of the best in the county.
Martin says the fire department “has been blessed” in that it doesn’t currently have revenue issues.
Martin said he is running in part however because he thinks the fire district has been stagnant the last few years and he’d like to see it moving forward again.
“Our district is at a crossroads right now,” Martin said. “We still don’t have a chief, we have a vacant commissioner’s spot. I would just like to help lay the foundation for the district for the future.”
Martin says he tends to be vocal about issues and is willing to step up and help deal with them.
For example, a few years back, when he lived in Chehalis, he didn’t like the idea the city had of purchasing a building downtown for its fire department. So he ran for city council. He didn’t win.
A primary reason behind his decision to run for fire commissioner now are the discussions going on with District 6 and neighboring fire departments about the possibility of merging, he said.
“I was concerned someone would run who didn’t have the district’s well-being at heart,” he said. “I was willing to step up, and then my thought was, I need to step up.”
The general election is Tuesday. Ballots must be postmarked on or before Tuesday.
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Brief bio’s
Candidate: Kirk Johnston
Age: 49
Occupation: paramedic for Lewis County Medic 1
Resides: rural Chehalis
How long there: most of his life
Education: Para-medicine, Central Washington University, 2004
Political experience: none before now
Candidate: Jim Martin
Age: 40
Occupation: business systems analyst at Cardinal Glass
Resides: rural Chehalis
How long there: about 15 years in the area
Education: EMT certification, 2005; classes at Centralia College
Political experience: ran for Chehalis City Council and lost, a few years back
Ask Martin questions: on Facebook
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter