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
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
How is Eric Linn able to provide timely 24/7 response if he lives 30 minutes away in Grand Mound? And 33 miles round trip from Grand Mound to Napavine on a vehicle owned by the department? Oy vey. Does he get a gas card too?
The lies and misinformation will end when Hanson is out of there since he is the source of them. There has never before been such dishonest and arrogance in the fire commission and chief position as there is now. They do not hold themselves accountable and lash out to those that try. And when held accountable they always say it was a “misunderstanding” or “miscommunication”. The facts regarding Winlock are accurate. According to Hanson in regards to Linn, “saving lives, saving property – without him, you’re not going to get it.” WHAT!! Really? For over 50 years we got it. Linn is treated like a Messiah. His credentials are pathetic and his experience is garbage for the money he’s getting paid. He’s another Thurston County bureaucratic that enjoys spending money while having no clue on what he is doing. By the way, did Hanson and him attend the same school in Thurston County?? Weird. And why does he not live in the District he works for? In fact, why do most of the volunteers at District 5 not live in the district? People in the surrounding area don’t have jobs and families that prevent them from volunteering? Only our citizens have that issue? Come on. Why are people here not volunteering?! The answer is poor leadership.
When will the lies and misinformation stop? The fire district in Winlock spends more than $4200 a year to have its secretarial duties handled part time. Please have more respect for your citizens by checking the actual facts before you just provide some number to persuade them to vote for you. Attempting to compare the $6000 that is paid to a neighboring volunteer chief who is not available to respond 24/7 as Chief Eric Linn is, is simply irresponsible. Guenther is attempting to compare apples to oranges, again another typical trick of an untrustworthy politician in the middle of a campaign. Simply despicable, not surprising, but despicable.