EVERETT—South County Fire Commissioners will hold a public hearing October 15 on a proposal for commissioner election redistricting.
The proposal under consideration would update fire commissioner election districts to include annexations of the cities of Brier and Mountlake Terrace into the regional fire authority (RFA). Each city has a liaison to the board until voters have the opportunity to directly elect a commissioner from a newly drawn commissioner district that includes all or part of the city.
The RFA is governed by seven elected fire commissioners – two elected at-large and five elected from commissioner districts with roughly the same population. An independent consultant drafted the proposal to rebalance population across the five commissioner election districts and provide opportunities for direct representation for Brier and Mountlake Terrace voters. The proposal is available for review at www.southsnofire.org/redistricting.
A public hearing on the redistricting proposal will take place during the board’s regular meeting October 15, which begins at 7 p.m. The public can attend the meeting in person at South County Fire Headquarters, 12425 Meridian Ave. S, Everett, or participate remotely via Zoom teleconferencing (Meeting ID 861 5293 4763). More information about remote participation is available at the South County Fire website, www.southsnofire.org/meetings.
Commissioner districts are for election purposes only. These districts will not change or impact 911 responses or the delivery of fire and emergency services. The election districts do not include the City of Edmonds, which contracts with South County Fire to provide emergency services but is not part of the regional fire authority.
South County Fire provides fire and emergency medical services to nearly 300,000 residents of Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, Mountlake Terrace and unincorporated southwest Snohomish County.
SOURCE: Snohomish County Fire Commissioner
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
