EVERETT—South County Fire has advanced four of six applicants to interviews for the vacant District 4 seat on its Board of Commissioners, with the goal of confirming the appointment later this month.
A subcommittee selected Darren Austin, Robert Cooke, Rico Tessandore and Neil Tibbott on Monday, Sept. 28, for the interview stage. The full board is scheduled to interview the four during its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 6, with interviews expected to begin around 7:15 p.m. Commissioners will then discuss the candidates in executive session and plan to announce their selection in open session by the end of that meeting. The two applicants who did not advance were Roger Pence and Alicia Crank.
The District 4 seat has been vacant since early August, when former Commissioner Micah Rowland resigned primarily because he was relocating to Port Orchard. An appointment process began Sept. 2. The person chosen will serve until the 2027 general election. Applications closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
The four finalists are a former Edmonds city councilman, a personal-injury attorney, a retired resident who campaigned for the Edmonds annexation vote, and a self-employed product and business executive who lives in Edmonds.
Neil Tibbott is executive director of Leadership On Ramp and a former Edmonds city councilman. He served on the council from 2016 to 2019 and again from 2022 to January 2026. In his application he wrote that he is dedicated to community service and believes in the critical need that South County Fire fills in its participating cities.
Rico Tessandore practices at the Law Office of Rico Tessandore, focusing on plaintiff personal injury litigation in the Puget Sound area, with offices in Snohomish and Island counties.
He wrote that he is interested because South County Fire performs one of local government’s most fundamental responsibilities: protecting life and preserving the community’s ability to respond when people are most vulnerable. Board decisions on service capacity, facilities, workforce support, emergency preparedness and public funding will affect residents for decades, he said, and he would like to be part of that process.
Tessandore lives in Snohomish County and has served as a trustee for the Sno-Isle Library System for the past 14 years and as a volunteer with the Edmonds Community College Paralegal Program for the past eight years. He previously served on the Snohomish County Bar Association Board of Trustees, including a one-year term as its president.
Robert Cooke, retired, wrote that his interest comes from wanting to serve the community by matching his experience to a service that is so important to public safety. He became involved in the Edmonds regional fire authority annexation vote when he started to see negative information and scare tactics being used. He wrote several letters to the editor and advocated for a yes vote.
Darren Austin, a self-employed product and business development executive, wrote that he has spent most of his professional career building businesses and teams, and that at this stage of his life he would like to apply more of that experience to serving the community where he lives.
South County Fire interests him, he said, because it combines an essential public mission with governance challenges he has worked on: long-term strategy, significant financial and capital decisions, changing technology, organizational planning and accountability to stakeholders.
South County Fire is a regional fire authority that is governed by seven elected fire commissioners — two currently elected at large and five elected from commissioner districts with roughly the same population. The current board includes Chair Jim Kenny, Vice Chair Michael Fearnehough, and Commissioners Edward Widdis, Joe Wankelman, David Chan and Mark Laurence. Beckie Peterson serves as a non-voting liaison from the city of Edmonds.
The board oversees the authority’s long-term vision and guides staff in achieving its goals. Commissioners define that vision and adopt the budget and policies implemented by administrative staff. They play a central role in policies, the budget and operations.
District boundaries currently include the cities of Brier, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek and Mountlake Terrace, along with areas of unincorporated southwest Snohomish County. District 4 includes Edmonds, Esperance and parts of west Lynnwood. Commissioner election districts are for election purposes only and do not change or affect the delivery of emergency services.
Applicants had to be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, registered voters who had lived in the district for at least one year, free of felony convictions and free of any contractual conflict of interest with the district.
Author: Mario Lotmore
