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Mountain View Fire and Rescue/King County Fire District 44 has taken over the Black Diamond Fire Department/King County Fire District 17.

Here is the newsletter from Mountain View with the story.

http://www.kcfd44.org/Newsletter/Spring06.pdf

Nick Welch

Good news. A step in the right direction. Now -- all we need is to merge the rest of the County Fire Districts into ONE Countywide District, downgrade each Fire District into a Battalion and use one central dispatch center.

Merge the rest of the county fire departments? Kind of like LA and Orange County?

Never going to happen.

Just look how difficult it has been to merge some of the departments in South King County. Let me count the ways:

Burien and North Highline( White Center) have tried it twice and now are on their third attempt, which isn't looking so good (bad financial report for N. Highline).

Burien and Des Moines (Fire District 26)-Failed.

Saltwater Ridge merger (1994)-Federal Way, Des Moines, Seatac, Burien and North Highline-Failed.

Soundview Fire and Rescue (2002/2003)-Federal Way, Des Moines, Burien and North Highline-talks discontinued due to legalities of merging that many at once.

The only bright spot is what Federal Way and Des Moines did. They made it happen, but at what cost? Certainly the Des Moines firefighters made out with a better contract, promotions and most importantly a better, more disiplined working environment. Training is better and overall operations are better.

But what abou their identity and their way of life and doing business? What really happened in the "merger" is that Des Moines merged into the Federal Way FD and they changed some logos and letterhead and called the new department SKF&R. The Des Moines guys really just switched to doing things the "Federaly Way" way.

I don't think for a second that Federal Way gave a fig about what the Des Moines guys possibly had to offer.

Also, the "new" department planned (and did) shut down the admin. side of the old District 26 headquarters and centralized all admin functions, such as the fire marshals office. Citizens had to travel to deep Federal Way to submit permits applications and all other associated business.

Many were not happy, and with pressure from the city of Des Moines, some admin functions were moved back to Station 26--which actually will be renamed Station 67 sometime next year.

So, do I think a countywide fire department would be a good thing. Hell yes. But it won't happen until two things happen:

1. A change in the attitudes of imperialistic fire commissioners who don't want to give up control of "their" department, and;

2. A legislative change in the way fire districts levy for taxes. Right now there is not taxing parity between a municipal and district fire department. City (municipal) departments always have better resources and better funding. Fire districts are locked at a levy rate of $1.50 per thousand dollars of assessed value. Until that cap is increased ( at the legislative level), you may or may not see a more expeditious effort to merge the various small districts. Although, others feel that merging will help create economies of scale, which actually can help to promote merging.

The real stumbling block is item #1--control by the commissioners.

Anyways, enough ranting for now....

The way I understood it is that Station 26 will remain Station 26 so that there is the option of another station 27 being added later.

I know there are plans of additional mergers in Pierce County

Graham Pierce County Fire District 21 and Pierce County Fire District 15

Milton Fire Department and Edgewood Pierce County Fire District 8

Orting Fire Department and Pierce County Fire District 18

Sumner Fire Department will eventually merge with someone be it Puyallup(probably not very likely) or into East Pierce(more likely since East Pierce already provides command for Sumner.

And one in King County that would be called a Regional Fire Authority which would include the cities of Auburn, Algona and Pacific.

I am sure someday that Burien and North Highline will both become part of South King Fire and Rescue.

just my thoughts

Nick

Not to point out that you are wrong about the Station 26 & 27 designators--but--your wrong.

Actually, Fire District 2 (Burien/Normandy Park) already have dibs on the Station 27 designator. There actually may be a need for it if Burien has to build a new fire station. What for you ask? Well, depending on how all of the North Highline governance issues pans out, there may be a need for a new fire station for District 2. Of course this is all dependent on how much both the cities of Seattle and Burien annex in the North Highline area.

This is very complicated issue, too lengthy and unrelated for this forum.

Regarding Station 26: I have had several conversations with friends of mine who work for South King, that the 26 designator will indeed go bye-bye. Possibly by 2007, but who knows. It really does make sense to change to a designator that is more in-line with the rest of the department. Don't forget that South King has dibs on all numbers in the 60's range. This is determined by the Valleycom Operations Chiefs and/or the owner cities. So, 67 and 69 are still available.

CAR is correct, Station 26 will become Station 67 sometime in 2007 and Burien / Normandy Park will use the designators of 26 & 27 along with the current 28 & 29.

If the City of Seattle annexs the White Center area, the City will absorb the current North Highline Station 18 and Burien / Normandy Park most likely will take over Station 19 changing the designator to Station 27.

If the City of Burien annexs White Center than Station 18 will become Station 26 and Station 19 will become 27 or vice versa since the current Station 26 will become Station 67.

If North Highline is disbanded by either city, Renton can utilize the teen numbers for any new stations or even taken over District 20 (Skyway).

The annexation of White Center is very complicated for both the City of Seattle & the City of Burien.

"IF" Seattle or someone annexes "Rat City". White Center has a long history as "Rat City". Unless White City provided some sort of TAX based reason -- Burien and Seattle would NOT want to claim such an area. Unless "hell freezes over" or they open both a Walmart and a super-Target Store in White City -- It will remain as is.

MTM:

I think you are greatly underestimating what Burien, Seattle and King County are doing right now.

The City of Burien spearheaded a memorandom of understanding with King County and Seattle to cooperatively address the issues regarding the North Highline Unincorporated Area.

The City of Burien has, and continues to lead this effort in evaluating all of its options regarding some sort of annexation.

While Seattle's executive side (the mayors office) claim they are very open to working with Burien, their actions at the first joint negotiation meeting said otherwise. Mayor Nickels henchman Tim Ceis immediately made it clear that Nickels wants the entire area. During the meeting, Burien reps presented are option for a partial annexation that would have taken in the rest of Shorewood--an area that was not taken when Burien first incorporated in 1993. Tim Ceis shot up from his chair and objected to that proposal, insisting that the remaining Shorewood area should be part of Seattle. This is amazing, considering if Seattle took that area, it would actually isolate a portion of Burien on Seola Beach Drive.

It is worth noting, that the Seattle city council has a much different take on annexation. They regularly disagree with the mayor and this issue they REALLY disagree. They are more stand-offish with this issue, although they formed an annexation sub-comittee to evaluate the prospect. Also, they have been very cooperative with Burien officials.

Regarding fire stations, the Seattle Mayor's office insisted that if they don't get the entire area, the MUST get North Highline Station 18. This would solve a perpetual problem that has plagued them for years: they finally would have adequate protection for the Arroyos Beach and Arbor Heights neighborhoods. This area used to be protected by King County Fire District 12 back in the 60 or 70's ( I think). The citizens in that area voted to annex to Seattle, in hopes of better service, sidewalks, infrastructure, etc. Well, the vote passed and on the day of incorporation, Seattle closed the Fire District 12 station located on SW 100 ST and took its engine to another station further in Seattle.

It has also been made pretty clear that if Seattle took Station 18 over, they would most likely NOT contract for services with Fire District 2. They have stated they would be willing to talk about it, but the price to serve the North Burien area (which is now served by N. Highline from Station 18 ), would be much greatly than what Fire District 2 currently pays North Highline. It is further proof that Seattle will continue its non-cooperative ways--especially with regards to emergency services.

Because Seattle(the Mayors office mostly) has not shown it is really interested in cooperating with Burien on the annexation issue, Burien officials are again considering a full annexation option. Interestingly, taking the entire area would be the least costly for Burien. And MTM, White Center's tax base is weaker than Burien's, but many feel it is a diamond in the rough--which is getting clearer and clearer. The Seattle housing effect is bleeding over into white center area and gentrification has already begun. Also, most of the King County Housing Authority home have been removed from White Center and replaced with the Greenbrigde project, which has hardly any subsidised housing.

Tonight, the City of Burien planning commission is meeting to discuss possible recommendations regarding annexation. There is a strong chance that they will recommend annexing the entire area.

Lastly, if Fire District 2 increased in size and took either of North Highline's Stations ( or both), the station designators may stay the same. Who know's though. But the 26 and 27 will indeed be available for use.

It will be interesting to see how this whole annexation thing plays out. I suspect when all of the governance issues are sorted out in the North Highline area, and Fire District 2's borders are set, you may see continued discussions with South King Fire and Rescue about Burien (and maybe what's left of N. Highline) merging with them. All of the governance issues should be figured out by the end of the year with a public vote sometime in 2007. Time will tell...

:D :D Any real "annexation" should come from the public -- not other government agencies -- trying to GRAB areas for the additional Tax Money that the area produces. My point was and is -- that White Center has a very limited tax base and has -- as you "side stepped" or pointed out -- has become known as the "dumping ground" between Seattle and Burien. There is less of everything in White Center -- acccept people that earn less money. You yourself even pointed out the County and City Housing issue. ---- There are too many homeless in America. My point is that until the "Entire" county un-incorporated area -- as a whole is formed into ONE countywide Fire and EMS district or Agency -- the local government agencies will only try to annex areas that have homes like "Shorewood" -- that sell for over $ 600,000 and try to cut out serving areas like White Center -- with homes that cost a lot less -- and bring in LESS tax. Shame on the local government. There only needs to be ONE Countywide government Fire and EMS provider -- NOT 22 School Districts 30 water districts -- 32 sewer districts and 45 fire districts -- just in King County. A former resident of Shorewood. MTM PS: I enjoy all of the replys and respect everyones point of view. This group is by far the best group of people. :D

MTM, you're right. Any annexation should and will come from the citizens. In the end, after all the political wrangling and negotiations, it will be the citizens who decide whether or not to annex into a particular city. Maybe it will be Burien or Seattle, or a combination of both. Who knows.

I do not dispute the fact that White Center indeed has a very limited tax base. You are right. But I maintain that the area is a diamond in the rough. Already there have been subtle change, such as new sidewalks, storefronts and the like that have spruced things up. I do believe the White Center core area could be a real asset to either city.

I do not agree though, that White Center has become a "dumping ground" between the two cities. If you think that is the case now, imagine what Seattle will do with the area. There's already been talk behind the scenes that White Center could be a "red light" district. A place for the strip clubs. Seattle wants desperately to centralize these types of "businesses" into one location.

Additionally, Seattle will most definately re-zone the area for ultra dense multi-family housing. Just take a look around the rest of the city. Old homes, some historic, bulldozed to make way for townhomes and other types of multiple family housing, not to mention cramming multiple single family homes next to each other. It's not coincidence that Mayor Nickels own son has SEVERAL real estate interests in the White Center area. I think he owns quite a bit of property.

Citizens of the unincorporated area should think long and hard about voting to annex to Seattle, should they get the opportunity. Burien seems a more natural fit. Just 13 years ago, the greater Burien area was unincorporated. There was no almost no dilineation between the two areas. I always found it odd that when the City of Burien incorporated, they didn't include all of Shorewood.

Also, I don't think any of the governents are trying to "grab" any of the area. The neighboring cities must address the issue of unincorporated urban areas. If they don't do something proactively (like they're doing now) then come 2012, the neighboring cities will be "assigned" parts of the unincorporated area. All of the governmental agencies involved in this annexation process are working against the states Growth Management Act, which states that urban areas best belong with municiple governments--not regional county governments.

North Highline citizens who still think they are better off doing nothing and keeping things "as is" are misguided. They need to accept the fact that their services, which are now provided by King County, will indeed decrease. A municiple government is their best solution to maintaining services.

Finally, I agree with your feeling that there should not be all these little governemtal agencies, like fire, water, sewer, etc.

It would be better if all of the fire districts merged into one regional fire authority. I don't know many who disagree with this premise. I forsee continued mergers down the road, and in the end there will be either a large fire authority or a small number of medium sized departments that were created by merging a number of small districts/departments.

Thanks for the good response!

PS, what part of Shorewood do you live in, Burien or unincorporated?

Should LE be done the same way ?

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I generate Board Warnings

Yes -- Law Enforcement IS done in the same way. Each County has only ONE County Sheriffs Office or County Police Dept. -- This pertains to all UN-incorporated area within each county. Each city should "protect & serve" it's own city residents. If not a Countywide agency -- a Region wide agency. Eastside King County, South King County. And that would fit into the Eastside or Valleycom/KC dispatch areas. King County -- or any County has no NEED for more than one district of ANY Type.

8) What About a Statewide fire dept like calif has ?? :P

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Brian Sewell

CDF in Calif seems to be an answer to urban-interface type fires in counties that have a smaller urban center with lots of rangeland or unincorporated communities. Also, with Prop 13, someone had to step in and fund the smaller and or poorer counties and towns. my 1¾ cents worth here... Starting from scratch here would be a daunting task, politically

:D :D While ICOM1020 is correct -- the CDF - Calfornia Dept of Forestry & Fire Prevention -- is almost the same as the WA DNR or the OR DOF -- except that the State CDF provides fire protection -- in about 36 of 58 counties -- by contract with the county or city. The CDF is just 10 years ahead of what the Washington State DNR will be doing -- ten years from now. The CDF is still the STATE fire protection agency -- in charge of all state lands. Someday a town like Eatonville might not need to have a volunteer FD -- but might be able to have fulltime fire and EMS service, by contracting with the DNR. Just remember that prior to 1970 -- 911 and EMS didn't exist.