Cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face
In the last pages of the August Primary Election’s “Your Spokane County Official Local Voters’ Pamphlet” you might have noticed (and wondered about) three “Propositions” from Fire Protection Districts (Nos. 4, 9, and 13) each asking for approval of a moderate property tax levy to support the District. (For orientation click this county map of Spokane County fire districts. FDs 4, 9, and 13 are all in the NE quadrant of the county.)
Voters living within the municipal boundary of the City of Spokane (just south of Fire District 9) never see a fire protection district levy plea on an election ballot. That’s because the City of Spokane Fire Department is funded through the budget of the City of Spokane municipal government. Most (perhaps all) of the rest of the overall Spokane County system of fire protection and emergency services comes under thirteen separate fire districts. All these districts, along with the City of Spokane Fire Department, work, mostly out of sight and out of mind, to provide emergency services and deal with the increasing threat of fire. Taken together they represent a major community service that I fear we take too much for granted.
In Spokane we just broke the all time record for the number of consecutive days of over 90 degree high temperatures. The ground is dry. The risk of wildfire, especially in the WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) is high. When I last checked, today and tomorrow the wind was predicted to increase into the 10-20 mph range. All of this underlines the need for a rapid response to fire.
Home insurance rates are calculated not only on the manifestly rising risk of fire thanks to climate change, but also on the perceived fire response times based on factors like proximity to and staffing of the closest fire station. Fire Protection Districts are specified by Washington State law (RCW Title 52). Districts are managed by an elected board of fire commissioners (three to seven) serving with only per diem compensation. The districts are staffed by some combination of volunteers and paid professionals. It is a fair bet that all of this is managed—and the community’s needs are served—well beyond the awareness of the vast majority of voters. When a fire protection district goes to the trouble to submit a levy increase or replacement levy to a vote it seems to me a fair bet that there is a good reason—especially in our drying and heating climate (and in an inflationary monetary environment).
If you are served by Fire Protection Districts 4, 9, or 13 (or you know someone who lives within those districts), vote yes on your levy and encourage others to do the same. In the long run you’re protecting yourself and your community, and, whether you can calculate it or not, you just might be curtailing the rate of rise of your home insurance bill.
By now you should have your August Primary ballot in hand. Don’t wait. Vote! Don’t let a low ballot turn-in degrade your fire protection.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry
P.S. For the rest of your August Primary Election ballot contests I recommend the Progressive Voters Guide. You can read a few more comments in last week’s post, Washington State Primary!! As of last Monday, my favorite negative voting guide, WeBelieveWeVote.com, was asking for readers to “Please pray for us as we work to resolve our technological issues,” The WBWV website recommends you check out the iVoterGuide.com. If you have time, it is educational to find a candidate, click on “View Candidate Profile” below the name and photo and scroll or click down to the Questionnaire. For the most part, only the most right wing of the candidates responded to the Questionnaire, perhaps on the theory that only similar right wingers would visit this website. Some of the responses are illuminating–and, from my view point, toxic. “iVoterGuide” doesn’t attempt to cover any race in Washington State any more local than state legislative candidates.