PORT LUDLOW — First came the voter-approved merger of Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue into East Jefferson Fire Rescue that went into effect Jan. 1.
The next step will be approving new commissioner districts in the merged Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 and following a process that will whittle the number of commissioners from 10 (five each from the two districts) to five.
The EJFR board of commissioners will vote on the proposed redistricting map at their next meeting on March 15.
Commission members gathered at a special meeting Tuesday to review the proposed map that was prepared by Sammamish Data Systems in Redmond and an outline prepared by EJFR of a way forward toward an eventual five-member board that will be achieved over the next three election cycles.
“To me it’s clear from the documents how we can proceed from here,” Commissioner Geoffrey Masci said.
The five commissioner districts were determined based on population using 2020 U.S. census data, not geographical size. Each has between 5,450 and 5,672 residents.
The former Port Ludlow district has already lost two of its commissioners who will not be replaced: Robert Pontius, who died in November, and Raelene Rossart, who resigned.
Of the five districts proposed, District 1 will cover Port Ludlow. The boundaries will remain essentially the same as before the merger. Districts 2 through 5 will be from what are now EJFR districts.
District 1 is planned to be Gene Carmody, Ed Davis and Glenn Clemens.
The present EJFR District 1 and District 2 commissioners David Seabrook and Deborah Tillman would be in District 2, unless this year’s general election, when appointee Tillman would drop out.
District 3 Commissioner Steve Craig would be in District 3, District 4 Commissioner Geoffrey Masci in District 4 and District 5 Commissioner Deborah Stinson in District 5.
According to state law, EJFR can fill only one commissioner position in the 2023 general election. It can fill two in each of the general elections in 2025 and 2027.
In that way, the number of commissioners is gradually reduced to five.
After the third election, in 2027, commissioners can be elected in the same way as other districts.
EJFR representatives said they would post a map and more information today at ejfr.org.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached at paula.hunt@soundpublishing.com.
