Toby Nixon for King County Fire Protection District 41 Commissioner, Position 3

     Some of you may be surprised to learn that on Friday, June 5, I filed as a candidate for King County Fire Protection District 41 Commissioner. District 41 works in close cooperation with the City of Kirkland to provide fire and EMS service to most of the unincorporated area north of Kirkland, now proposed for annexation.
     I’ve actually had a life-long interest in fire service. Like most boys, I went through the phase of wanting to be a fireman, but it's more than that. In 5th grade, I was Battalion Chief for the Los Angeles Junior Fire Department for Camellia Avenue School in North Hollywood, a title earned for scoring the highest in the school on the assessment test we took at the end of a week-long class segment on fire safety. As a Boy Scout, one of the first merit badges I earned was Fire Safety, and as Senior Patrol Leader I made sure all our scouts learned the subject well. In junior high school, I held a summer job as assistant cook (which was the closest a young teenager could get to firefighters!) for the California Division of Forestry station in Redding, CA, making sure all the firefighters were well-fed between brush fires. I ended up pursuing a career in computers instead of public safety, but my interest has never really abated. In the legislature, I worked hard to ensure that public safety was a priority, and earned the endorsement of the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters on multiple occasions. More recently, I’ve enjoyed teaching the Washington State Emergency Management Division’s Map Your Neighborhood program to people in the Kirkland area.
     Seeing that there was an open seat on the District 41 Commission, and not being otherwise occupied in public office at the moment, I decided to pursue my interest once again and seek the office. I believe I’ll be able to do a good job as fire commissioner for the people in District 41. Here are the things I’d do as fire commissioner:

• Wisely use our property tax dollars and other district resources to ensure all areas of the district are well served, consistent with or exceeding state and national standards;
• Ensure the integration of District 41 into the City of Kirkland after annexation goes as smoothly as possible;
• Improve community outreach, particularly public education and training programs, to be ready for earthquakes and other major disasters;
• Work with the Kirkland City Council and city staff to ensure public safety is properly prioritized among city services;
• Improve transparency and access to district information, including establishing a district web site, so residents can be as aware of and involved in district business as they want to be; and,
• Use my experience in the legislature to ensure proposed legislation positively affects our district and improves our fire and EMS services.