10/23/2023
My thoughts if I am Fire Commissioner
VUCAT: Violent, Uncertain, Chaotic, Ambiguous, and Threatening (VUCAT). I learned about VUCAT during an educational chat with a long-time respected medic. Exact translations can vary, but basically it is the environment in which our first responders can and must face on every call. This alone scares the hell out of me. I want to make sure we are taking care of and providing the help, training and equipment needed to accomplish as safe of an environment as possible for our first responders on every call.
BECOME TRUSTED IN OUR COMMUNITY: Our community has endured years of lack of transparency, dishonesty, poor leadership, lack of community involvement, financial instability, and capitol neglect. I want to bring my strong leadership skills, civility and transparency into every conversation, decision and action that the the Orcas Island Fire Commission makes.
ENGAGE WITH THE COMMUNITY: I am looking forward to being present to talk to the community and to plan activities that engage with children, young adults and every community member that would like to learn about the work that the Orcas Island Fire Department does and how they serve our community. We could have our local heroes visit classrooms at the schools and, in turn, have them visit the fire department. Developing gatherings with the community to discuss interesting topics will help foster stronger relationships between us all. Building relationships within the community to build trust and support for the fire department is needed more now than ever.
ETHICS AND INTEGRITY: Having high ethical standards and integrity is how the community will regain trust in the Orcas Island Fire Commission and begin to support them again. I want to hammer down on this by demonstrating honesty, transparency open communication with community members. These traits are essential in a good fire commission.
CRAFT A RESONALBLE LEVY: Let’s face it, I can’t do this without a team of people that look at every line item. It is a large undertaking that elected folks commit to doing the hard work. I want to bring my experience as a prudent businesswoman to the table to help facilitate this important issue to every citizen. Some of my concerns are high wages, top heavy administrative staff, and an unreasonable burden on those with fixed incomes and working class families. We can do better.
CHANGE: Over the years, the public has witnessed the unprofessional culture at the Orcas Island Fire Commission. Some of the poor culture has recently shifted, but we still have a ways to go. We must provide better management of OIFD to regain trust in the community. We must be more transparent with the community about our work. We must repair the damage created by poor leadership of the commission and give our department a new life. We must rejuvenate trust.
Thank you for your time. Toni
