Lewis County’s Tiniest Fire District in Trouble After Commissioners Appointed Illegally

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A fire district at the foot of Mount Rainier, with just a handful of residents and a single volunteer, has found itself in a bureaucratic tangle over the status of its commissioners and an expiring agreement with the neighboring district on which it depends for services.

“Our main goal is just to make sure we have fire service,” said Dennis Day, the sole volunteer at Lewis County Fire District 17, who approached county commissioners Monday with an appeal for help for the tiny district. “These are neighbors and friends, and they need to have fire protection.”

According to Day and Ridge Horton, who owns a home in the district, the loss of two commissioners and the inattention of the remaining commissioner put the district on the brink of losing its interlocal agreement with Pierce County Fire District 23, the nearby district that provides the bulk of fire and EMS services in Neighboring Lewis County’s District 17.

“(The commissioners) haven’t been on the ball,” Horton said. “We need EMT services. We’ve got veterans, children, parents, elderly people. What’s going to happen if they need help?”

District 17 has a three-member board, but in the past year or so, one member died and one moved away, leaving only commissioner Phil Farcy on the panel. For a long time, Day and Horton contend, the other two seats remained vacant and the commission did not meet. Only recently did a pair of new appointees, Michael Leach and Charles Mitchell, join Farcy on the commission.

The problem, however, is that a single district commissioner can’t choose the colleagues who will fill out his own board. That job, by state law, is the role of the Board of County Commissioners, who on Monday said they heard about the issues at District 17 for the first time.

“We didn’t even have any idea that they’ve had resignations and appointments,” said Lewis County Elections Supervisor Heather Boyer. “It’s on the district to notify us. … I haven’t received any official oath of office or certification of appointment.”

According to Boyer, she emailed Farcy on Nov. 15 to ask for the dates the previous commissioners left their posts and when the new ones were sworn in. She still hasn’t heard back. 

Farcy did not respond to emails seeking comment. 

Lewis County civil deputy prosecutor Cullen Gatten said his office has also reached out to Farcy for more information, seeking to determine if the appointments are legal.

Day and Horton say they don’t recognize Leach or Mitchell as valid commissioners, and contend Farcy has not kept up with the work required to keep District 17 in good standing. The district covers just 8 1/2 square miles near Ashford and has 137 registered voters. The district mostly exists to give residents on the Lewis County side of the border a legal entity to contract with District 23 in the Pierce County side of the line. District 23, according to its website, has six senior staff members and 15 volunteers, including Day.

“We’re 5 minutes from Station 23, but yet in Lewis County we’re 40 minutes from the closest town of Packwood,” Day said. “You can understand how this little pocket really depends on the folks over in 23.”

That’s why Day was alarmed when he learned recently that the district’s interlocal agreement for services with 23 was on the verge of expiring, because Farcy — apparently the only commissioner at the time — had not been working to reauthorize it. 



“(District) 23 told us: ‘You guys have to get working on this,’” Day said. “‘You’re leaving yourself hanging.’”

With that threat looming, Day and Horton approached county commissioners Monday morning, asking them to intervene. 

“It’s very troubling they’re in such limbo right now,” said county commissioner Edna Fund. “When we think about having to get in, appoint people and all the time it takes, the quicker we can get that done, the better for the district.”

District 17 has at least gotten a reprieve, Day said. On Monday evening, District 23 officials said they would continue providing services for another year, despite District 17’s uncertain legal status. District 17 tried to present a longer-term contract, he said, but District 23 held off on signing it until the legality of 17’s commissioners is sorted out. 

“I think we’re on the right track. The most important thing is that we have taken a giant step forward,” Day said. “They have agreed to extend it for a year, or until we get this situation of legalities worked out. They were very gracious to us.”

Day and Horton also expressed concern that the district might be in danger of losing its levy, but County Manager Erik Martin said Thursday that the district had filed budget certification paperwork by the Nov. 30 deadline. Lewis County Assessor Dianne Dorey said that documentation, once certified by county commissioners, allows her office to collect the district’s levy.

In 2018, the district collected $18,000 on its general levy and $14,000 on its EMS levy. Much of the funding District 17 collects goes to reimburse District 23 for the calls it responds to in Lewis County. Day said his Pierce County neighbors would respond across the county line regardless of the financial agreement — and 23 loses money by providing the service — but it would be unfair for 17 to not keep what part of the bargain it can uphold.

“Out here in the country, we’re pretty well close-knit,” Day said. “It’s a family. Whether we like or don’t like each other, we have to depend on each other. … Even without a contract, I know they would still come over here. It’s a matter of fairness.”

In addition to providing safety and being good neighbors, having the interlocal agreement and levy issues settled is important for another reason. Without the funding and service agreement in place, fire insurance rates in the district will skyrocket, Horton and Day said.

Horton also noted that it could prove futile to try to establish a longer-term contract with District 23 until the legality of District 17’s commissioners is settled.

“If we get into a contract and somebody decides they want out, they’re out — because these (two commissioners) weren’t authorized,” he said. “It’s important to get it done right.”

All three commission seats in District 17 are up for election next year, Boyer said.