A Letter to the Elsie Vinemaple Rural Fire Protection District Community

This letter is intended for community members of the EVRFPD (District) to provide one person’s perspective over almost 7 years as a Board member.

I am a Nehalem Valley native who was away from the area for almost 50 years. I returned in 2006 to retire. In 2017, the Assistant Chief asked me to be a member of the Board during a time in which Board members were few and turnover was high. While I have served on boards and committees including international, national, and local, volunteer groups all have a learning curve that takes time to be comfortable with. Because of the high turnover of board members, the only collective memory at that time was a Chief who had served as Chief for about 10 years and been a volunteer for years before that, and an Assistant Chief who also had several years with the District. New to the District was a levy passed in 2016 (with a 51% approval) to allow construction of a new station, Station 2, which was to allow for expanded equipment space and to serve as a community center and emergency shelter, if needed. The only information about Station 2 that the Board was given was that bids for the building shell were in place and that the Assistant Chief was project manager and would be assisted by community volunteers when contractors were not needed. Board members came and went, and it was not until 2019-2021 that Board membership began to become more stable and able to focus more on issues of budget, accounting, and construction of Station 2.

Chief Mike Wammack’s efforts focused on the safety and health of the community, and he deserves much credit for staying on top of training, recruiting, and response calls.  However, his efforts have not kept up with all the responsibilities of running the fire district, on top of a full-time job, plus community and family involvement.  Mike made it well known that he opposed the levy for Station 2 and has repeatably said that he cannot be responsible for its management. This led the project manager’s construction efforts to take the “path of least resistance,” skipping permitting and county inspections and relying too much on volunteer help when an oversight contractor/designer was critical.  Over time, the Chief’s and the Assistant Chief’s interactions with the board became more acrimonious and not always truthful.  Additionally, the financial side of those responsibilities was not presented well and despite offers of assistance from the board, remained unclear. 
 

For all these reasons, the board felt it necessary to ask Mike to step down as Chief but to continue as a volunteer firefighter.  His response was no, and instead he turned his efforts to help rouse the community against board actions that are intended to solve the problems.  The board then reluctantly took the step of removing Mike as volunteer chief, with his response being refusal to cooperate with our efforts to establish an interim solution, denying access to computers, and not turning in equipment for inventory.  By these actions he is not only compromising the safety of the community, but also in violation of standard protocol by retaining public property.  In addition, his supporters have taken to social media to present a very one-sided view of the situation and have begun the process of attempting to recall members of the board.  These steps will not resolve the issues that led to Mike’s removal as fire chief. 

If the process to correct the problems existing in the Elsie Vine Maple fire district are halted, these problems will not go away, but will continue and become even more serious.  What is needed is for community members to speak up in support of the board so that those favoring the “old ways” will see that there is much more to consider, and that the current problems have not emerged overnight.  No one is trying to take away from the Chief or Assistant Chief all that they have achieved.  Instead, it is a recognition that changes are needed to be able to continue as a viable rural fire district.

I see two major pathways for the community. One pathway allows the current board to work toward a solution for improving administrative issues like accounting, budget and permitting of Station 2, while still maintaining or even improving our emergency services. We recognize that our budget does not allow the same degree of staff that surrounding districts have. That reality, combined with the increasing demands for fire and emergency service, will have to lead to either an improved budget or eventually a combining of our district with another district. Rural fire districts such as ours have operated for too long on inadequate funding and staffing, and this clearly must improve.

The other pathway allows divisive people within and outside of the community to work against those goals, and return the district to some semblance of what it was.  I really believe going that route will not solve the administrative/budget issues in the District, and will also make it very difficult if not impossible to allow completion and permitting of Station 2 for its intended purpose.

Respectfully,

Wayne Carmichael

Board Member and Secretary

February 14, 2024