Al has it right: it would be possible to design a GOOD regional approach to fire and emergency medical service, but Proposition 1 is not that.
It is simply a way to raise salaries for existing people to do what they already do, with little accountability. Starting with the top six brass of the RFA, who will make a quarter-million dollars each (including benefit).
Special purpose government agencies are a place to hide from the voters. How many of us have ever studied the budget for LOTT, Medic One, Intercity Transit, or even Animal Services, four examples of "regional" agencies?
Bev Bassett also has it right: our local fire departments have served us well for over 100 years. If we dissolve them and give away all of their stations, fire engines, and transfer all of their personnel, there is no going back when the RFA experiment fails -- as it just did in Rochester/Littlerock. That RFA lost the support of the voters (mostly because they replaced volunteers with highly-paid full-time firefighters), and when the voters did not approve renewal of their levy, two of the five fire stations had to be closed. I don't want that risk in Olympia.
Big new fees. No new services. Vote No. Keep your fire service local.
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