The steering committee for the proposed Carbon County Fire District, which was defeated on the Nov. 4 ballot, is “a little disappointed,” in the results according to Jim Piche, steering committee president.
“I think, probably, the most disappointing thing is the people will see the effect of it in the near future … we just can’t fund everything we are doing,” Piche said.
According to Piche, the steering committee has had some communication since the election and said he thinks everybody in the fire services is pretty disappointed in the outcome.
At this point it is up to the county commissioners if a fire district will appear on another ballot. Piche said, “from here the commissioners are going to have make some pretty strong decisions,” regarding a fire district. Piche noted it is hard to bring back a ballot measure that has been defeated.
Carbon County Commissioner Sue Jones said she didn’t think the proponents of the district had enough time to “sell it”. Jones said it was a complicated issue with the board being elected on the same ballot as the approval of the district and many operational details that had yet to be worked out.
Jones also said there wasn’t a lot of advertising for the board candidates. Jones stated people who have discussed the district with her since the election have said they were unsure of the process behind forming the district and the slate of board candidates seemed to be focused on one area of the county.
Looking back on the campaign for the fire district, Piche said the Insurance Service Organization (ISO) rating issue was complicated and he doesn’t feel the public really understood it.
“I think they were looking for an immediate change, and ISO is not an immediate thing,” he said.
When asked about specific issues or strategies that might have failed the fire district campaign, Piche said “If we had gone strictly fire fighter safety, that might have been the avenue.”
Piche also said he thought, “some of the negativity that came in the press, the people that were negative, didn’t know the facts.” He conceded that “the voter’s have spoken,” and that the issue is done for now.
Jones said the fire personnel and the county commissioners will have to look at the district issue and see if it is feasible to put it on the ballot again. There is also the option of forming a special district by petition of 25% of property owners.
Piche thanked those who voted for the district and said that the voters may see the issue again if the county commissioners want it.
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