Chief Geering urges rural fire district to take ownership of board duties

During the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District board meeting held Wednesday, July 2, officers for the next 12 months were elected from within the ranks of the assembled board members.

Gales Creek resident Melinda Fischer was elected by her peers for another term as the board's president, but said it would be her last year in the role.

The office of the vice president went to Brooke Gramer, also a Gales Creek resident. Gramer previously served as the board's secretary and treasurer.

Newly sworn in director Benjamin Otto was chosen to become the secretary and treasurer.

The officers may play a more significant role this year than in years past. During Wednesday's meeting, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue Chief Jim Geering said he would be encouraging the board to take additional ownership of their own agenda.

The Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District contracts with the city of Forest Grove to provide fire services, and shares ownership of properties and apparatus. As a result, the two entities have become joined at the hip, and some activities of the board have traditionally been handled by staff from Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.

So much so, in fact, that Chief Geering is hoping to give some of the tasks back to the board.

"When I came on almost four years ago, it was apparent to me that Chief Kinkade had […] taken over the affairs and the workings of the board," he said.

Chief Michael Kinkade retired in January 2021 after 12 years of service as Forest Grove Fire & Rescue's chief.

Geering said his intent was not to describe Kinkade's work with the affairs of the board as harmful in any way.

"In other words, he did everything," he said.

"He did the finances, he wrote the minutes, he wrote the agenda, he thought of things for the agenda," Geering said.

"And when I got here, I wanted to sort of unwind that and allow the board positions—president, treasurer, secretary, the members at large—to do their work and run the board and the district as elected officials, not the fire chief," he said.

During a discussion about forecasting timber revenues, which have historically made up between 20 and 25% of the district's budget, according to former FG Rural board member Cleo Howell, Geering reiterated his desire to see the board keep their finger on the pulse of the financial outlook of the district.

"I'm not on the phone with the timber industry," he said.

"For things like that, I think it would be helpful for the board of directors to have their finger on the pulse of that revenue," he added.

"As much as we set it up in the past, we the fire department, to do all that, it's really not our responsibility," Geering told the board.

"In fact, the fire chief [in previous years] has been signing documents that I think should not have been signed. The president of the board should have been signing," he said.

"When things like that come for me to sign, I ask Melinda to sign those. It's not my business. I'm not an elected official. I'm just a contract holder to provide fire protection to the district," Geering said.

The Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District board typically meets on the first Wednesday of every month from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Forest Grove Fire & Rescue offices in Forest Grove (1919 Ash Street). The meeting is open to the public, and includes a portion of time for members of the public to speak before the board for three minutes.

More information can be found by calling Forest Grove Fire & Rescue at 503-992-3240.