Bill Wolfe, a retired 37-year firefighter who defeated an incumbent to get on the Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue board in 2013, resigned last month, saying his participation had been “contentious and ineffective.”
The Feb. 27 letter was addressed to board chair Robin Miles and the board. Miles said, “I’m really sad to see him leave. I really like Bill a lot; a very good man.”
Crystal Dodge was appointed to Wolfe’s seat at a March 16 board meeting. Dodge has filed to be on the May ballot to fill the remaining two years of Wolfe’s term.
Dodge said Miles, who is her insurance agent, suggested she apply for the board. “I said I would try it out and see if I’m interested. I’m pretty brand new so it will be a learning experience for me.”
She said, “I would like to try it out for a month or two to see if I am a good fit for the taxpayer.”
Dodge did once start training as a volunteer firefighter, but “I realized that is not a fit for me.” She prefers to do fundraising, she said.
Dodge runs a daycare and also co-owns Fun Jumpers, an indoor bounce house.
She worked for two years as director of the Police Activity League, a youth program in Klickitat County.
Longtime fire board member Tom Ashmore said Wolfe’s resignation came “out of the blue.”
When he ran for the board position in 2013, Wolfe told the Chronicle: “There’s very little communication between the volunteers and the board and the paid staff and the board, other than through the administration. I think a little more open communication would solve a lot of problems.”
In his resignation letter, Wolfe said he had hoped his work at the fire department would be of benefit and give “some insight to day to day operations.”
“It however, is my opinion that members of the board have been convinced by [MCFR Chief Bob Palmer] that my purpose is vindictive and that I am out to get him, and that I am here only to represent the interests of the union.
“This is not the case.”
Palmer declined to comment on the resignation.
Wolfe said in his letter that his interest was always to see that fire district patrons “have the best protection and services that can be provided with the resources available.”
Wolfe declined to comment to the Chronicle about about his resignation and said his letter spoke for itself.
In his letter, Wolfe added, “There seems to be the opinion that talking to employees or receiving information other than from the chief undermines his authority.
“I on the other hand believe that getting information only from the chief is dangerous. And I am not referring to Chief Palmer but any chief.”
Wolfe said that belief stems from his history with Wasco Rural Fire Protection District, where the board was surprised when the county treasurer reported they did not have money in their account to make payroll.
Wolfe said “Wasco Rural was saved from bankruptcy by the work of the employees (union members) myself, Joe Richardson and Jay Wood, coming up with a workable budget in my basement. With Richardson becoming chief and working cooperatively with the employee union and board the district grew to become MCFR.
“It saddens me to see the apparent lack of respect the current administration has for its employees and that this also appears to be influencing the board,” he wrote. “This ‘us vs. them’ mentality is not what is going to grow the district to its potential. Teamwork and collaboration is what it takes.
“Although I believe that I am fully capable of setting aside any personality issues I may have with the chief, to make public policy, I don’t think some other members of this board hold this belief. This mistrust makes my participation contentious and ineffective.”
Ashmore said the resignation letter sounded like Wolfe was “just kind of frustrated. The only theory I have on that is apparently he feels we should listen to the union a little bit closer. We set the policies but the chief runs the operations. As far as I’m concerned he does an excellent job.
“I think the board per se represents the community. The only thing I’ve heard basically from the union: ‘we’d like more benefits and pay,’ that type of thing.”
Ashmore said he’s heard the union feels Palmer “doesn’t listen” to them, but he put it in the context of the union asking for more pay and benefits and Palmer responding that the district only had so much money to go around.
Wolfe wrote that he hoped his replacement “will be better received and I hope the board will take the blinders off and look at the big picture.”
At a special fire board meeting where the resignation was received, board member Dick Schaffeld said he was unhappy about the resignation and felt Wolfe was a valuable asset.
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