Fire commissioner vacancy

Fire District 13 Commissioners Chuck Hedlund and Arne Fohn are accepting applications from people willing to step up and fill a vacancy on the three-member board of commissioners.

The deadline to submit an application is June 10. Then, at the commission’s June 26 meeting, Hedlund and Fohn are expected to vote on a replacement for commission member Doug Avery, who resigned last month.

Should the commissioners fail to make an appointment after the position has been vacant for 90 days, which would be the end of July, the Skagit County Board of Commissioners will be tasked with naming Avery’s replacement.

Avery’s term was set to expire at the end of 2017. The person who fills his position will have to stand for re-election in November 2015, which is the next board election. Hedlund’s term expires in 2015, too.

State law requires appointees to “run at the next election possible,” said Gabrielle Clay with the elections division of the Skagit County Auditor’s Office. “They are running for a two-year unexpired term to fill the remainder of the term.”

The seat will be open to everyone in 2015, she said. Even if the appointed commissioner is re-elected to fill the remainder of the term, they’ll be up for election again in 2017, on the regular schedule for the seat Avery vacated. Fohn, who was elected in November 2013, is scheduled to serve until the end of 2019.

When elected under normal circumstances, commissioners serve six-year terms. They are paid $114 per meeting up to a maximum of $10,800 per year. Their regular meetings are now once monthly; however, meeting pay covers attendance at special meetings and gatherings of other entities as well.

People who apply for a position on the board should contact Fire District 13. The headquarters is located at 17433 Snee Oosh Road and the phone is 466-1224. Applicants will be expected to provide a resume and pick up a copy of the district’s policies and procedures.