John Doyle new FD 13 commissioner

What is old is new again. John Doyle has retired as La Conner town administrator and planner, but before that, starting in 1992, he was a volunteer firefighter with the then Hope Island Fire Department on the west side of the Swinomish Reservation. In 2008 he served two months as a commissioner of that fire district, which has been subsumed into Fire District 13.

Now, since April 9, he is a newly appointed commissioner of FD 13, filling the seat left vacant by Larry Kibbee’s March resignation.

Doyle, age 71, stressed his long involvement, including as an EMT and five years as medical officer, up through his recent assisting La Conner Hook and Ladder, becoming, he said “very active in the department with budget and administrative (projects) as well as volunteer time.” He told the commissioners he has 17 years of activity with volunteer fire departments.

In his interview Doyle noted the difficulty of maintaining volunteer fire departments with so many couples in two income households and as the population ages. It is a challenge to hold onto the identity of a rural community volunteer force. Additional professional staffing is a future consideration. Volunteer firefighters need to maintain training and certification levels equal to that of paid fire departments.

As town administrator he made it a priority to expand the relationship with the tribe. He also advocated for a fire authority as a shared, regional approach.

Doyle is active with Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs and is on the board of Skagit Habitat for Humanity. He retired in December 2017 after 16 years with the Town of La Conner, as planner, first, then becoming administrator.

The District’s Lt. Gary Ladd was also interviewed. Ladd started with FD 13 in 2015 as a volunteer, became an EMT and has advanced to lieutenant. He created and manages the Good morning FD 13 program, which checks in with 15-20 people on a daily basis.

Chair Bruce Shellhamer and Commissioner Jeremy Wilbur agreed that they faced a tough decision, Wilbur appreciating that both candidates stressed having a good working relationship with the Tribe – Wilbur is on the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community senate. Shellhamer called it a no-lose situation. He repeated that when the commissioners returned from a 15-minute executive session and made a motion to appoint Doyle. Wilbur seconded that and both commissioners voted yes.

Shellhamer noted that the appointment is for 2021 and that voters will choose someone in an election this November to fill Kibbee’s term, through 2023. Candidate filing week starts May 17.

May 14 is the next commissioners meeting.