Aaron Reinstra hired as fire chief, for code enforcement

It is not every day that an action by town officials is greeted with applause.

Last Tuesday was one of those days.

That’s when in-person audience members attending the April 12 town council hybrid meeting at Maple Hall put their hands together to support the panel’s decision to hire Aaron Reinstra for a new paid dual fire chief-code enforcement officer position.

The post will pay $56,160 annually.

“This is one of the best moves for the community we’ve seen in a long time,” Mayor Ramon Hayes said following the unanimous 4-0 council vote to create the position and fill it with Reinstra, a third generation La Conner firefighter.

Council member Ivan Carlson, III, a volunteer with La Conner Hook & Ladder, the town's fire department, recused himself from voting since Reinstra is his supervisor.

Reinstra has served as the town’s non-paid fire chief for four years, but with closure of the Dunlap Towing westside log yard on the Swinomish Reservation and loss of his day job, he faced commuting to a new workplace and the likelihood of having to step down from the fire department.

That’s when circumstances aligned to keep Reinstra leader of the fire department.

The town, in part as a response to issues that arose during the pandemic, had already budgeted to hire a full-time code enforcement officer this year.

The position was advertised, but none who applied had backgrounds in code enforcement, Hayes said.

“At about the same time we learned that chief Reinstra would probably have to leave the volunteer fire chief position,” Thomas said. “So, at that point, we had money for a code enforcement officer but would probably be without a fire chief.”

The timing was right to be creative.

“We had been wabsent a code enforcement officer for some time,” Thomas added. “The previous person had left what was a part-time position for a full-time position. With COVID, we didn’t fill it at that time. Other staff took on code enforcement duties and some of it just fell off.”

With money set aside for a code enforcement officer and Reinstra apparently having to resign as volunteer fire chief, that sparked the thought that perhaps a new blended “50-50” position could be created.

“We thought it would make sense to combine the two positions into one,” Thomas said. “For years, anyway, we had expected the fire chief to do more than what should be expected of a volunteer.”

Thomas and Hayes pitched the plan to Reinstra and after he agreed to consider the position, the proposal came before the council last week.

Thomas told council members that a significant part of the code enforcement side of the job will consist of site inspections.

“We’ll keep a close eye on the police reports to see where the problem areas are,” Thomas noted.

Hayes said that things came together to develop the job, especially with Reinstra willing and able to simultaneously wear two hats. He turned to Reinstra.

“Aaron,” he said, “we’re grateful for your service and want you home.”