Candidate for
Board Member; Menlo Park Fire Protection District

Background:

In early 2003, I began reading about and following some of the difficulties that existed on the fire department board. Especially with young kids, I knew that one day I might be the one dialing 911, so I decided to become informed and involved. After attending every public meeting at the department for the better part of a year, I decided that running to replace a member who was politicizing and distracting the agency was the right thing to do. I ran and was endorsed by the Menlo Park Almanac, the San Mateo County Times, the Firefighters' Association and others anxious to see things improve. I won a seat on the board and have been working hard to address the issues I believe matter most to the department and community.

Key Issues:

A primary task is stabilizing and refining the organization to ensure the district and its people are performing at their best. My experience running a business of five hundred employees has taught me the value that each person can bring to an organization, and the importance of providing an environment in which the employees can be their best. I was pleased that recently we were able to promote someone to Fire Chief who has not only worked his way up through the ranks from firefighter at Menlo Park, but has in the process become recognized nationally for his disaster management expertise. We have also thoughtfully changed most of the management structure over the last four years and brought a level of clarity and accountability into the organization that did not exist previously. I have also worked directly and extensively with the rank and file firefighters to bring to the surface many longstanding labor-management issues that have held the department back. Not all of these are solved, but there is a level of dialog on these issues that did not exist previously and which is benefitting the department.

Another major task is to ensure a sound financial and physical infrastructure to reliably provide the services we expect into the future. About 90% of the department's costs are personnel-related, which makes the organizational work I talked about above important financially as well. The other major expense is keeping the district's apparatus and seven stations at a serviceable level. Station 2, in East Palo Alto, is the busiest station on the Peninsula, but is antiquated and in disrepair. We will be replacing this facility over the next two years and afterward replacing Station 1 on Middlefield Road for similar reasons. Other stations will be upgraded or replaced on a logical schedule after that. Needless to say, this requires careful financial and project planning. These are also strengths I bring to the board from my work life, having run a sizable business, recently started another, and made facility decisions of similar magnitude some half-dozen times.

Planning for regional or national disasters is one component of the process at the department. As I mentioned, we are fortunate to have as our Chief a nationally-regarded content expert on this, as well as three other sitting board members who have direct professional experience planning for and responding to regional, state and national disasters. Together as a board I believe we have the right compliment of experiences and skills to effectively guide the department and meet the challenges that lie ahead.

The other current Board member up for re-election is Bart Spencer. He has been on the Board for the past eight years and I strongly support his candidacy.

I regard serving on the board as a privilege and take this responsibility seriously. I would like to receive your support on Tuesday November 6th (or earlier via absentee ballot). Please get in touch with me (phone, email or in person) if I can provide more information on my candidacy or Menlo Fire.