A meeting between the Eastside Fire and Rescue (EFR) administration, board members, fire fighters and member cities was held in Issaquah on Saturday. The purpose of the meeting was to address the tension and distrust between some of these partners that came to the surface in 2009, raising the possibility of great change to the fire service when the EFR agreement is reevaluated in 2014.

Though the issues are many and complex, the division can be surmised as having the City of Sammamish on one side, and the EFR Board, the administration, and the fire fighter’s labor union on the other.

And though officials and facilitators often tried to talk down the division as such, as Saturday’s meeting wore on, its existence become clearer and more pronounced.

Last year, several City of Sammamish councilmembers began to question why their bill for fire service, the city’s largest single expense, was increasing by between 5 and 7 percent every year, and expressed concern with the EFR funding model under which cities are billed based on the assessed valuation of properties within their boundaries.

It is a model which Sammamish councilors have said results in residents here subsidizing the provision of fire service in more rural areas such has North Bend and Fall City.

EFR administrators and supporters of the current system point to the great efficiencies of a partnership – studies have shown that such a structure is between 15 and 24 percent more efficient than if each city and unincorporated area operated its own fire service.

But while the effectiveness of the EFR service is not in question, what is being asked by the City of Sammamish is whether the partnership as it currently is represents the best value for the citizens of Sammamish.

With facilitator Howard Cross working to ensure discussions moved toward some sense of resolution, Saturday’s meeting at times resembled a marriage counseling session. Indeed, the issues that mark the City of Sammamish/EFR rift are the same – rumor, misinformation, accusations of treachery, an unwillingness to listen, and a lack of trust, appreciation, and commitment.

At separate instances during Saturday’s meeting the EFR board, administration, and firefighters representatives all charged the City of Sammamish with destabilizing the partnership by expressing their desire to seek alternatives. In its defense, city councilors claimed it is their responsibility to Sammamish taxpayers to explore such options.

Councilmembers Nancy Whitten, Tom Odell, Mark Cross, Don Gerend and John Curley joined their Issaquah counterparts Fred Butler, Eileen Barber and John Traeger at the meeting.

One of the topics of discussion was the possibility of expanding EFR to cover more cities and stations, and it is here the nature of the rift is best illustrated. EFR staff believe Sammamish is opposed to the idea just on principle – Sammamish councilors say they just want to closely examine the numbers to see what it would mean for Sammamish taxpayers. How the group got to such a point of misunderstanding has as much to do with the personalities involved as with the noted failure of EFR to better manage its communications and budget processes.

“We don’t know how big this agency should be, but we know it should be bigger than it is,” said EFR Deputy Chief of Operations Jeff Griffin, adding that expanding the service would increase the efficiencies relating to economies of scale. “We need to be open to that discussion.”

“Growth simply for growth’s sake is not a good agenda,” Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend told The Reporter. “One reason that Sammamish incorporated was because the King County governing body was too remote. When Sammamish was asked whether or not they would accept Fire District 27 into EFR, we naturally asked what were the consequences for Sammamish? Would our service change? Would it cost Sammamish citizens more for the same service? The answers weren’t forthcoming to our satisfaction, and they shifted like the sands around Ozymandias.”

Sammamish’s eagerness to question the direction and practices of EFR earned them the tag on Saturday of “the angry gorilla in the room,” for “rattling the cage” and “rocking the boat.”

But Issaquah Councilmember Butler said he was reminded of then Sound Transit Board Member Rob McKenna’s constant questioning of Sound Transit’s financial management which, although enormously unpopular at the time, eventually urged Sound Transit to improve itself and guaranteed its success and continued operation. Butler said that by questioning and seeking alternatives, Sammamish’s coucilmembers were doing what was demanded of them by their constituents.

Councilmember Odell said that EFR needed to improve its communication and administration of meetings, which he said was behind a number of misunderstandings, including a recent meeting where he said members were given time to analyze budget figures, and then “given a different set of numbers when we walked through the door.”

“As a former financial manager, I know that if I did that I would be told that it wasn’t good enough,” he said.

Councilor Cross expressed a concern about the position of Klahanie, which is paying a higher rate for fire services and subsidizing coverage of rural areas with lower assessed valuation per acre. Indeed, the issue of Sammamish subsidizing a lot of the EFR coverage area was raised by councilors, with Mayor Gerend and others feeling that the citizens of Sammamish were already subsidizing more than their fair share of regional services.

EFR Fire Chief Lee Soptich pointed out the further complexity of the subsidization picture – reminding the councilors that more affluent areas of Sammamish were already subsidizing other areas of Sammamish.

Representatives of the firefighters union told those assembled that their members felt a lack of commitment from EFR partners, notably Sammamish, was making life hard for firefighters trying to plan for the future.

“There doesn’t seem to be any year to year stability,” said Craig Hooper, President of Professional Firefighters Local 2878. “There always seems to be threat of running out of money. It’s bad for moral, and creates an unknown future.”

Many speakers praised the efforts of the firefighters union in helping to meet the budget concerns of partnering cities, by forgoing wage increases in 2010.

But, at the same time as Sammamish was being criticized for questioning current funding practices, what seemed to be lost in that praise was that without the urging of Sammamish councilors, a negotiation with the firefighters union of wage increases would never have taken place.

The meeting produced a timeline for a number of actions which it is hoped will improve the EFR partnership, including the improvement of communications, and a further exploration of alternate funding models.