A proposal to create a regional fire district in Camas and Washougal was failing in early election returns Tuesday.
Proposition 1 sought to alter the governance of the Camas-Washougal Fire Department and create a separate taxing district known as a regional fire authority.
Results released by Clark County’s elections office Tuesday evening showed 4,067 “no” votes (51.96 percent) and 3,760 “yes” votes (48.04 percent).
Officials in the cities of Camas and Washougal had hoped to form the regional fire authority to alleviate financial pressure on the cities’ general funds and, according to Camas-Washougal Fire Chief Cliff Free, provide long-term stability for the joint fire department.
“It’s disappointing to be sure,” Free said Wednesday morning. “Members of both communities were methodical and thoughtful putting this together … and we were counting on the community to support this service that they’ve come to know.”
In March, Free said the Camas-Washougal Fire Department would split apart if voters rejected the regional fire authority, returning to the type of individual city-run fire departments that existed in Camas and Washougal before an interlocal agreement merged the two fire departments in 2014.
“I don’t think people are prepared,” Free said last month. “And I think it’s hard for new residents to imagine the level of services we had before.”
Forming a regional fire authority, Free said, would help stabilize funding with a levy rate of $1.05 for property owners living within Camas and Washougal city limits and would allow the fire chief to hire enough firefighters to staff a three-person engine crew. The Camas-Washougal Fire Department is the only fire department in Clark County running a two-person engine crew, Free said.
To raise enough money for the three-person engine crew and help provide long-term stability, the regional fire authority would charge Camas-Washougal taxpayers a flat rate of $1.05 per $1,000 of assessed property value for fire and EMS services.
Earlier this month, a group of Camas-Washougal residents calling themselves Concerned Taxpayers of Camas and Washougal raised about $1,000 to create “Ax the Tax” signs calling for a “no” vote on Proposition 1. The treasurer of the group, Anthony Metzidis, a software developer who moved to Washougal three years ago, said he and other Proposition 1 opponents did not believe city officials would follow through with the threat of dismantling the joint fire department and would instead figure out a way to maintain the Camas-Washougal Fire Department.
“I believe they can meet and resolve the differences,” Metzidis said.
But Free insists that the interlocal agreement joining the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, which is set to expire at the end of 2026, is not a feasible way forward.
“I’ve said it before, that we’re stronger together than apart,” Free said, “but we clearly need to evolve. The cities have been clear about that. We need to evolve into something different than we are and find a path that’s acceptable for both cities.”
On Wednesday, Free said he was trying to remain positive despite the disappointing election results.
“At the end of the day, I’m a firm believer in the democratic process,” he said. “I’m going to keep working at this and work every single angle I can to try to make the organization efficient and maintain our level of service regardless of governance structure, because that’s what I’ve been charged to do.”
