Digging through the early years of the Wake County Fire Commission this morning. They were created as an advisory board in 1998, as a recommendation of a 1994 fire service study, and supplanted the Wake Council Fire Chief’s Council, which previously served that role.

They discussed such things as:

• Meeting dates, time, and location.
• Role of the commission.
• Contract and contracts.
• Personnel retention and recruitment programs.
• ISO and consultant reports.
• Appointed subcommittees for Capital Improvement Projects, Budget Review, Contract and Performance Requirements, and Planning.
• The planned 800MHz radio system.
• Current priority issues of the commission.
• Funding distribution/service district budget development.

Read the entire minutes of that first meeting by drilling down into www.legeros.com/ralwake/docs/wcfc.

I’ve conveniently downloaded as both individual and compiled files from the official site.

Who’s Who

Present and accounted for were these familiar names:

• Blaine Parks, Citizen/Consumer (Alternate) Mitchell, South Region/Primary [GFD]
• Rodney Privette, East Region/Alternate [RRFD]
• George Mills, North Region/Primary [BLFD]
• Ned Perry, Citizen/Consumer [Retired CFD]
• Bonnie Woodruff, Citizen/Consumer
• Bill Stevenson, President of Firemen’s Association
• Cloyce Anders, External Facilitator (Non-voting)
• Ray Echevarria, Interim Director-Fire/Rescue Division
• Ed Brinson, West Region/Primary [SCFD]
• Max Ashworth, Citizen/Consumer
• Tom Vaughan, East Region/Primary [WFD]
• Chuck Sannipoli, Citizen/Consumer
• Tony Chiotakis, West Region/Alternate [MFD]
• A. C. Rich, North Region/Alternate [SHFD]

Absent were:

• Ken Farmer, South Region/Alternate [FVFD]
• Nancy Schwarm, Citizen/Consumer

Recognized were:

• David Cooke, Deputy County Manager
• Tim Lanier, Interim Public Safety Director
• Chris Perry, Shift Supervisor-Fire/Rescue Division
• Sherry Scoggins, Executive Secretary

More History

• What is the fire commission you ask? Read this handy blog-post-as-FAQ from 2011.
• What’s the broader context? Read this big honkin’ history of Wake County Fire Service Governance