A special election to determine the future of the Chester Fire Department is in the hands of voters throughout the Chester Public Utilities District.
Mailed April 8, the special ballot measure asks voters to approve one of two levels of financial commitment designed to generate as much as $2 million annually to fund the fire department and its ambulance services.
One measure asks voters to approve a $1,500 per parcel annual tax to fund a full-service, full-time professionally staffed Chester fire department. The other asks for approval of a $450 per parcel annual tax to fund a volunteer department. To pass, either measure requires two-thirds voter approval.
The May 7 tax election, the second in less than a year, gives voters an opportunity to decide what type of fire department they want, said CPUD Chairwoman Kim Green. If both measures fail, the Chester district will provide neither firefighters nor ambulance service.
Recall proponents turn in signatures
In a separate but related action, proponents of an effort to oust Green and three other CPUD members turned in signatures April 23 on recall petitions they have been circulating since February. The Plumas County Elections Office has 30 days to review and verify the signatures.
Annika Peacock and other members of the ad hoc Citizens Advisory Committee served recall notices in January to Green, Steve Voboril, Arthur Tharpe and Steve Graffweg, all directors of the district utility board. The charges vary slightly but in general allege “gross mismanagement” and failure to provide first-responder services to the community of Chester.
In their responses the four district board members generally denied mismanagement and cited the May 7 election as a way for the public to decide what the fire department will look like in the future.
If any one of the four petitions includes the required 346 valid signatures, the county clerk will schedule a special election asking voters whether to recall that director. If all four have the appropriate number of signatures, voters will cast their vote as many as four times.
Peacock said she believes she and other recall proponents collected ample signatures to hold an election, which would ask for a yes or no vote on each of the four directors and require a simple majority to pass.
A recall election would cost around $8,000 and would be paid for by CPUD, Peacock said. The Citizens Advisory Committee has asked the four targeted directors to consider resigning to save the cost of an election, she added.
Financial crisis has been ongoing
The Chester Fire Department has been operating at a deficit of $1.2 million a year for at least a decade, said Adam Cox, CPUD general manager. To close the gap, the directors have borrowed $1.3 million from sewer district funds.
The financial collapse of the Chester Fire Department is a result of decisions that have been festering for 10 years and “swept under the rug,” Green said. District directors had hoped to reestablish fiscal solvency with a Nov. 7, 2023, ballot measure seeking approval of a $350-per-parcel special tax. It failed badly. The final tally — 200 “yes” votes to 381 “nos” — failed to receive even a simple majority in an election that required two-thirds majority approval.
The years-long financial crisis forced Chester district directors to send layoff notices to all ambulance staff and firefighters effective Feb. 28. The district surrendered its ground transportation license for the ambulance Jan. 1.
