Last Tuesday, media outlets received a letter from former North Summit Fire District Chief Ken Smith.
“The current North Summit Fire Administrative Control board is in the process of purging the fire district of anyone who has, at any time in the past, spoken up against their personal agendas, or offended their delicate sensibilities,” the letter begins.
It was included in the second batch of documents sent to media outlets in two days protesting the firing of former North Summit Fire Chief Ian Nelson. The County Council voted unanimously to terminate Nelson on Nov. 22, offering no reason for the decision.
Smith’s letter goes on to defend the district against what he says are unsubstantiated charges that it is an unprofessional “good ole boy network.”
In an interview with KPCW, Smith said he thought former Chief Nelson was fired because Nelson supported a push from East Side communities to consolidate the North Summit and South Summit emergency medical response.
East Side officials, including mayors, have advocated for that change for more than a year, but the issue is complicated by funding and licensure requirements.
The Park City Fire District oversees emergency medical services in both North Summit and South Summit. East Siders have said that has led to declining service and a lack of local first responders.
A Summit County report last year found that response times were longer on the East Side than in Park City, but were in line with other rural communities.
Summit County Manager Tom Fisher told KPCW last Tuesday the county supports the notion of East Side emergency services governing themselves. He said state law requires districts, if they take over administration, to provide better or equal service compared to current levels. But Summit County significantly subsidizes existing services, and Fisher said the districts’ current revenues would not support what’s needed.
“We want to provide an opportunity for the communities to achieve what they’ve said they want to achieve, which is independence in all-hazards provision, and that’s going to take a lot of work,” Fisher said. “And it's going to take a lot of willingness, not only from the County Council, but from the local community to govern that and fund it.”
The North Summit Fire District is staffed with volunteers and covers northeastern Summit County in a territory that stretches to the Wyoming border. Smith said Nelson was the district’s first chief to receive a salary. The position was part-time.
An administrative control board oversees the district and acts as a recommending body to the Summit County Council. The council convenes as the Governing Board of the North Summit Fire District when it approves things like the district’s budget or a contract for a new chief.
The Council is set to approve an interim chief on Wednesday — Assistant Chief Brandt Judd. Judd stepped into the same role when Smith retired last summer.
Michelle Anderson is the chair of the administrative control board. She declined to comment about the reason Nelson was fired, saying it was a personnel matter.
On Tuesday, Fisher told KPCW that personnel issues in the district have been a persistent concern for four years or more, and likely would continue.
“This is an ongoing issue within the fire district that the current board and a future chief are going to have to be involved with,” Fisher said.
Fisher said he supports intervening in the district to make sure firefighters’ concerns are heard. Some firefighters said they only felt comfortable commenting anonymously for fear of retaliation.
