On Monday, Meghan Bell of Oakley became the newest East Contra Costa Fire Protection District newest board to be sworn in.
A board seat became available after a resignation made by Jonathan Michaelson in March. Oakley, who has three seats on the Board is responsible for selecting a replacement within city limits.
The ceremony took place at the start of the Board meeting after an April 26 Oakley City Council Meeting where Mayor Kevin Romick chose to forgo an application process and instead directly appoint Bell.
Romick explained that because of the decisions needing to be made, he chose Bell.
“We have decided to forego the normal appointment process and tonight I am announcing the appointment of Meghan Bell for the East Contra Costa Fire protection District Board,” said Romick. “Meghan is a graduate of our leadership academy and a regular attendee of the fire board. I have full confidence she will be able to jump into the process.
Bell said her appointment is not about her, but rather about the Board and the situation facing residents served by the fire district saying they need to be providing better service to save homes and lives.
“Mayor Romick knows I have been interested in our fire services and solving the problem we have in East Contra Costa and finding funding. He knew I had last interviewed for an open board position when they conducted interviews the first time. He had an immediate opening and knew I had been attending meetings,” explained Bell. “He asked if I was interested in the position and I jumped at the chance.”
Bells says she is all for moving to an elected board based on the agreement when the District accepted the money from the County if that is a decision they feel they need to move towards.
Photo by David Bell
She says the focus right now is finding a short-term and long-term solution for District funding. “Some ideas are going to take a while and they need more development before they become viable,” says Bell. “We must work through them to find the best solutions.”
She added.
“Some ideas are going to take a while and they need more development before they become viable,” says Bell. “We must work through them to find the best solutions.”
She says an incident in 2011 triggered her into action and she began following the fire service issues facing the county.
“It’s very personal. I have a child who lives with a rare disorder, so we don’t know day to day if we have to call EMS because he’s stopped breathing as a result from his seizures,” explained Bell. “I need to have my fire district available for my family; I also want them available for all families in East Contra Costa. There was a day where my son had a seizure for over 15 minutes. It happened before the stations were closed so Station 93 arrived and successfully treated him within a short period of time. Today it’s a scenario that could have gone very wrong and we could have lost him.”
Bell says she is dedicated to working hard to move the District forward, focusing on finding revenue and bringing back service levels to an acceptable model.
Bell will fulfill the remainder of Michaelson’s term which expires April 2017.
7 comments
This appointment stinks. it has nothing to do with Meghan Bell and everything to do with Oakley being Oakley by not opening it up to the entire community to apply. Kevin Romick is up for election this year, he should be voted out of office for this type of behavior.
Also, Doug Hardcastle has now twice had a chance to serve on the fire board and has twice not stepped up to serve the Fire District he claims to care so much about. He is not supervisor material.
As Mayor of Oakley, Kevin Romick has every right to appoint who he wishes on this appointed Fire Board. If the board was elected, Oakley would have no ability to appoint (same goes for the Board of Supervisors and Brentwood City Council for their seats).
“Bell says she is all for moving to an elected board based on the agreement when the District accepted the money from the County if that is a decision they feel they need to move towards.”
Ms. Bell, it’s not “if you feel you and the board needs to move towards”….it is a condition of the agreement. Not sure which part you or the board doesn’t understand. If the condition is not met, there will be consequences. It’s time to move forward, not backward.
Let’s hope you can aid the board to honor their commitment and responsibilities.
Apparently last nights meeting was business as usual. In other words a complete Cluster F*ck. There is no one on the fire board that has a clue to what they are doing. Their legal council is just as clueless. This was a common observation.
Its time to demand an elected board. If they don’t move towards that I for one would like to see the county demand their money back. I agree with Voter.
Its time to take the keys away and let some experienced and educated policy makers take charge. What we have now is the worst of the worst.
Looks like Bell will be a “mouthpiece” (and pocket vote) for Romick on the Fire Board.
What is funny here is I have been following the fire district for a long, long, long time. …Yet I have never even heard of Meghan Bell? WTF? If she has been so interested for so long, where the hell has she been?
There are dozens of identified individuals that have had fire protection and this district at the forefront of their priorities. Meghan Bell has not been identified as one of them.
The reality is Meghan can’t and won’t make a bit of difference on this board unless she sticks her heels in the dirt and demands that the board be replaced by an elected board, accountable directly to the voters of the district.
If last nights meeting and her odd support by Steve Barr (who has no accomplishments under his belt) is any indication of things to come, we just moved back another step. The blind leading the blind.
End of story.
The criticism of the board will probably continue until the conditions of the seed money are met. The board needs to be elected to gain back any trust by the public. The longer it’s delayed the more likely any new attempt on a revenue tax will fail again. Also, any more than 5 board members will continue disfunction of the district.
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