Fire commissioner needs to get own house in order

John Christiansen is a fire commissioner with the Lacey Fire District.  It’s a non-partisan position.

This week he wrote a Letter to the Editor which appeared in The Olympian, attacking Lacey City Councilmember Jason Hearn for his vote to create a city fire department.    In his letter, Christiansen said that Hearn was not an independent thinker, who would not take a stand on his own beliefs.  Christiansen urged voters to vote for Hearn’s opponent for the 22nd Legislative District seat.

But, Christiansen is not being forthcoming about his own shortcomings.

He is a member of the Lacey Fire District Board of Commissioners, and as such is charged with setting the departments budget, particularly that portion which sets the salary levels for the fire fighters.

The district is currently in financial problems, because the district used one time monies to raise the salaries of firefighters.  Where most districts use about 80-85 percent of their budget for salaries, Christiansen voted to use more than 90 percent of the district’s monies for salaries.

What he doesn’t say – – is that his son – – is a Lacey fire fighter and an officer in the fire fighters union.

That’s a conflict of interest and far more interesting to the voters than Hearn’s support of a city fire department.   Christiansen should get his own house in order.