BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)
The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (“District”) is currently governed by a nine-member appointed Board of Directors. Four members of the Board of Directors were appointed by the Brentwood City Council, three members were appointed by the Oakley City Council, and two members were appointed by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. California law allowed voters to change an appointed fire protection district board of directors to a board of directors whose members are elected by the voters. The District Board of Directors adopted a resolution asking voters to decide whether to change the District governing board “from an appointed Board of Directors of nine members to a Board of Directors of nine members, elected at-large.” A majority of voters in the November 2016 election supported changing the governing board to an elected board. The District Board subsequently passed a resolution, attached hereto, establishing even-year elections and requesting to consolidate the first of these elections with the November 2018 general election.
Additionally, on November 6, 2017, the District Board of Directors adopted a resolution to conduct an all mail ballot election on March 6, 2018 to transition from a nine-person elected board to a five-person elected board and to designate the seats "at large" rather than representative of wards. Under either the prospective 9-member or 5-member elected board, the members of the District Board of Directors will be elected at the next general District election in November 2018, and the elected officers will likely take office on December 7, 2018.
The terms of office for the two Board of Supervisors-appointed Directors, Robert Kenny and Cheryl Morgan, will expire on February 4, 2018, leaving vacancies that will not be filled until successors are elected in November 2018 and assume office. On October 13, 2017, staff opened a recruitment (see attached media release) with an application deadline of November 20. The recruitment garnered seven applications.
The Internal Operations Committee interviewed five candidates on December 11 and one candidate on December 19. Candidate Anthony Bargiacchi could not attend his scheduled interview but was considered on the basis of his application. As a result of the interviews
| Name |
Resident of |
Current Employment |
Education |
Current Volunteering Work |
Also Applied for |
| Anthony Bargiacchi |
Brentwood |
Engineer/Firefighter, Novato Fire Protection District; Adjunct Faculty, EMT-First Responder, Los Medanos College |
BS, Columbia Southern Univ; criminal justice coursework at San Jose State Univ |
Not specified |
Not specified |
| Lito Calimlim |
Clayton |
Real Estate Broker |
BA, Econ & Psychology, UCLA |
Comstock Gardens HOA Board President |
Not specified |
| Karin Schnaider |
Brentwood |
City of Tracy Finance Director |
MBA, Public Policy Administration, San Diego State Univ.; BA, Public Policy Administration, CSU Long Beach |
Not specified |
Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen Union Cemetery District Board |
| Sandra Strobel |
Knightsen |
Real Estate Broker; Project Manager/Admin |
GED, community college coursework, real estate license |
Knightsen Neighborhood Watch Chairperson |
Not specified |
| Stephen F. Smith |
Brentwood |
Retired. Formerly, IT programmer analyst for banking institutions. |
MS, BS, UC Berkeley |
ECCFPD Board member since 2011 |
Not specified |
| Susanna Thompson |
Clayton |
Co-owner, electrical contracting business; equine transportation services |
GED, junior college and university coursework in History |
Not specified |
Not specified |
| Mark Whitlock |
Bethel Island |
Owner, carpet cleaning business since 1978 |
Not specified |
Not specified |
Not specified |
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The terms of office of the current Board of Supervisors-appointed Directors, Robert Kenny and Cheryl Morgan, will expire on February 4, 2018. Unless new directors are appointed by the County, the vacancies will not be filled until successors are elected in November 2018 and assume office.