With negotiations stalled for the past seven months on plans to have Burien/Normandy Park Fire Chief Mike Marrs take over as North Highline chief, the North Highline Board of Fire Commissioners approved July 1 the job description of an interim chief administrator they hope to hire by August 1st.

"We need to have a point person," said Commissioner Wayne Alishokis.
According to Commissioner Ray Austin, the interim chief will oversee day-to-day operations, finance, logistics, training, and staffing.
The chief's most important duty, though, will involve negotiating an administrative contract with Burien's Fire District 2 or another fire district.

Austin noted that the North Highline had begun to construct an agreement with Fire District 2 in which District 2 would provide administrative services for the North Highline district, which has been without a chief administrator since Chief Scott LaVielle stepped down in December of 2009.

However, the discussions ended before a contract had been signed, and the North Highline district has been operating "in limbo" under the leadership of its battalion chiefs.

District 2 Commissioner Gary Hobbick told the North Highline board in May that his board doesn't want to shut the door on North Highline. However the Burien board feels Marrs may be stretched too thin to manage District 2, North Highline and build new fire stations in Burien and Normandy Park.

"I firmly believe we need to bring someone in from the outside," Alishokis said. An outsider could help the department move beyond internal preferences for Burien or Seattle, he continued.

Austin said that the contract for the position would not continue beyond December of 2011. If the North Highline district has not finalized an administrative contract with any other district, the board can then revisit the contract.
"We realize you don't want some yahoo coming in at a critical time," Austin told battalion commanders, but the district urgently needs a chief at the top of the chain of command.

The district's finances are currently "in the black," and the district could afford an interim administrator's salary.
If the district does finalize a contract, Austin said, annexation could change the administrative structure again. With the state pushing for cities to annex unincorporated areas, this could occur in the near future.

"Municipalities provide services better than unincorporated areas," Austin said, citing the North Highline district's current situation.
Ultimately, no matter how administration contracts are settled, he noted, the North Highline staff members will continue to work to improve their level of service. "Everyone's working for the best of the community," he added.