Meet Mark C. Emery, Candidate for Woodinville Fire & Rescue Board of Commissioners

This is part of a series of candidate profiles Patch will be bringing you for the 2011 elections.

What is your full, legal name?

Mark C. Emery

Where do you work and what is your job title?

President, Fire Command LLC, an international fire and life safety education and training company based in Woodinville. Fire Command LLC provides leadership development education, incident management training, and assists fire departments with program development and implementation.  I also teach engineering principles of building construction as it applies to structural fire fighting.

I retired from Woodinville Fire and Rescue in November 2010 after 29 years of service as a fire and life safety professional.   During my career at Woodinville I served as Fire Fighter, Emergency Medical Technician, Chief of Training, and retired as Operations Battalion Chief.

Age: 58

Where do you live now and how long have you lived there?

My family has resided in unincorporated Woodinville for 19 years. Before relocating to Woodinville in 1992, we resided in Duvall for nine years.  

Spouse or domestic partner if any:

I married Barbara on June 24th, 1978. 

Children:

We have two daughters, Stephanie and Jillian.

Education (include graduation date(s), if any):

B.A. Degree, Education, California State University at Long Beach, June 1978.

Teaching Credential, State of California, 1979.

Teaching Certificate, State of Washington, 1981.

Executive Fire Officer Program, National Fire Academy, Emmitsburg, MD.

Masters Degree in Business Administration, City University, Bellevue, WA (50% complete).

Pro Board Certified, Incident Safety Officer, Fire Department Safety Officers Association.

Instructor Specialist, National Fire Academy, Emmitsburg, MD.

State of Washington Certification, Emergency Service Instructor I.

Military Service (include year(s) of discharge, if any):

None

Memberships and affiliations with clubs and other organizations:

Woodinville Chamber of Commerce.

Region X Director, National Fire Academy Alumni Association.

National Society of Executive Fire Officers.

International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Advisory Board, Firehouse Magazine/Firehouse.Com and Cygnus Expositions.

Have you or a business you owned (or had principal interest in) ever filed bankruptcy?

Never, personal or business

As an adult, have you been convicted or charged with a crime other than a minor traffic violation?

Never

CAMPAIGN INFORMATION:

Web site: in progress

Email address: mark.fci@comcast.net

Phone number: 425-753-6924

Campaign manager: Jillian Emery (my daughter volunteered)

Facebook: Elect Mark Emery

PREVIOUS ELECTED OFFICE(S):

Planning Commissioner, City of Duvall, WA, 1982-1984. 

Other campaigns for public office: None

What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

I will make sure that Woodinville Fire and Rescue regains Accreditation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). Woodinville Fire was one of six Accredited fire departments in Washington and one of 137 Accredited fire departments in the world. Once the Fire District has regained Accreditation, I will ensure that this prestigious honor is cared for and sustained.  

The Board-adopted Mission Statement of Woodinville Fire and Rescue promises: Striving for Perfection, Focused on Excellence. I want to assure the citizens and businesses Woodinville Fire will indeed ‘strive for perfection’ and be ‘focused on excellence.’ Allowing Accreditation to lapse is evidence that the current Board and Administration have not delivered on that promise. 

What will be your top three priorities if you get elected and why?

 Fisrt: Regain Accreditation by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). CFAI Accreditation is the only objective assurance that Woodinville Fire and Rescue is doing what a full-service fire department should be doing and that revenue is being collected and budgeted responsibly. CFAI Accreditation also provides verification that Woodinville Fire is also doing what they say they are doing (on paper versus in practice).

This assurance must be resurrected and sustained. Be aware that because the District will need to start from square-one, the Accreditation process will require two-years to complete.  When a citizen is experiencing the worst day of their life they are not going to thumb through the yellow pages hoping to select a great fire department.

When you call 911 you want assurance that a great fire department will respond (not hope that a great fire department responds). Without third-party Accreditation, saying Woodinville is a great Fire District is just opinion.

Second: Establish a structured and systematic process for the recruitment and selection of your Fire Chief. For decades Woodinville Fire has relied on a selection process for all positions— except for the Fire Chief. The absence of such a process makes the selection of your Fire Chief susceptible to the whim of whoever sits on the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Third: Establish and sustain reliable funding mechanisms for the future so that service levels are maintained and improved as the mission the Fire District changes and adapts to the needs of the Woodinville community.

To protect your investment, I will ensure that Woodinville Fire meets or exceeds the ‘best financial practices’ identified by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). As evidence, Woodinville Fire will strive to earn a GFOA Distinguished Budget Award and will strive to earn a GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. 

Revenue loss due to annexations is a challenge, however, when you call 911 you want a great fire department to respond and arrive promptly; a fire department that has the people, the equipment, and the preparation necessary to provide expert assistance. 

What sets you apart from the other candidates and/or previous office holders?

Twenty-nine years of knowledge and experience as a Fire Fighter, Emergency Medical Technician, Lieutenant, and Battalion Chief with Woodinville Fire and Rescue; knowledge and experience that enable me to function as more than an amateur part-time politician lacking the depth of fire service background.

I will ensure that Woodinville Fire adopt the concept of a Fire Commissioner Academy. The one or two-day Fire Commissioner Academy (FCA) would be required — by resolution — for all new, incoming Fire Commissioners. The FCA would provide a comprehensive overview of all operational and administrative aspects of the Fire District, including national standards and state mandates that guide budgeting, decisions, and strategic planning.

As a graduate of the four-year National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP) I was introduced to best practices for the administration and operation of a contemporary department. In addition to the four-year EFO program I completed additional Executive Fire Officer curriculum, including one year of fire department financial management and an additional year of fire department strategic planning.

During my career with Woodinville Fire and Rescue I established a regional—and international — reputation as a fire service leader, innovator, instructor, and author. For 29 years the Woodinville community provided me with a rewarding career, now it’s my turn to reward the Woodinville community as your Fire Commissioner.

How much money do you expect your campaign to spend on this election?

I anticipate investing around $1,000.00 of my own money. 

Official endorsements:

Minuteman Press, Woodinville

IMS Alliance, Inc.

Jim Dorney

Rebecca Clark

Art Cole

Tom Litchford

Roger Kacmarcik

Woodinville Fire Fighters, Local 2950