The Sedona Fire District Governing Board is looking to fill a vacancy following the anticipated resignation of board member Eugene “Gene” McCarthy during its board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
“McCarthy [brought] more than 50 years’ experience and knowledge in business and public safety service to the SFD governing board,” the district’s website states. “Gene served three years in the U.S. Army prior to joining the Los Angeles Police Department as an officer. He also served as a firefighter/paramedic, fire captain and EMS coordinator in his career with Los Angeles County Fire Department and Whittier Fire. He was the vice president of operations at Strategic Security Systems, Inc. and a contract consultant with top secret clearance at the FBI field office in Los Angeles. Before his board appointment, Gene volunteered on the SFD Citizens’ Advisory Committee in 2017 and as a local board member on SFD’s Public Safety Pension Board.”
Photo by David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers.
The board would like to have McCarthy’s replacement selected at its meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14, with the replacement expected to be seated during the Tuesday, Dec. 19 meeting.
“That’s our goal,” SFD Governing Board Chairman Dave Soto said. “We have 90 days and so if we do not select somebody within 90 days, then the county will step in and do it for us within 60 days of that day.”
The unpaid, four-year elected position requires residency within the area and being a registered voter. The monthly time commitment involves attending the monthly Tuesday meeting and may also require two to three events during the month. Additionally, the new member must take mandatory state training before being seated, with other required training within one year of assuming the seat.
“We do have an additional meeting one-on-one with the chief to discuss any concerns we may have or express how things are going,” Soto said. “Basically, the fire chief runs the fire district and the board is merely an oversight committee. We [make] sure that the budget is approved and we are responsible in our spending and our requisitions realizing that it is our community’s monies.”
This vacancy will be an appointment by the board and the selected candidate will serve the remainder of the four year term until the November 2026 election.
“We alternate two on a given [election] cycle and three on the other,” Soto said. “At any one time, like November 2024, we’ll have two people that will be up for reelection.”
“I’m as anxious as anybody to get the position filled,” Soto said. “[McCarthy] was a valued member [and] also involved with [the] career field of the fire service. It’s good to have people with backgrounds like that because we speak the language and we make that connection very quickly with the chief and his concerns. But we have to remember this is truly an administrative position, not so much an operational position [and] we leave the operations to the chief and his staff.”
SFD Fire Chief Ed Mezulis echoed that sentiment and made a pitch to people without fire experience to get involved with the board during an Oct. 12 meeting of The Sedona Women at the Sedona Public Library.
“Historically, throughout the state, a lot of fire districts seek out retired firefighters, ” Mezulis said at the meeting. “We’ve got a couple of retired firefighters on our board. But we’ve also got some women that worked high-power positions in different companies throughout their careers. I appreciate it deeply because they bring a perspective that just the firefighter can’t, and I’m not downplaying the perspective that our retired firefighters bring. [But] I think the collective energy that [the women board members] bring to the table helps keep this district serving the community as best we can.”
The vacancy is not expected to affect SFD operations because the board will still have a quorum with the remaining four members.
“It will be business as usual and there shouldn’t be any issue,” Soto said.
Prior to the acceptance of McCarthy’s resignation, SFD was scheduled to be welcoming 10 new employees with a badge-pinning ceremony but that has been rescheduled to the board’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
“When you’re on emergency service, you have to have constant staffing, which means when there’s a vacancy, you have to hire for it,” Soto said. “Because you have to have so many people respond on that rig and if you don’t have that company is going to be closed. Maintaining staffing levels is one of our ultimate priorities. That’s why hiring these new recruits, whether it’s one or a dozen, is extremely important, and we value the chief’s selection and his process and we’re here to help out where we can.”
To apply, contact SFD by phone at (928) 282-6800 or through the website at sedonafire.org.
