Timberlake Fire recall floated

ATHOL - A petition is being circulated to recall Timberlake Fire Commissioner Jon Guinn.

"He has failed to act in the best interests of the district and its taxpayers and constituents by not exercising adequate oversight over the district and by failing to ensure that the district's equipment was properly maintained," the petition spearheaded by Larry Spencer states.

Guinn said the accusations are "totally false."

"With every vote that has been taken, I've been willing to spend money on repairs and maintenance," Guinn said. "Whatever it takes to get things fixed, I'm willing to do it. Without that, we're not protecting the community and firefighters. I'm more concerned about them than the district being sued."

Timberlake serves the Athol, Bayview and Careywood areas in Kootenai and Bonner counties.

Spencer, who lives in Bonner County but owns property near Athol in Kootenai County, has collected the initial 20 signatures from registered voters in the district to start the recall process. The signatures were certified by Kootenai County on Tuesday.

He now needs 354 signatures - 50 percent of the voters in the last district election - to send the proposal to voters on May 25. The initial 20 signatures does not count toward the 354 needed.

Athol Mayor Lanny Spurlock and City Council members Robert Rickel, Shirley Hyke and Lewis Miller were among those who signed the petition as Athol citizens.

"I think the fire department needs to be completely revamped," Spurlock said. "It needs fresh blood to sort things out."

The recall petition will be available at the Athol Community Center tonight from 5 to 8.

Guinn supports Chief Jack Krill's move to have the district's fleet inspected so it can be brought up to national safety standards. He said he's willing to authorize Krill to spend $100,000 of the $182,000 that's available for inspections and repairs.

Commissioners meet tonight at 6 at the Bayview Community Center to discuss suggested repairs to the fire equipment.

Krill's inspection decision raised some eyebrows because it meant taking 17 vehicles out of service and temporarily not having a vehicle available at five of the district's six stations. It left just one engine, two ambulances owned by Kootenai County and the fire boat in service. Some equipment has since been put back into service.

Guinn earlier called the move, supported by the district's firefighters union, "extremely courageous" because it had the interest of firefighters at heart.

Krill earlier said his safety concerns were escalated when he took an engine for a test drive and the accelerator was temporarily stuck before disaster was averted. But critics, including Spencer, believe the inspections are a publicity stunt to persuade voters into floating a levy this year for more district funding.

The situation recently drew about 300 people to two district meetings, but the inspections were allowed to proceed.

Public input meetings on whether to float a levy that were originally slated for this month have been put on hold by the district. At this point, it's iffy whether a levy will be held in May, Guinn said.

"There's money to do repairs without making us go bankrupt, but that will only last a couple years then we'll end up where we are again," Guinn said.