Board Of commissioners

Bob Cernick

Bill Dickinson

Justin Zipperer

Position #1
Bob Cernick
First Elected: 01/01/1998
Current Term Ends: 12/31/26
Email:rcernick@kcfd7.com

Position #2 Chairman
Bill Dickinson
First Elected: 01/01/2018
Term Expires 12/31/2023
Bill became a volunteer firefighter at age 18 and volunteered in both King County and Chelan County. A Washington native, he moved to Cle Elum 49 years ago following his marriage to college sweetheart Betty Groeschell. The Groeschell family has lived in the upper county for some 100 years and they now live full time on part of the original family farm. After college, his interest in public safety moved into law enforcement and public administration. In his 45 years of public service, the last 23 years were spent working at different times as a police chief, an assistant City Manager, acting City Manager, and Emergency Manager in several west side cities. Bill is a graduate of Seattle University with master’s work at City University in both Business and Public Administration. Following retirement, he wanted to return to volunteer fire service. Desiring to make use of his public administration experience, he also ran for and was elected to the position of Fire Commissioner in Fire District #7. He has two sons, one a wildland firefighter in Eastern Washington and the other a police officer in Western Washington.
Email:bdickinson@kcfd7.com

Position #3
Justin Zipperer
First Elected: 1/1/2022
Current Term Ends: 12/31/2028
Commissioner Zipperer brings to Fire District 7 over 23 years of experience in the fire service and has been involved in emergency operations as a Lieutenant Firefighter/ Paramedic. He brings extensive knowledge to the district from training and knowledge of structural and wildland firefighting, paramedic services, technical rescue, and truck operations. Commissioner Zipperer was elected in November 2021 as Commissioner for Fire District 7. Commissioner Zipperer values working together to ensure proactive and responsive leadership and making fact-based decisions for efficient and effective outcomes. Justin’s priorities are volunteer and career firefighter retention, hiring more full-time firefighters, improving department training, ensuring fiscal accountability, collaboration and planning with Upper County fire departments/Medic One to decrease response times and improve the service citizens and visitors receive. He also understands the need to update equipment and apparatus to fulfill the current and future needs of the community.
Commissioner Zipperer resides in the Nelson Siding area with his wife, Stephanie, and their four kids.
Email:jzipperer@kcfd7.com
Commissioner meetings are held the 2nd Wednesday of the month @6:00 pm.
Meetings can be attended in person @ Station 72 on Airport Road
If you would like to make a public comment, please attend the next scheduled meeting. The public is encouraged to attend meetings to stay up to date with what is going on within the district.
faq's
The Kittitas County Fire District #7 Board of Fire Commissioners, consisting of three elected individuals, is responsible for governing the operations of the District. The board is generally responsible for the following areas:
- Determining levels of service and establishing goals.
- Determining type and level of funding, approve budgets, and tax levies.
- Establishing policies and approving operational procedures.
- Employing key personnel, supervising chief.
- Guiding strategic planning.
- Representing District to public
It is important to note that individual fire commissioners have no individual authority to operate a fire protection district. Instead, individual commissioners have the following responsibilities:
- Attend meetings of the board of commissioners.
- Educate themselves to understand the history of our District, the laws governing the operation of the District and the individual’s role in governing the District.
- Actively participate in the governance of the District by working with the board of commissioners in open public meetings.
- Understand and comply with all ethics laws.
- Act as a representative of your District with a professional demeanor.
- Avoid any attempts to unilaterally direct staff members or micromanage the staff. The board of commissioners runs the District through the Chief together, individual commissioners do not, and should not, attempt to run the District.
- Represent all constituents and avoid special interests. Maintain confidentiality of privileged or private District records and information
There are several ways to contact an individual Fire Commissioner to share your thoughts, and opinions or to simply ask questions. One, send an email to an individual commissioner, as listed on the web page and he or she will be sure other commissioners or staff are aware of your topic. You can call an individual commissioner and share your thoughts but please remember, an individual fire commissioner has no authority to operate any portion of the fire district; staff, facilities, equipment, or operational procedures in the field. With that said, know your thoughts and concerns will be taken into consideration and will be forwarded to the board or administrative staff for review.
All the members of the Fire District #7 board have other work commitments outside the duties of being a fire commissioner. If you want to meet with an individual commissioner, please find their email information on the website and contact them directly. If you just want to meet with a commissioner at-large, send an email to the current Board Chairman and they will make sure that you get a response. Please know that with Covid-19 regulations or suggested guidelines, these meetings may be by phone or virtual based.
Meeting schedule
- January 11th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- February 8th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- March 8th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- April 12th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- April 19th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm (Special Joint Meeting)
- May 10th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- May 31st, 2023 @6:00 pm (Special Joint Workshop with ESCI)
- June 14th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- July 12th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- August 9th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- September 13th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- October 11th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- October 20th, 2023 @ 9:00 am (Special Budget Meeting)
- November 8th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
- December 13th, 2023 @ 6:00 pm
The meeting schedule is updated regularly to reflect any meeting date, time, or special meeting changes
BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONER RULES
The three-member Board of Fire Commissioners is governed by Chapter 52.14 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) which sets the number, qualifications, and compensation for the Board of Fire Commissioners.
The rule states: “The affairs of the district shall be managed by a board of fire commissioners composed of three registered voters residing in the district except as provided in RCW 52.14.015 and 52.14.020.”
The rule also details the rate of compensation for the board. Earnings cannot exceed a set amount each year. As of 2019, the yearly allowance for earnings is twelve thousand two hundred and eighty-eight dollars per year. Board compensation is for time spent in actual attendance at official meetings of the board or in performance of other services or duties on behalf of the fire district.
The Chair of the board for Kittitas County Fire District 7 assigns meeting attendance for the commissioners each year.
Commissioner’s terms are set forth in RCW 52.14.060 for a period of six years. Elections are held with the county auditor opening up a special filing period. The person who receives the greatest number of votes is elected to that position and takes the official oath of office at the first board meeting in January. The fire commissioners elect a chair from their members each year as provided in RCW 52.14.080.
The board holds regular meetings once per month. The regular meeting schedule for the board for Kittitas County Fire District 7 is the second Wednesday of every month @ 6:00 pm. All of the meetings follow the open public meeting requirements. Special meetings may be scheduled.