How much government is too much, too little

Justin Johnson | Mar 16, 20230

How much government is too much?

How much is too little?

The answer to that probably depends on whom you ask.

I’m of the mind that efficiency is much more important than size.

A few weeks ago, Island Lake Fire — formally known as Mason County Fire Protection District 11 — submitted a ballot measure that, if approved by the district’s voters, would see Island Lake merge with and be absorbed by Central Mason Fire & EMS.

Personally, I really hope it passes.

Why?

Well for one, there are too many micro districts here in Mason County.

Prior to moving to Washington, I spent most of my life in a city with about 90,000 people in a county of more than 250,000, and there are fewer fire districts and school districts in that area than there are here in Mason.

The sheer number of small districts here in Mason County feels incredibly inefficient at best and downright wasteful most of the time.

Many people living in these small districts cite having local control, but at what cost?

Does a county of 65,000 people really need 10 fire districts? Or seven school districts?

How much additional cost is borne by taxpayers paying for 10 fire chiefs and seven school district superintendents?

Additionally, how do smaller districts pay for capital expenses such as a new apparatus or fire station without disproportionally having to fund those expenses from a smaller number of people in the district?

How about this:

■ Combine North Mason Regional Fire Authority with Grapeview and have Central Mason cede Allyn to NMRFA.

■ Combine Hoodsport Fire & EMS with Fire 17 (the area of Hood Canal north of Lilliwaup), Union Fire and the portion of Skokomish Valley currently covered by West Mason Fire into a new Hood Canal Fire Authority.

■ Combine West Mason Fire, District 12 (Matlock), District 13 and District 4 into Southwest Mason Fire.

That creates four districts, pooled resources and a larger, more diverse tax base for each district.

And why we’re on the topic of consolidation, why not merge Southside, Pioneer and Hood Canal school districts into Shelton School District and combine Grapeview with North Mason?

These are just a couple of things that come to mind when I think of a more efficient system here in Mason County. One with the potential to save residents tax money, remove layers of red tape and bureaucracy, and reduce the risk of corruption and other undesirable elements of a closed, small-town system. Could a more efficient system have helped uncover what was going on at Fire 12 in Matlock before the state Auditor’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation had to get involved?

One area that I would like to see expanded is the Board of Mason County Commissioners.

With just three members, that means that it only takes two people to have an enormous effect on all of our lives.

Why is it that the City of Shelton has seven city councilers, but we just have three county commissioners?

Expanding the commission to five seats would come at a significant cost, but it would offer more diverse leadership with input from more areas of the county.

Maybe I’m just rambling aimlessly and none of these are good ideas for reasons that I haven’t thought of, but I encourage you to chime in. Write me a letter to the editor and we’ll print your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. Just because it’s how it’s always been done or how it’s been set up for a century doesn’t mean that it has stay that way. Change, however, doesn’t start if you don’t have the conversation.

Thank you for reading.