Woodinville Fire Commissioner Miller Resigns

In a move that seemed to stun his fellow commissioners, Bob Miller resigned from the Woodinville fire district board Monday night, stating that some of the commissioners were working “for a select few and not the citizens at large.”

Miller, who has served on the fire district’s board since 1987 and is a former Woodinville mayor, read his prepared statement (see document) at the end of the April 2 meeting then got up, walked out of the building and drove away.

In his statement, Miller said: “As a fire commissioner, our fiduciary duty is solely to the citizens. It is not to any special interest group of small segment of the populace.”

He added that a fire commissioner’s role is to serve as watchdog for the citizens, “To make certain that the policies and procedures implemented and formulated by the District are for the benefit of the greater citizenry—not a select segment.”

Miller did not specify which special interest groups or individuals he suspects are being favored, nor did he name which commissioners he believes are bowing to special interest pressures. The board recently gained two new members: , who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by the resignation of , and , who unseated Clint Olson in last November’s election.

“As I can no longer add value to a commission that fails to consider anything other than what is good for a select few at the expense of the entire District, I have decided to resign,” Miller said.

Monday night was not the first time Miller has spoken out about problems in the district. In October of last year, he struck back after the firefighter’s union challenged the decision to close Fire Station 34 after the Kirkland annexation of the Kingsgate area (). “Voters in the service area decided they wanted Kirkland to be their service provider,” he said. “I didn’t want this, the chief didn’t want this and none of the other commissioners wanted this. We had no choice.”

After Miller left, a visibly stunned acting chair Kevin Coughlin said he did not know what to say.  Commissioners Emery and Vucci remained silent and the meeting was adjourned within a few minutes of Miller’s departure. Board Chairman Tim Osgood was not at the meeting; he is an active firefighter and was on duty.