CKF&R chief gets a raise

Published 2:43 pm Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Chief Scott Weninger got a new contract — and a $4,246 raise in 2015 — when Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue District commissioners voted Monday to keep him as chief through 2018.

“He (Weninger) has led us through some tumultuous times,” said Board Chairman Dave Fergus. “And he has done so very professionally.”

Weninger’s raise was based on a survey the district did of administrative salaries in comparable districts. Recently, top administrators in the district were given raises to bring them to 90 to 95 percent of the average pay based on that survey.

Weninger’s raise in 2015 will bring him to 95 percent of the average pay for chiefs in similar fire districts in the region. He will be paid $151,046 in 2015.

The board additionally gave him a raise in 2016 that will bring him to 100 percent of that average chief’s salary. And the four-year contract extension also gives him a 2 percent cost of living raise in 2017 and 2018.

Weninger will keep the same benefits, but the district will increase its contributions to his 401K retirement from $400 to $500 a month.

Fergus said it was time to pay Weninger equal to the averages paid to other fire chiefs of his status.

“We really appreciate the work that you’ve done,” Fergus said to Weninger. “With this action, his salary will be with the average. But he’s anything but average. He’s exceeded the average in so many ways.”

Commissioners met in closed session following Monday’s regular meeting to discuss the chief’s contract. After about 30 minutes, the board returned to regular session and all five voted in favor of offering Weninger the new contract.

That action came after a performance review of Weninger by a committee of the board and the district’s attorney Ken Bagwell.

Bagwell said that he and commissioners Ralph Rogers and Dick West discussed Weninger performance and then met with him to discuss what he was looking for in a contract.

“We arrived at an agreement and that is what’s before you today,” Bagwell said.

The new contract extends to Dec. 31, 2018. Should the board become dissatisfied with Weninger and release him from his contract, Weninger would receive two year’s severance, unless that happens in the last year of his contract during which he would receive one year’s severance.

Weninger came to CKF&R in 2012 from Clackamas Fire District 1 in Oregon where he was deputy chief since 2003.

There, he worked his way up the ranks. He began as a volunteer at the old Clackamas County Fire District 54 in Redland when he was 18. He later served as career firefighter, lieutenant, captain and battalion chief for the old Oak Lodge Fire District, joining Clackamas 1 after mergers and consolidations.

In Oregon, he served as battalion chief, chief training officer, fire marshal, operations chief and support services chief.

In other matters on Monday, commissioners addressed the district’s 2015 budget which is expected to be approved in December. Budget work began last month when commissioners looked at whether, and how much, they would be willing to borrow from the district’s reserves in order to have a balanced budget in 2015.

Weninger offered commissioners two options. One calls for maintaining the 25 firefighters and six paramedics per shift and allows for the minimum staffing to remain at 17. But that would require using $300,000 from reserves, he said. Another $600,000 is expected to be borrowed from reserves to fund apparatus and facility maintenance in 2015.

The other option calls for reducing staffing to 24 firefighters and six paramedics per shift, with a minimum staffing of 17. Under that scenario, there would be no transfer of reserves to the operating budget. It would, however, increase the anticipated overtime from $400,000 to $480,000.

In either case, the district will cut its two fire inspector positions, and transfer fire inspections back to county government as set forth in state law, Weninger said.

Both options also call for putting a new maintenance and operation levy, or a capital bond issue before voters in November 2015 for a new source of revenue. The district’s EMS levy is expected to be on the ballot in April 2015 for renewal.

Ultimately, commissioners voted to keep the staffing levels at 25 firefighters per shift.

“It’s clear that the budget in its draft form is not sustainable,” said Commissioner West. “Transfers from reserves can’t be sustained over time. But how many personnel do we want to consider laying off? It’s like having three kids and trying to decide which two you’re going to keep.”

Fergus said the budget was full of hard decisions.

“It’s painful to not fund the inspector positions,” he said. “But it’s a job that belongs to the county. And I’m not thrilled with the amount of dollars coming out of our reserves. We can’t run the well dry. We will need to go out for a capital bond later in the year.”