POULSBO —  A strong governing board runs well when its members have diverse backgrounds that contribute to the myriad of decisions any agency has to make.

Incumbent Poulsbo Fire Department commissioner David Ellingson believes his background as an engineer is an integral part of PFD’s operations.

“If you look at the dimensions of the board, each one of us comes with a different set of talents and skills and abilities that (we) bring to the equation and I think there’s just a tremendous amount of resources that we can all rely on and bring to the table — mine is from standpoint of supervision, management and engineering,” he said.

Ellingson’s first term as commissioner is nearing the end of its six-year run, but he hopes, with a track record full of accomplishments within the fire district, he will win a second term Nov. 8.

While he has never served in fire service, he has been the head of safety and security and emergency management for Strategic Weapons Facility-Pacific for the U.S. Navy, helping make preparations and ensuring equipment was in place should there be a natural or man-made disaster, which, he said, is very similar to how a fire district operates.

As a commissioner, he feels the agency’s biggest accomplishment during his time has been the design and construction of the new fully staffed station and training tower on Pioneer Hill that was built within the district’s budget.

“There are very few programs out there that, in fact, can say they built a new facility like that without going back to the voters and getting additional money,” he said. “It was some pretty creative stuff that we did and I think this is a significant accomplishment for the district.”

He is also in his second year as chairman of the board of directors for Kitsap County Central Communications (CenCom). He has been on the board since 2001 and helped with the contract negotiations for the CenCom Guild and assisted in the construction of the new CenCom building. He also helped negotiate contracts with the county’s firefighters union in 2001 and 2004.

If re-elected, Ellingson would like to see that the district continues its current departmental reorganization, as well as its accreditation process, which verifies that the agency’s policies and procedures are in place and the agency is running at top level.

Primarily, making sure all the facilities, personnel and equipment are running as they should be, he said.

Objectives he would like to pursue if re-elected would be to continue to ensure firefighters have top of the line equipment, there is proper allocation of district resources and to promote fair and equitable treatment of all district employees.

“I think I run on my record,” he said. “We’ve had a demonstrated record of success every year I’ve been on the board. We’ve always held the public interest as a predominate theme in all of our decisions on the (board) and we strive to serve the public in the best possible way and I think we see that in what’s happened in Poulsbo.”

Aside from being a fire commissioner, he is currently head of engineering for the strategic weapons facility at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and is a professor at the University of Phoenix. He has lived in Poulsbo since 1990.