The Idyllwild Fire Protection District (IFPD) commission put out a request for proposal (RFP) for legal counsel. The commission held a meeting to interview the two responding firms — Cole Huber and Varner & Brandt — on Oct. 29. Unfortunately, the item will be revisited at the Nov. 26 commission board meeting because only three of the five commissioners were present.
When asked if the board made a selection on legal counsel at the Oct. 29 meeting, commission President Jerry Buchanan responded: “Thanks for the question on the new attorney decision. It has been the policy of the IFPD to refer all questions to the chief. I will notify [Chief] Mark [LaMont] about your question and he will respond.”
La Mont responded: “The RFP for legal services was discussed at the special meeting of Oct. 29. The two respondents to the RFP each gave a presentation to the board.
“Action taken: Three board members [Buchanan, Rhonda Andrewson and Henry Sawicki] were present at the special meeting. When brought to a vote two board members voted to retain Cole Huber and one board member voted to retain Varner & Brandt.
“Without a majority vote this item will be revisited on the agenda for review/discussion/approval at the Nov. 26 regular board meeting.”
The newspaper requested the attendance log for the commissioners starting January 2019. The district emailed the log beginning January 2017. For 2019, Andrewson and Buchanan have the best attendance having attended 13 of the 14 commission meetings since January. Larry Donahoo has been present for half of the meetings. Ralph Hoetger has been present for 12 of the 14 meetings and Sawicki has been present for 11 of the 14 meetings.
