The Board of Directors for the Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association wishes to inform the community that effective November 2nd, 2022 David Ives will no longer be our Fire Chief.
This decision was not easily made and was only done with the greatest reluctance. We chose Mr. Ives to be our Chief because we saw that he is a highly skilled and a dedicated fire fighting professional. We also liked him and his partner Shari personally and wanted them in our community.
Unfortunately it became apparent that there were aspects of his leadership style that were at odds with the culture of our fire department and our efforts to help him adapt his style to our culture did not succeed. Matters deteriorated and we realized that we needed to be honest with him and ourselves that this was not going to work out.
On October 31st Mr. Ives stated verbally in a voice message to President Walker “I would like to discuss the means and terms of my separation from the island”. A similar message was left with Director Whelan. We understood this to mean that he was in concurrence with the board that the relationship was no longer tenable.
The third paragraph of the contract between Mr. Ives and the Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association had a six month probationary clause stating that “either party may cancel the contract for any reason and without cause and with no penalty”.
The board of directors voted to exercise this clause in a board motion the morning of November 2nd and Mr. Ives was informed of this decision a few hours later.
We sincerely hope that Dave and Shari remain in the community as they both have much to offer.
Presently we are focused on the difficult job of getting back into a steady routine of fire service delivery.
To that end the board has approved a six month contract with Deputy Chief Eli McKenty to be interim Fire Chief until we can find a suitable replacement. Former Chief Mac Diver has indicated that he is willing to assist Chief McKenty as required.
The search process has already begun and we will be using every available resource to find our new chief as efficiently as possible.
Regardless of any differences with our former Chief, David Ives, our number one focus is the safety and development of our volunteers so that they can fulfill their duties as an effective fire and emergency service for our community.
Yours truly,
The Cortes Island Fire Fighting Board of Directors.
Stephanie Asbeck – Secretary
Wesley Kirk – Director at large
Patrick Whelan – Director at large
David Robertson – Director at large
Chris Walker – President
