Every member of the Lake Forest Park City Council, minus one abstention, voted on

Thursday evening to oppose Prop. 1, a proposed merger between Northshore and Woodinville Fire Districts in the April Special Election.

In opposing Prop. 1, Lake Forest Park Council member John Resha said, “The financials are not a standard I would expect. There are too many unanswered questions. And they are based off of a concept that I don’t agree with, which is balancing your books and creating savings on your

employees’ backs. It just doesn’t add up for me.”

Lake Forest Park Council member Tom French said, “What concerns me here deeply is that the homework has not been done by the folks that are really proposing this merger.” Council member French closed by saying, “At this point, there is no way I can support this merger.”

Council member Phillippa Kassover said, “I deeply feel that this is not the right time for the merger. We need to urge our Fire Commission to step back, to regroup, to talk with their firefighters, and to get a better road ahead for our community on this idea.”

Lake Forest Park Council joins the Kenmore City Council, local firefighters representing Northshore, Woodinville, Shoreline, and Bothell, as well as Fire District Commissioners from Northshore and Woodinville in opposing Prop. 1.

First responders who serve the community believe the merger offers no increase to emergency services, proposes a budget and structure that is unsustainable, merges two jurisdictions that do not have contiguous borders, and reduces the wages of our Northshore Firefighters.

Ballots were received by voters last week and are due by Tuesday, April 27. For more information voters can contact citizensforasafernorthshore@gmail.com.