Members of EMS and Fire District 3 for Bob Jarman

Dear fellow islanders:

We, members of your San Juan Island EMS and San Juan Fire District #3, wholeheartedly support Bob Jarman for Fire Commissioner.

We are at a moment in time where petty, caustic language devoid of honor, truth, and integrity is being normalized in our elections, from the national stage to our local politics. Your first responders and support personnel soundly reject such tactics, which artificially divide our community and do hardworking public servants a huge disservice. We strive to do the best for you and our community, which is why we publicly and enthusiastically support Bob Jarman.

Bob has served the district for 15 years, overseeing dramatic improvements in emergency and community services:

  • The annexation of Town of Friday Harbor fire services, as well as the expansion to other islands, has enabled a more efficient, consistent, and robust emergency response for more of our citizens.
  • Equipment and facilities across the district have been modernized, allowing the department to keep up with an ever-expanding volume of emergency calls.
  • Emergency responder training has been completely reimagined to meet the growing complexity of community needs, enabling better and safer outcomes for our patients and first responders.
  • A new fire chief, who has brought a wealth of experience and knowhow, joined the community in 2019. Chief Collins is a veteran of the Navy, having served as a hospital corpsman/combat medic, and then a firefighter/medic for 31 years. Chief Collins has also been a senior paramedic instructor and co-developed the national model for community paramedicine, which San Juan EMS emulated in our program.
  • A new response model has slashed response times by 48% in two years.

During his tenure as board chair, Bob has steered all these improvements for our community while responsibly managing the budget and never having to ask taxpayers for additional funds.

The board has exceeded all state and federal requirements, being fully transparent in meetings and documents, meeting all formal record requests (there have been two this year), and passing the comprehensive state audit every year with clean marks.

Bob Jarman has supported the integration of EMS and Fire since Day One. He has overseen the comprehensive budget and plan for the integration, which have been publicly available and shared for the past two years. He has helped to support blended Fire and EMS responses on all calls since 2020 as we have practiced for integration and cared for our community and visitors during a pandemic. Bob has held meetings with Hospital District board members and facilitated community engagement with outer islands and the town of Friday Harbor to bring all of their citizens under the protection of the Fire District.

Bob is ready for the changes ahead, leading a board and chief with over 80 years of EMS and fire experience between them—in the field, as EMT and paramedic instructors, as auditors, and as senior leaders in agencies large and small. Bob believes in a future of possibility where we continue to improve our community services while maintaining fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability—not in rehashing arguments that divided us 25 years ago.

Your responders expect their board members to serve with integrity and honesty in their dealings with the emergency services community and the public. For us, the choice is as simple as can be. We support Bob Jarman to be Fire Commissioner of Fire District #3.

Yours in service,
Alan Arrowsmith, Joran “Dutch” Bouwman, Hella Cascorbi, Chuck Dalldorf, Leo De Bruyn, Maria De Bruyn, Thomas E. Eades, Kati English, Austin Foster (Ret.), Robin Garcia, Erin Graham, Adam Greene, Erik Gresseth, Michael Hartzell, Michael Henderson, David Howitt, Karl Kuetzing, Tad Lean, Craig McConnell, Nickie McDonald, John McDowell, Kate McDowell, Noel Monin, John Salinas, Kathleen Salinas, Harry See, Brien Sesby, Brooke Sevier, Brad Smith, Sue Stabley, Ronald Stanger, Gilbert Venegas, Kelsey Venegas, Michelangelo von Dassow, Mark Wagner and John Young