Votes on the proposals, designed to save money, were the final act for the current community services district board before three new residents take their seats Dec. 10. The cash-strapped district provides fire protection, park maintenance, recreation programs and street lighting for about 1,750 households.
"This board has been working for the past two and a half years on the district's financials," said board President Bruce Anderson.
Incoming board member Justin Kai protested the board's desire to make significant decisions when he, Bill Shea and Deana Dearborn are set to replace Anderson, Leah Kleinman-Green and Michael Dudasko after winning over voters in the recent election.
"It seems odd to try to push this along when there's going to be a lot of change going on," Kai said.
Board member Bill Hansell said it doesn't make sense to wait any longer.
"My concern about delaying this is we're not helping ourselves financially," Hansell said. "We'd be throwing away a few years of knowledge."
Anderson agreed.
"The new board can change almost anything we do," Anderson said. "Let us vote on what we've done."
Board members voted unanimously to move forward with plans to search for vendors to provide routine park maintenance, a move that would trigger the layoffs of two parks employees starting July 1, 2014. The board voted 4-1, with board member Tarey Read dissenting, against combining the fire chief and district manager positions.
"I feel very strongly that it is absurd to remove people who are getting their hands dirty in order to save money and at the same time retain two full-time department heads," Read said.
The idea to combine the two positions was originally proposed after learning current District Manager Thomas Horne plans to retire next year. The district will start looking for a new manager in March.
At the conclusion of Tuesday's meeting, the board shared a bottle of champagne and bid farewell to each other.
"I'd like to thank staff who have put up with us," Kleinman-Green said.
Contact Megan Hansen via email at mhansen@marinij.com or via Twitter athttp://twitter.com/hansenmegan. Follow her blog athttp://blogs.marinij.com/bureaucratsandbaking.