Election 2005: Top vote-getter in fire board race eyes pension costs Election 2005: Top vote-getter in fire board race eyes pension costs (November 16, 2005)

By Renee Batti

Almanac News Editor

Peter Carpenter is taking his first-place victory in the Menlo Park Fire Protection District board race as a mandate -- one he interprets in a way that's likely to cause some nervousness among members of the local firefighters' association.

Winning his bid for re-election with 900-plus votes more than second-place winner Ollie Brown, also an incumbent, Mr. Carpenter said last week in an e-mail to the Almanac, "I feel that I have both a mandate and an obligation to fulfill the commitments that I made to the voters during this campaign."

Those commitments, he said, include addressing concerns about employee pension costs, which have skyrocketed over the last several years. And with the district and its firefighters preparing to begin new contract negotiations in a few months, Mr. Carpenter will soon have his chance to push for a thorough re-evaluation of retirement benefits by the board.

Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Brown and Rex Ianson, a former district firefighter, will be sworn in for four-year terms in December after their victories last week in the nine-candidate race. Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Brown are completing their first terms.

Former board member Steve Kennedy, who lost an earlier bid for re-election in 2003, finished in fourth place.

During his tenure from 1999 to 2003, Mr. Kennedy was censured three times and asked to resign by his colleagues for a string of incidents involving questionable behavior. His candidacy caused alarm on the part of some current board members and district employees, and is largely seen as the cause behind the unusually high number of candidates in this year's race.
The pension question

Whether Mr. Carpenter can garner the support of his board colleagues to negotiate a leaner employee pension plan is a big question. During the campaign, Mr. Brown, a former district firefighter who rose through the ranks to the position of deputy fire chief before retiring in 1997, said he believes the current plan is sustainable and fair.

Mr. Ianson, who retired in 2003 but is still involved with the district-based Task Force 3 regional search and rescue team, said during the campaign that he also believes the plan is sustainable. But he held open the possibility of supporting a boost in the amount firefighters contribute to the plan.
Unofficial results

The final vote tally is not yet complete, but the following figures are from the San Mateo County Elections Office's update late Friday, November 11:

Peter Carpenter, 7,447; Ollie Brown, 6,529; Rex Ianson, 5,878; Steve Kennedy, 5,007; Sarah Rankin, 2,263; Gerry Andeen, 2,066; Scott Freiermuth, 1,945; Terry Kent, 1,172; and Jack Nelson, 1,124.

The county is expected to update the figures late Wednesday, November 16.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.