Incumbent board director Matt Miller and safety advocate and author Lloyd "Rusty" Day are competing for one open full term seat on the Woodside Fire Protection District Board. A second, short term board seat will be automatically filled by appointed incumbent Randy Holthaus, who is running uncontested.

Matt Miller on a new station and tougher fire regulations

Woodside Fire Protection District (WFPD) Board President Matt Miller has spent the last eight years leading the district's wildfire preparation, advocating for new fire stations and working with the fire marshal to introduce new safety regulations. But he said there's still more work to be done.

"If re-elected, I would like to have the district issue stronger and clearer positions more proactively on topics such as new building codes, wildfire preparedness and on more controversial projects such as how to build safer higher-density housing," said 59-year-old Miller, a local business owner and nonprofit director.

During his time so far on the board, Miller supported the district's wildfire preparation efforts by proposing a new districtwide fire hazard mapping project. If reelected, he said he would continue that effort by working with the towns and other jurisdictions in the district to "adjust regulations and harden our neighborhoods."

"This will require adopting tougher regulations for building in certain high-risk areas," Miller said. "I hope to leverage my strong relationships with WFPD leaders and Town Council members across the district to make the necessary changes."

While working with local leaders is an important part of the job, Miller said he has concerns about the district getting caught up in politics, whether it be with the towns themselves or ad hoc groups like Portola Valley Neighbors United, of which Day is a member.

"I do not think the district should be pressured by outside groups of any kind as it sets direction on our safety," he said. "... As a director, I will be asking our fire marshal for his or her best judgment on policies regarding fire safety based on their professional knowledge of the relevant science and experience in the field."

A top priority for Miller is attracting and retaining firefighters and paramedics during what's been a "difficult hiring environment," he said.

"It has been tougher each year to recruit strong new cadets as the job market has tightened," Miller said. "By working with our local unions and offering innovative education and training incentives, WFPD has been able to retain a strong team, and I look forward to finalizing our next labor contract soon."

Miller is endorsed by both the WFPD Firefighters Union as well as the San Mateo International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 2400 union.

With the construction of a new Station 7 and the remodeling of the existing Station 8 on the horizon, Miller said he's looking forward to finishing what he started.

"It has been a long process to secure funding for these new investments and to work with neighbors to arrive at a functional final plan," Miller said. "It will take strong financial and operational oversight by the WFPD to complete these projects over the next two years and provide seamless service to the community."

Rusty Day wants to prepare for unprecedented emergencies

Retired attorney Lloyd "Rusty" Day published a book last year entitled "Why Is California Burning?," in which he explores "the climatic changes, land use policies and development practices that are fueling California's cataclysmic increase in destructive wildfires, as well as the most important policies and steps we need to implement to address them," he said.

Now, Day is looking to put his policy ideas into practice with a bid for the Woodside Fire Protection District Board of Directors. If elected, 70-year-old Day said he'll advocate for fire-safe development, defensible spaces, comprehensive evacuation procedures and improved safety infrastructure for the district, where he's resided for 33 years.

"To accomplish these objectives, I believe we need to build a districtwide consensus that recognizes the common interest we all share in effective, districtwide wildfire prevention and safe evacuation and response procedures for emergencies like earthquake and fire," Day said.

With the rapid changes brought on by climate change, Day says the district needs to prepare now for fire conditions that it has never experienced before.

"Our changing climate and rapidly expanding built environment makes our past assumptions about wildfire hazard and risk increasingly outdated and inapplicable to our future safety," he said. "... While our firefighters are highly effective in protecting us against the vast majority of fires, it is the most severe fires, occurring under the most severe weather and drought conditions, that increasingly pose our greatest challenge."

Day suggested that the district follow Cal Fire's Community Risk Reduction Program, which provides a prioritized list of 10 steps communities should be taking to protect against future wildfire hazards.

"In addition to those steps, we absolutely must develop a comprehensive evacuation plan and adopt a comprehensive program to implement it, with clearly identified responsibilities and delegated authorities," Day said.

The district has plans to build a new fire station and remodel an existing station, but Day believes more analysis first needs to be done around the potential risk that the district will face in the future.

"My principal concern is that the scale of currently planned facilities and staffing is not based on the yet-to-be completed hazard and risk assessment," Day said. "Nor does it appear to account for the nature and magnitude of future hazards we will confront if development occurs as currently mandated or envisioned by some towns' housing and development plans."

If elected, Day said he'll strive to make the fire district "an independent body of fire prevention and protection professionals whose commitment to public safety comes before local politics."

Email Staff Writer Malea Martin at [email protected]