Hello, my name is William ‘Bill’ King, and I am a candidate for the upcoming CMFPD Board special election. As you may know, I am presently a member of the appointed Board and am serving a second term as Treasurer. I have been on the Board for approximately four years and have been a part of improving service to all property owners in the CMFPD District, and several improvements on how the Board conducts and records its business dealings. I am a self-employed Electrical Engineer and have worked in the southern Utah area for the past 10 years. My wife, MaryAnn, and I purchased our home in Zion View Estates in 1999 and moved to the mountain in 2001. We lived full-time for seven winters and have had some interesting experiences making the transition from civilization to the outback! We both love the mountains and hope everyone who lives or passes through here does so with a great sense of enjoyment, and the piece-of-mind that if an emergency arises help will be quick to respond. This is probably the best reason I can give for running for the Board, I want EVERYONE on the mountain to have the best emergency services possible regardless of who they are or where the emergency crosses their path. I have been more than a little upset at those who have protection and emergency services and care nothing about others on the mountain being underserved. They seem to have the attitude that ‘I’ve got mine and to hell with everyone else!’. I don’t agree with this attitude at all, and have worked hard to make sure that every taxpayer on the mountain receives the services they not only deserve, but that they pay for. When I first came to serve on the Board, I recognized there were some problems with bookkeeping procedures. Many of the reports were had generated by hand and some invoices were nothing more than scraps of paper with figures scribbled on it. My wife and I donated a licensed copy of Quickbooks to CMFPD and it has been put to good use. The record keeping has improved and the financial reports now generated are generated directly out of the program and no longer put together by hand. We also donated a recorder for the Secretary to use to help make the minutes of our meetings more accurate. Now instead of general statements of what went on at meetings we have complete exchanges on points discussed and resulting decisions. This has eliminated the ‘he said’ ‘she said’ rumors that have brought concern to many. Speaking of rumors, there have been many rumors and outright lies spread about the Board and its members. Some by those who now wish to have a place on the Board and make decisions with their biased and tainted outlook of people who differ in opinion with them. I’m here to tell you that has no place on any Board, let alone one responsible for the safety and protection of others. I have served on your CMFPD Board to bring equal services to everyone, those who agree with me and those who don’t. I may not like someone, but that is no reason to deny them emergency services. I have never cast a vote to deny or jeopardize anybody’s emergency service, not everyone on the present Board can say that. So, if you want equal services, complete area coverage and continued financial oversight I would appreciate you vote.
