August 2014
D i g e s t
The Official Publication of the Kiawah Island Community Association
Major Changes in the St. Johns Fire District
third of the commission, but more importantly, they brought new
professional skills and business expertise to the group.
The new SJFD headquarters at 1148 Main Road, Johns Island.
The St. Johns Fire District (SJFD) is a four-island government
organization, a “special purpose district,” funded by Charleston
County. The district is governed by a commission appointed by
the South Carolina governor, not by authorities in the communities
it serves: Kiawah, Seabrook, Wadmalaw and Johns islands.
In the past 18 months, SJFD has seen sweeping changes. The
commission increased in size from seven to nine members; both
new commissioners are Kiawah residents. The SJFD has a new fire
chief, a new headquarters, a $1 million budget increase, additional
personnel, a heightened emphasis on training and certification, and
a more business-oriented management environment.
Expanded Commission
In the wake of fires that resulted in total loss of the River Course
clubhouse and Kiawah homes, some Kiawah homeowners
questioned the capability and leadership of the district and the
adequacy of Kiawah’s representation, given that Kiawah pays a
majority of the district’s budget, but had only one representative
on the commission.
Tom Kulick, whose pre-Kiawah professional life was primarily in
the fire insurance field, has been a SJFD commissioner since early
2001 and was instrumental in increasing the size of the commission.
“I felt that the commission was becoming dysfunctional, and I had
been following a proposed law making its way through the state
legislature for a couple of years. It allowed public service districts
to expand their governing bodies. When it passed, with the
concurrence of the SJFD commission and the Charleston County
Council, we applied to Governor Haley for an increase of two
commissioners.” The commission chair at the time and Tom worked
with the Charleston County planning and zoning departments to
demonstrate that Kiawah has as many structures as Johns Island,
in order to ensure that the new commissioners would be Kiawah
residents. While all commissioners represent all property owners on
the four islands, Tom and the Town of Kiawah supported a stronger
presence for Kiawah.
About 18 months ago, the governor appointed John Olson and
former KICA Board Chair Craig Weaver, both already active
volunteers on Johns Island and well known in the community, to
the commission. They increased Kiawah’s representation to one-
Kiawah’s influence extends beyond the number of seats residents
occupy on the commission. “We chair three fourths of the
committees,” John said. “Craig chaired the By-laws Committee,
which rewrote the bylaws, and he now chairs Strategic Planning.
I chair the Finance and Building committees. A Seabrook
representative is chairing Human Resources.”
A New Chief
When Karl Ristow resigned as SJFD chief, the commission hired a
national search firm and over 50 applicants sought the job. Colleen
Walz of Pittsburgh was the unanimous choice of the commission.
“I have 27 years in fire service, 26 in Pittsburgh,” she said. “I took
the civil service exams for both the police force and fire fighting and
the fire district called first. My husband is a firefighter, his father
was also, and now my oldest son is a firefighter and my youngest
son is in fire recruit school. I started at a time when being a woman
in fire service was not looked on favorably, meaning people weren’t
eager to train you and women had few mentors. I took a lot of
training on my own and with volunteers. I worked my way up the
ladder and became the only female officer the city of Pittsburgh has
ever had. I moved into administration after about 20 years. “
John Olson described the “overwhelming trait that made her stand
out from other applicants. When she talks about firefighting it’s
clear that she cares about the firefighters and the population. Put
that on top of the rigor she has needed to get to this level, and we
are very fortunate to have her. Her rapport with the firefighters is
excellent. They admire and respect her, and they know she has their
backs.” Other commissioners noted her toughness, honed by being
a woman in a man’s world.
“I wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything I haven’t done or wouldn’t
do,” Chief Walz stated.
Chief Walz noted several differences in her work here compared to
Pittsburgh. She finds the pace here “more laid back.” The islands
don’t have the government structure of a large city. “We are our
own little government, under the direction of the commissioners.
The Charleston County Council approves the budget but doesn’t
administer it. We do all the work that the city government does in
Pittsburgh. I negotiate health care; we do our own purchasing. We
have just hired our first human resources professional.”
The main similarity is the model for delivery of service. “In the
city we had 80 different neighborhoods from wealthy to subsidized
housing. The same is true of the SJFD, over the four islands.
Everyone, rich or poor, gets the same level of service.”
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