West Metro Fire Election
May is election time for West Metro Fire Rescue but most of the 300,000 people it serves will never know that because it is off season and doesn’t involve big money campaigns. West Metro also does not provide mail-in ballots to increase voter turnout, a decision made by the Board of Directors. Instead, residents must walk in to vote for two things on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. On May 6 voters across West Metro are being asked to increase Directors’ term limits from 8 to 12 years. Term limits are the only ballot question and are self-explanatory. Electors also have the opportunity to vote for ONE candidate in Director District Five. The rest of the board positions do not have enough candidates to have a competitive election. The election is “at large” so anyone can vote for a District 5 candidate. They are: Willmott can be described as a fire suppression enthusiast with an easy ability to “nerd out” over the topic. He has a long history in the industry and he hopes to bring that experience to the West Metro Board. Current West Metro Board Members do not possess field experience and Wilmott would like to see that change with this election. Willmott can be seen directly answering fire questions in the podcast “Fire Break”. Wolfrum is an incumbent who has experience serving on the West Metro Board. She has also served on the Lakewood Reinvestment Authority (LRA). Wolfrum has not responded to requests for comment at the time of this post, but she has supported all leadership decisions during her tenure, which gives an idea of her position. (sidenote: residents may be familiar with the LRA through an April 28 vote to recommend The Bend development for city funding through blight.) There are a few differences of opinion between the candidates. For example, the current West Metro leadership is very concerned about EV batteries and renewable energy, more from a climate change perspective than from a fighting fire perspective. There has been talk of getting an EV firetruck when they become more feasible. Wolfrum has been generally supportive of those initiatives. In contrast, when Jay Willmott was asked about EV and renewables, he immediately discussed the difficulties in putting out the fires started by the technology. He also believes firefighters need to update their techniques and methods. This includes the ability to make an initial assessment of whether, for example, the fire might have started by traditional means (cooking, paper, etc.) or through chemical means, such as failing computer batteries. This determination is necessary to successfully extinguish each type of fire. Sustainability to Willmott meant increasing the budget to use more efficient fire suppression methods, rather than just dumping tons of water where it may not be most effective. The current West Metro leadership has been advocating for allowing homeless encampments to have unsanctioned fires because it’s their only source of warmth in the winter. Jay Willmott was reluctant to take on enforcement activities but argued strenuously that the homeless deserved the same fire protection as everyone else, which meant safe fire protocols and prevention. The question of increasing term limits had Wolfrum’s support to put on the ballot. Jay Willmott supports term limits for all positions of government and supports the current 8-year term vs the proposed more lenient 12-year term. View the official election notice here. Available polling places are:
