by Robert Lynch; December 10, 2024
One year ago, Enfield Fire Company volunteer and one-time Highway Superintendent candidate Chris Willis beat Donald Gunning by just two votes to secure the fifth of five seats on the Town’s newly-minted Board of Fire Commissioners. This year, in a rematch, the margin was wider. But it was Gunning this time who won.
Whether it signals a taxpayer revolt or just lingering misgivings about last year’s purchase of an expensive fire truck, Enfield voters sent a sour message of sorts to the Enfield Volunteer Fire Company and its supporters Tuesday. By a vote of 92 to 78 (54% to 46%), they replaced Willis on the five-member Board with Gunning, the latter an open and vocal critic of Enfield Fire District spending.
Donald Gunning did not attend Tuesday night’s ballot counting at the Enfield Fire Station. But Chris Willis did, as did two of his Board colleagues, Robyn Wishna and Alan Teeter. Willis sat somber at a table perhaps 25 feet from the ballot-counting. He said little after the vote count, other than to state his resolve to be back next year, in whatever capacity.
The young Enfield Fire District’s budget took a big jump this fall. The District’s 2025 spending plan, approved without dissent by Fire Commissioners in mid-October, will see spending rise by 28.3 per cent. Fire officials explain—and the numbers bear them out—that the first-ever bonding for a new $825,000 pumper engine stands solely responsible for the increase.
The Enfield Volunteer Fire Company (EVFC) ordered the new replacement engine before the Enfield Fire District was formed last year. Voters narrowly approved the truck’s bond financing and ownership transfer to the Fire District in October 2023. Bonds were marketed this past spring. And first-ever bond payments will begin next year; thus the need for more than $126,000 to begin retiring the decade-long debt.
“If you haven’t heard, Enfield Fire District taxes are going up 28%,” proclaimed the boldface words of a three-paragraph flyer received in Enfield residents’ mailboxes about two weeks ago. It was a mailing clearly circulated by the Gunning campaign. “It’s time to elect a new Fire Commissioner to help rein in future Fire District costs and residents’ taxes,” the pro-Gunning mailer’s introductory paragraph concluded.
“Donny, along with his wife, is a successful small business owner who understands what it means to develop realistic budgets and live within his means,” the flyer stated.
No similar mass mailing came from Chris Willis’ campaign. No yard signs popped up for either candidate. Aside from the Gunning letter, the campaign this year for Enfield Fire Commissioner—unlike last year—was surprisingly low-key.
It’s the second loss in two years for Chris Willis. Although he narrowly won a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners last December, Willis lost earlier by a landslide when he challenged long-time Enfield Highway Superintendent Barry “Buddy” Rollins, first in the Republican Primary, and then the November 2023 General Election. Rollins kept his Highway job.
In an ironic twist, Willis and Rollins—who also was elected last year to the Board of Fire Commissioners—sat side-by-side at this year’s Commissioners’ meetings, usually collegial, seldom confrontational.
Nonetheless, in Enfield Fire District politics, Willis represented the pro-firefighter faction on the Board, having three similarly-minded allies to lean on. Rollins, more fire-critical based on his prior statements, this past year generally supported the majority’s position rather than buck them and become an outcast dissenter.
With Donald Gunning to join the Board in January, Rollins may find himself an ally. And the Board of Fire Commissioners may find a two-vote minority emerging. At this point, it’s too soon to tell.
Last year’s Enfield Fire District election became a mess. All five seats stood to be filled, as the Enfield Town Board had just created the Fire District and had appointed only placeholder Commissioner stand-ins.
What’s more, a controversial call by a former attorney for the District—a lawyer since jettisoned—had allowed voters to select just one Board candidate, even though five seats had to be filled. Voters became angry. A voter’s choice of whom to elect became a matter of gamesmanship. In that chaotic climate, Chris Willis polled fifth among ten candidates in last December’s election, and thereby just barely secured a Board position, one lasting but 12 months. Now, after just one year, Willis will have to forfeit the seat.
Donald Gunning’s term, by contrast, will span five years It’ll run through 2029.
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While Gunning will become a new participant in Enfield’s twice-monthly Fire Commissioners’ meetings, the person who attends every one of those meetings to advise the Board will likely stay the same.
Enfield Volunteer Fire Company members December 5th recommended that Jamie Stevens remain as Enfield Fire Chief for this, his second year. Commissioners will likely confirm Stevens’ reappointment in January.
Also recommended for line leadership by the Fire Company were Deputy Fire Chief Bailey Stevens; First Assistant Fire Chief Keven J. W. Morse; Second Assistant Fire Chief Alexis Beckley; and Fire Captain Sam Beckley.
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