PORT ANGELES – Three candidates for Clallam Fire District Two commissioner outlined their reasons for running to the Port Angeles Business Association.

They are incumbent Richard Ruud and challengers Steve Hopf and Keith Cortner spoke before a packed room.  Ruud started as a volunteer with the district in 1954 and has been a commissioner since 1980. Hopf is a former chief for the district. Cortner is a former firefighter who moved here from Florida two years ago.

They fielded a variety of questions from the business group during an hour-long talk.

They were asked how they would make budget decisions regarding the future of the district.

Ruud said budgets are always tough for the district.

We have a budget we have to go by and there’s only so much money that can be utilized. So, we make decisions. Sometimes it’s kind of questionable. We wonder if what we’re doing is the right thing or not, things fluctuate so much. With an organization like we have, you have good times you have bad times. It’s hard to make decisions at all.

Hopf says a master plan for the district should drive decisions

Magically, money doesn’t fall out of the sky. So we have to live within a budget. But how can we redirect those funds to the best of our abilities? And that becomes incumbent on the chief, the firefighters, everybody in this room that lives in the fire district. You all have a stake in this. We all need to work together.

Cortner said it would be good for an outside, third-party consultant do a needs assessment for the district.

That takes some of that thought and decision away from the fire chief , who’s got a personal interest in the district. It takes it away from the commissioner, who’s got a personal interest in the district, and brings it from an outside resource. Gathering some information that we can then take to you as a community and evaluate and make intelligent decisions on what we need to do as a district as compared to industry standards and compared to like areas.

Fire District 2 covers 89 square miles from the Deer Park Road area to Lake Crescent and surrounding the city of Port Angeles.

The top two vote getters in the August 6th primary will advance to the general election in the fall.