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Tuesday night the Fire District 13 meeting room was packed with people to see the first meeting with newly elected Fire Commissioner Arne Fohn on board.

Fohn defeated Jim Grove for the position in November, creating a shift in the board dynamics.

The other commissioners are Doug Avery, who before this year was frequently on the losing end of a 2-1 vote, and Commissioner Chuck Hedlund.

Firefighters from District 13, La Conner, and Anacortes showed up to see how the new change in leadership would play out during the meeting.

Hedlund had openly supported Grove during the campaign, while Avery had supported Fohn.

Commissioners Avery and Hedlund each nominated them-selves for commission chairman, a post Hedlund held.

“Over the past two years, the voters have gotten rid of two members of this board,” Avery said of his decision to nominate himself. “That indicates to me that the voters want change.”

Fohn seconded Avery’s nomination and the motion passed, making Avery the chairman of the Fire District 13 commission.

Avery then nominated Fohn as vice chairman and Fohn seconded, securing his spot as vice chair. Avery nominated Hedlund as financial officer, and this motion too passed.

Another change made on Tuesday was to change the board’s regular meetings to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. Previously, meetings had been held on Tuesdays, and had alternated between morning and evening. Avery made the motion and Fohn seconded it. The change passed 2-1, with Hedlund voting nay.

It was apparent within the first few minutes of the meeting that the dynamics of the board had shifted, repeatedly causing votes to be 2-1. There were two very clear sides.

In response to a request from this newspaper, Avery made another motion to provide a free agenda packet for the press for every meeting. Fohn seconded, and the motion passed.

During a discussion on finances, Avery brought up some calculations he had made of how much each staff member cost the district last year.

He said that Fire Chief Roy Horn cost $100,000; Administrative Assistant Maggie Horn cost $20,000; Secretary Deborah McFarlane cost $18,000, and each commissioner cost $14,000.

Avery calculated that each aid call cost $350. McFarlane corrected him, saying that she actually cost around $15,000 annually, but conceded that otherwise, his figures were “fairly close.”

There was a debate about providing each commissioner with an electronic tablet, in order to conduct business over the Internet and keep in touch with one another through email. Hedlund currently does not have Internet at his house, and the tablet would be a permanent source of Internet for him.

Avery said that Hedlund comes into the district office every day to use the district’s Internet, but claimed that while Hedlund is at the office, “policies and other things are discussed that shouldn’t be discussed.”

“I want Chuck to get his information the same way Arne and I do,” Avery said.

Hedlund countered by saying that even if he gets a tablet, “I’m still going to continue to come in here.”

The board discussed what kind of tablets to get, and finally agreed upon a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet from Costco, which McFarlane estimated runs about $450 each. Having built-in internet, a feature that Hedlund’s tablet would need, would cost an extra monthly fee.

Avery motioned to buy three tablets, one with built-in internet. The motion passed, with votes once again following the 2-1 pattern with Hedlund opposing Avery and Fohn.