I wish South King Fire and Rescue commissioner James Fossos well in his recovery, but question that the public is not being served by one of their elected officials, and the board.

We learned on April 17 that Commissioner Fossos suffered a medical emergency sometime in March of this year. Since then, he has been excused by chairman and commissioner Bill Gates from attending to any district business, effective from prior to the March regular meeting of the board until now. The only public comment made it into the Federal Way Mirror April 19.

When I recently inquired of Brad Chaney, SKFR public information officer, as to when we could expect to see Fossos return to the board, my request was answered by the SKFR district secretary. In that recent communication, she only referenced a note to the commissioners read into the minutes of the April meeting.

Again, while I wish the commissioner the best in his recovery, the public is not being properly served by either his absence from the board and his duties, nor the stonewalling by the fire district regarding the over five-month vacancy from an elected official.

Jerry Galland

Unincorporated King County