An awkward and sometimes hostile meeting marked the last day of service Wednesday for two recalled board members of the Russian River Fire Protection District.
The ouster of Kevin O'Shea and Linda Payne by local voters a day earlier seemed only to empower their detractors. O'Shea and Payne faced increasingly pointed questions and rancorous comments as the Wednesday night meeting went on, though the board put off several agenda items until next month, in part so the newly elected members could contribute to those decisions.
O'Shea, who served 13 years on the board, was recalled by 84 percent of the voters Tuesday, according to preliminary ballot results. Payne, who served three and a half years, was recalled by nearly 82 percent of the vote.
Some members of the public had not realized the recalled members would retain their places on the board until the Sonoma County Elections Office certifies the election — a step now expected Friday. Until then, newly elected members Chuck Limbert and Mark Emmett cannot be sworn in.
Elections personnel said they had at least one caller Wednesday pleading to have the results certified before the 6 p.m. meeting could begin.
Regular meeting attendees said the level of enmity was nothing like those of seven or eight months ago, when the removal of Fire Chief Max Ming from his post prompted a firestorm of criticism that drew upwards of 200 people to the board's monthly sessions. Ming later was reinstated, but the issue prompted a recall effort nonetheless.
A few in the audience of 40 or more people Wednesday jeered at one point about Payne being a short-timer, provoking board member Kyle O'Connor, who had sought to replace O'Shea until he was appointed to a board vacancy, to urge the crowd to ease up.
"They got hammered. They got destroyed" in the election, O'Connor said. "We don't need to beat anybody up."
Emmett, a retired Alameda County firefighter elected to replace O'Shea, said afterward that the new board's initial challenge would be to win back public trust in the wake of months of turmoil within the district.
"We need to get through this, and get on with doing business, instead of all this drama," he said after Wednesday's meeting.
"It was very tense. I didn't like it," said Chuck Limbert, who was elected to replace Payne.
Jeanette Dillman, an audience member, thanked the outgoing members for their service and told them "how much I appreciate your ability to sit there and take it."
"I know it's been very raucous," she said. "I appreciate your patience and your time, and I hope we can move forward."
The district's next regular, scheduled board meeting is May 14.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.
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