Federal Way fire commissioner Mark Freitas won’t seek re-election | Update

Published 3:44 pm Tuesday, May 12, 2015

After serving as a South King Fire and Rescue board of fire commissioner since 1998, Federal Way resident Mark Freitas is ready for 2015 to be his last year.

“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve the community of Federal Way, Des Moines, unincorporated King County for the past 17-and-a-half years,” Freitas said in an interview. “I’ve always done the best I could to provide good fire service for the community.”

When asked why he decided not to run for re-election during this November general election, he simply said, “It’s time.”

When he joined the fire commission, he had many ideas and plans to provide better fire service to the community, he said, and since then the department has gone from a Class III to a Class II department and has increased firefighters, with help from resident firefighters, from two firefighters to three full-time firefighters on a truck.

“We had strategic reserves, we paid cash, we saved and we paid cash for our vehicles and repairs and maintenance and things like that,” he said. “We’ve done well to serve the community.”

Freitas said he always tried to provide an atmosphere for people to vote based on research and education.

He thinks the greatest challenges for the fire department in the future are the same challenges for any type of governmental service, which includes ensuring there’s an educated electorate in addition to acknowledgement of the service they have to provide to the community.

“Talking with the constituents or the special interest groups allows you to make better decisions and the openness with which it happens is the key to success,” Freitas said. “This government, this fire department belongs to the public and they will make intelligent decisions and it’s critical that, it’s just critical. It’s their department, it’s their money, it’s their special interest.”

Freitas said he has a lot of good memories with the fire commission as the board hired chiefs, merged departments, got public recognition, insurance recognition and helped labor to do their job.

For his last year as a commissioner, Freitas said he will continue to call it the way he sees it by listening to all sides of an issue.

“That’s all I ever promised to do,” he said.

Freitas views his life after the commission as “returning back to the community” when his term expires at the end of 2015.

With a background as a parent, soccer coach, former policeman, former Army officer, Planning Commission member, school district committee(s) member, Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce chair, Sister City Association president, condominium board owner president and current real estate broker, Freitas said he plans on staying active in Federal Way.

He is also not planning to file for any open candidate position elsewhere in the city.

“I’ve always stepped up and tried to step up where some skills and talents might help the community,” Freitas said. “Make it the old motto from the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, ‘We have it all in Federal Way, make it a good place to live, work and play.’”

Freitas has worked in Federal Way since 1977 and moved to the city in 1985 to raise a family with his wife.

So far, Jerry Galland and Roger Flygare have filed for Position 2 on the Fire Commission, Freitas’s seat, while commissioner John Rickert, whose term also expires at the end of the year, is currently running unopposed.

Candidates have until this Friday to file for the election in King County.