[1]Assistant Fire Chiefs Rick Mack, left, and Mike Kytta, watch the board vote to promote Kytta to the top post at Riverside Fire Authority.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – Assistant Chief Mike Kytta will replace outgoing Chief Jim Walkowski at Riverside Fire Authority, the department that protects Centralia and it surrounding area.
The move came this evening when the agency’s board of commissioners accepted Walkowski’s resignation and voted to appoint the Fords Prairie resident to the top spot.
“Thank you for the opportunity, it’s an honor to assume that position,” Kytta responded. “I’m looking forward to working with the board, the labor unit, the volunteers and most importantly the community.
“I’m optimistic we will find a way to preserve services for the community.”
Kytta, 54, was chief for a decade of the former Lewis County Fire District 12 which completed a merger with the Centralia Fire Department under Walkowski’s leadership.
Kytta voluntarily stepped down to minimize potential conflicts as that process moved along with the hiring of Walkowski from outside the area.
He was honored by his peers statewide in 2006 with a “Chief Award” in part because of that move, which the Washington State Association of Fire Chief’s called his uncommon commitment to doing the right thing for the public.
Now however, facing a steeply declining budget, the organization has cut firefighter positions this year. It was poised to trim the trio of top officers down to two, when Walkowski accepted a position earlier this month in the Spokane area. He will remain at Riverside through the end of this month.
Kytta, a Centralia native, was a 16-year-old Explorer Scout when he began as a volunteer firefighter. He has 38 years of experience, the past 17 as a full time firefighter.
He has his work cut out for him.
Because of a changing landscape regarding the collection of property taxes, Riverside is operating with an annual budget of about $3.9 million, compared with $4.6 million last year.
It is on track to lose six paid personnel this year, to meet that budget.
The board is planning to ask voters in August for what’s called an excess levy, to prevent next year’s revenue from dropping to $3.1 million, a scenario the department’s leaders say would mean a much different service level for fires and medical calls.
Kytta has grave concerns about explaining the need to the public, without coming across as threatening.
On the promotion, he says:
“It’s exciting, in that I am optimistic,” he said. “I have very deep concerns if we’re not able to earn the public’s support on the levy.”