EVERETT. The South County Fire Board of Commissioners selected an Edmonds resident to fill a vacant seat during its Tuesday meeting, voting unanimously to appoint Darren Austin.
Austin was chosen from a group of six applicants vying for the open position in District 4, a jurisdiction recently redrawn to incorporate the city of Edmonds. The seat had remained unfilled since August, following the departure of a former commissioner who relocated outside the district's boundaries. The board had previously approved a new map in September to reflect Edmonds' annexation into the regional fire authority the prior year. The district boundaries currently encompass all of Edmonds and portions of Lynnwood.
The appointment of Austin followed interviews with the four remaining candidates, which included a former Edmonds City Council member and two district residents. Since June 2025, the city has been represented on the board by a non-voting liaison, a role currently held by an executive assistant to the Edmonds Mayor following a resignation in August.
Austin, who has spent over 25 years in the corporate sector working in product and business development, told the board that his professional background has equipped him with skills in long-term planning and budgeting. He expressed a desire to apply these competencies to public service.
"It is a nice fusion of some of the experience that I have, but then applying it to something that can actually benefit and help the community and at the same time to support an organization that I have a tremendous amount of respect for," Austin stated during his interview.
Austin will serve until the general election in November 2027 and confirmed his intention to run in that election. While acknowledging that campaigning is outside his comfort zone, he indicated that he is committed to the responsibility.
"I'm not really a politician, so thats probably part of this job that is the most uncomfortable for me is the idea of doing that," Austin said. "But I wouldn't be here unless I was willing to do it. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would just be a temporary role."
Upon joining the commission, Austin plans to focus on establishing success metrics, bolstering the authority's financial standing, and enhancing recruitment efforts for prospective employees. He also expressed interest in utilizing artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency. Regarding the ongoing budget process, Austin stated his intent to gather feedback from District 4 residents.
"Edmonds has gone through some challenging issues with budgeting and taxes, and so there's a lot of vocal opinions about stuff," he noted. "Getting a sense of what those constituents concerns are would be important."
The swearing-in ceremony for Austin is scheduled for the board's Oct. 13 meeting. Commissioner Joe Wankelman concluded the session by expressing appreciation to all applicants for their participation.
"It was a very challenging conversation," Wankelman said. "The qualifications, the answers were well done. I appreciate every single candidate, and it was a very difficult decision that we didn't take lightly."