The Oakley City Council decided Tuesday to stick to its plan to close the application period for the city’s representatives to the East Contra Costa Fire Protection Board of Directors on Aug. 24.

At its July 10 meeting, the council unanimously decided that current board members Mayor Kevin Romick and councilmembers Jim Frazier and Pat Anderson would be relieved of their positions and replaced by council-selected appointees. Under the resolution passed last month, Frazier and Anderson would relinquish their seats in October. Romick, who is currently ECCFPD board president, would stay on through April 1, 2013.

The council brought the appointment process up for discussion Tuesday to see if it wanted to modify the selection process based on choices made by the Brentwood City Council at its July 26 meeting. Brentwood’s council decided to replace two to three of its four seats on the board, but not until after the November election. New Brentwood representatives would likely join the board by February of next year.

“I’m rather disappointed in Brentwood,” Anderson said. “I think we (the council) did what we (the board members) all sat down at the fire board meeting and agreed to do. Brentwood certainly is allowed to choose its own process, but I thought we were all on the same page. Obviously, we are on two different pages.”

When local governments took control of the fire district from the County Board of Supervisors in February of 2010, the plan was to turn the board over to the public in 2012 by hosting an election to replace the city officials with everyday citizens. Given the district’s financial troubles, holding an approximately $300,000 election wasn’t feasible.

Frazier also agreed to keep the application process moving forward since that would give him and Anderson time to bring their replacements up to speed on all things ECCFPD before they leave the council. Frazier is running for a seat in the state assembly and Anderson announced this week that after nearly 14 years of service on the council, she will not seek re-election.

An ECCFPD board member’s term is two years. Potential appointees, who must be Oakley residents, will have until next Friday to submit an application. Councilmembers will review the applications independently and rank the candidates. The councilmembers’ rankings will be compiled, the top-five applicants will be invited for an interview in September, and the two appointees will be selected. At press time, four residents had submitted applications.

For more information about how to apply for an ECCFPD board position, call Oakley City Clerk Libby Vreonis at 925-625-7013.