Midway Fire appoints new member with 'straw vote'
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Emma

The Midway Fire Commission was supposed to appoint a new member to their board last month. But after three tie votes, the commission ended up having to literally draw straws to decide who would fill the seat for the next two years. The straw vote was ordered under Roberts Rules of Order. So this week the new commissioner, T. J. Emma, was sworn in as the newest Midway Fire commissioner .

Emma was not the candidate on the November ballot 'elected' by the District's voters. However, due to address complications within the district after hurricane damage to his permanent residence, the candidate Cris Green was not allowed by the state to fill the seat because he was temporarily living o u t s i d e Midway Fire District. His b u s i n e s s address is inside the district, but the state would not allow that to be used. So the fire commission announced in November that it was looking for a new candidate to appoint.

T. J. Emma was one of three who stepped forward and offered to be interviewed for the position.

Emma is a former firefighter, working for Ft. Walton Beach Fire District for five years. "I was injured on the job, and that ended my fire fighting career," Emma said. "I used to volunteer for Midway Fire back when I was in high school and it was all volunteer. It is exciting for me to see how far it has come and now to become part of its future."

Emma and his wife and two sons live in Midway. His wife, Leah (Griffin) Emma is a teacher at Gulf Breeze High. Both Emma and his wife were born and raised in Gulf Breeze. He now works on the Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church as Director of Student Services. "I have always done a lot of volunteering in service areas, too. I have been helping coach track for eight years at Gulf Breeze High as a volunteer, and have served as the volunteer Chaplain for the Gulf Breeze High football team for four years. I have always enjoyed fire fighting so much, this is a way for me to get back involved in the service."

Emma said he had already decided to run for the fire commission in two years. "But then a couple weeks after I had talked to my family and told them I was going to do that, we heard this position was open and I decided to try for it now," Emma said.

"Besides, 'dad' is a real hero now for my two boys. They love fire trucks, and to be able to say 'want to go see the fire trucks?' makes me a hero to them for sure," Emma laughs.

He said he would like all residents of Midway Fire District to go to the informational website set up by the fire district to explain the issues the department is now facing concerning he Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and ambulance services. That website is: www.levelzero. us.