Voters who live in the 81-square-mile Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District will have the final say on whether the last volunteer fire agency in the county will remain independent or be absorbed into the county’s Fire Authority.
The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which oversees special districts in the county, voted Monday to ask the Board of Supervisors to schedule a special mail-only election in the Julian area to be held as early as March 19 to determine once and for all the fate of the fire department.
The election was mandated after 26 percent of the voters in the area protested a September LAFCO decision to dissolve the department, which came after the district’s board of directors and the county jointly requested the action.
Assuming the supervisors call for the election at their next meeting on Dec. 11, ballots could be mailed to registered voters in late February or early March with a mandatory return date of March 19. The exact date of the election has not been set.