Evergreen Fire Rescue Candidate Forum - Video

Evergreen Fire Rescue Board of Directors Candidate Forum 2025
April 16, 2025
Organized by Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Judge moderating
75 in attendance

@0:10
Candidate introductions
Stacey Ballinger, Julie Ann Courim, Ryan Stack, Byrne McKenna, and Ed Mills. Not present: Kelly Guthner

@0:40
1. What are the 3 most important roles of a board member and name the biggest challenge facing EFR in the next 4 years.

@10:15
2. What value do you put in a master plan and a strategic plan established with the near and distant future of a fire department?

@18:25
3. Do you support the initiatives of the 2024 master plan and specifically explain why or why not.

@27:13
4. What is your understanding of the changing state legislation regarding assessment rates as it relates to special district revenue and the negative impact felt over the recent years.

@36:05
5. Describe how you as an elected official will embrace integrity and personal accountability as a role model and as a part of your leadership in this position.

@43:55
Audience questions

@45:20
6. If elected will you retain your fire chief? If yes, why; if no, why not?

@54:40
7. I have been involved in EFR and community wildfire mitigation since 2001, I am the wildfire ambassador for Buffalo Estates Planning Unit. The work that we’ve, that’s EFR and the community ambassadors, done the past 4 years have been extremely effective in raising homeowner awareness of the dire wildfire risk we face and has been very effective in supporting property owners as they learn about and take their mitigation responsibilities. With our ongoing success in the outstanding efforts we’ve taken in mind, I would like to ask each of you if you will please commit to not making any disruptive changes to the people and processes in place so we that may continue and improve our community wildfire efforts.

@1:03:25
8. Now that the department has hired 6 full time firefighters per the strategic plan, response times have greatly improved. How do intend to improve upon this?

@1:15:05
9. Last year a vicious and slanderous attack against members of the administrative staff were spawned through a petition campaign. The accusations made were very severe and to date found to not be credible. If you are elected to the Board will you support the use of similar tactics to forward your agenda and should staff be concerned about being victims of a similar attack?

@1:23:31
10. My question has to do with future funding. I hard a number of folks speak to concerns in the community about taxes. I would like to understand each candidate’s position on where do you think the future funding and effect upon taxes will be and if you could please address it specific to two elements. The first element is Station 1 and the history of the purchase and how that’s going to come to fruition through construction, and the second thing I’d like to understand on the planning and future funding relates to the transition that a lot of the foothills fire departments are going through right now with the balance that’ll continue between volunteers and paid staffing and how that effects future funding.

@1:35:00
Closing statements

Election information: mymountaintown.com/community/calendar/ev...-rescue-election-day