Fire board surveys

LAKE COUNTY - Four candidates are battling for two positions on the Polson Rural Fire Board as the election draws near on May 4. Beth Hoel and incumbent Alison Meslin are competing for a three-year term on the board while incumbent Paul Laisy will run against Stephen Stanley for a one-year term.

Hoel and Stanley have teamed up to run together against the incumbents, who have similarly banded up.

To help voters understand and get to know the candidates better, the Leader has generated this survey. Below are the answers sent back. 

Alison Meslin

incumbent

Your age, occupation, how long you’ve lived in Lake County, family information and civic involvement organizations you’re associated with:

I have owned property in the district for 12 years, lived here for seven years. I have been married for 30 years, with one grown son. My community service in Montana started with the need to help organize the Big Arm community to save the Big Arm fire station from closing.

I have 30 years of experience in business and accounting. Four years experience on the Board and am familiar with all of the issues many of which we have resolved. I will continue improving fire protective services for the rural district.

Name the top three reasons why residents should vote for you?

1) I will manage the rural tax dollars wisely providing additional fire protection to the rural residents and providing the excellent city and rural firefighting teams with the right protective clothing, safe equipment, and proper training.

2)  There are still large areas of the fire district that are more than five miles from the nearest station. I believe it is the rural board’s duty to bring fire protection up to national standards of a 14-minute response time. I will encourage the Board to work closely with the different communities to be creative in establishing substations and acquiring vehicles. In these tough economic times I will not support any new taxes, but will actively seek grants, etc. for these projects. I will not support just one central fire station to cover the 200 square mile district.

3) Since I have been on the board we have made great progress in providing additional fire protection with the new station, supporting Big Arm, Irvine Flats and buying new vehicles. The new fire station will provide additional protection to the northern residents in the event the bridge is out of commission. The city and rural brush firefighting equipment are housed there but this worries me as it reduces the wildfire protection for southern residents if there is a problem with the bridge. I will encourage the fire chief to equip both the city station and the new station with both structure, and brush firefighting equipment. We should continue to recruit firefighters for the new station.   We provided  Irvine Flats residents with their first fire vehicle and now lease a firefighter’s barn for a station.   I will continue to support their station but would recommend a vehicle that could be kept there 24/7 to provide better protection. I will continue to support the Big Arm Fire Company and its station and will persevere in resolving the ongoing issues over their company status.  

What are your top two goals if elected?

I will continue bringing the fire district back into compliance with the Montana codes. I will strive to help others better understand the different governing entities.

The City of Polson has a fire department, mandated by their own charter and the Montana statutes. The fire chief is a city employee.

Beth Hoel

Your age, occupation, how long you’ve lived in Lake County, family information and civic involvement organizations you’re associated with:

I currently work as a Social Service Specialist for Lake County Office of Public Assistance. I have lived in Lake County for five years and have been married to my husband Drew for 20 years and we have two children, Justin and Jessica. We are lucky to live near my grandparents Art and Amelia Fors and my aunt and uncle, Paul and Sandi Fors. My son and husband are Polson Volunteer Firefighters, and I am an active Polson Fire Auxiliary member. I have been a substitute teacher for the Polson School District and have helped organize and feed children in need in our community through the “Kid 4 Kid” program that my daughter started in this community.

What is the main reason you are running for rural fire board this year?

My primary reason for running is that I am concerned about the direction the Board has taken over the past year. There has been a disconnect between the Board and the fire department. I see the role of the Board as setting guidelines and policies for the fire operations in the rural district and allowing the chief and firefighters to make operational decisions. I feel that volunteerism has suffered and if the Board continues in the same mode as it has, ultimately response will suffer. That is why I have stated my reason for running is to maintain a prompt unified response, and to do this by working with the chief and the volunteers. I want to continue to improve the quality of fire protection for all within the Rural District.

Name the top three reasons why residents should vote for you?

My first priority is to rebuild the relationship between the Board and the firefighters. I would work to open communication and re-establish trust and understanding. This, in turn, will lead to improved service to the community. Unfortunately, I feel that some decisions that have been made over the past year have simply served personal agendas. If elected, the guiding principle for any decision I make will be whether “it improves service to the Rural District.”

My second priority is to instill planning into the decision making process of the Board which will lead to greater fiscal responsibility. Currently, the Board has no long-term plan for managing resources. The chief has repeatedly requested the Board to implement a plan for equipment replacement to avoid a large and unexpected expense, or worse, a loss of service. This needs to be done.

Thirdly, I would work to improve service to all areas of the Polson District by removing obstacles that have been created which discourage people from becoming involved. New stations and housing equipment in under-serviced areas are meaningless without trained and equipped volunteers. As we increase volunteers, especially in outlying areas, we can explore the means to provide them with equipment with which to decrease our response time.

What are your top two goals if elected?

My first goal, as stated above, is to continue to improve fire service to the entire rural district in a fiscally responsible manner. My second goal is to ensure that we continue to provide fire service through one entity as provided in the Interlocal Agreement. There has been discussion of doing away with this and I feel that would be disastrous to the rural community both from a service perspective and financially. I would work very hard to maintain this.

Paul Laisy

incumbent

Your age, occupation, how long you’ve lived in Lake County, family information and civic involvement organizations you’re associated with:

Retired with 30 years service with Missoula Rural Fire District.  Served all capacities including fire chief.

Lived in Lake County about four years.

Married 45 years,  wife Shirley.  Four grown children, seven grandchildren.

Involved as a volunteer with the Polson Senior Center Volunteer for American Heart Assoc. Thirty plus years life member of the International Fire Chiefs’ Association.

What is the main reason you are running for rural fire board this year?

I feel my education and experience in the fire service, in particular a fire district, will help in guiding Polson Rural Fire District to provide the best response and service it can to the district residents.  This is the best way I can give to this community.

Name the top three reasons why residents should vote for you?

Thirty years of rural fire district experience  have given me a good understanding of Montana Fire District  law and minimum training, response and service standards needed to keep the fire district’s residents and property as safe as possible.

Fiscal responsibility.   District taxpayers should be assured they are getting the most they can for the dollar.  Regular auditing and careful spending are a must.  I would not support additional taxes, while we are all struggling with the downturn in our national, state and local economy.

I have no connections with other local government agencies or fire departments that could cause a conflict of interest.  My goal is to make the Polson Rural Fire District the best response and emergency service provider it can be for the RURAL FIRE DISTRICT RESIDENTS.

What are your top two goals if elected?

Work  towards grants to help provide safety equipment for the firefighters, training for the firefighters and fire engines that match the district’s needs in the over 200 square mile protection area.

Make sure we are providing the best training and safety equipment for our firefighters  along with automatic aid agreements so that all fire agencies can be available to assist each other without delay.

Stephen Stanley

Your age, occupation, how long you’ve lived in Lake County, family information and civic involvement organizations you’re associated with:

Coordinator Lake County Office of Emergency Management/Lake County Fire Coordinator.

I have resided in Lake County since 1960.

Retired firefighter of 20 years from Polson City and Rural fire department, Former Polson Rural Fire Board member for six years.

Currently work with 13 RFDs, Tribal Fire Management, and DNRC on the reservation and in Lake County.

What is the main reason you are running for rural fire board this year?

Maintaining a unified Polson City and rural fire department. Working with the fire chief and volunteer firefighters to provide equipment needed with budget constraints of today. In concert with the City of Polson, to provide an environment that makes it enjoyable and safe for our volunteers to perform very difficult tasks.