(Editor/GG: There are two board positions up for grabs on Wet Mountain Fire Protection District Board come Election Day, May 8th. There are four candidates running for the two positions, Jeremiah Coleman, Dave Tonsing, Scott Virden and Jim Lewis. Below are interviews with Coleman, Tonsing and Virden. Lewis failed to respond to contact attempts. The election will be May 8th, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., AT THE FIRE HOUSE. Unless you get an absentee ballot ahead of time, you must go to the Fire House to vote.)

INTERVIEWS:

by Fred Hernandez

Jeremiah Coleman
Candidate for WMFD Board
The youngest candidate for the Board of the Fire District is a fifth-generation member of an old ranching family in Custer County. Jeremiah Coleman, twenty-eight years old, is one of eight children and the third son born and raised on the Coleman ranch just south of the Town of Westcliffe. He went to grade school and high school at the local school where he sustained an injury playing football that prevented him from joining the military which had been his original plan. He joined the fire department as a volunteer at age sixteen. Last year he made approximately thirty runs. When Jeremiah is not answering the call at the fire station, he works locally as an electrician’s apprentice.
What got him thinking about running for the board was people he knows asking questions about the fire department. It made him think he could step up and contribute from his own experiences as a firefighter.
Asked what he would do if elected and what changes, if any, he would like to promote, Jeremiah says he would like to see more young people interested in the fire department; young people who can be trained from the “ground up” as opposed to those who volunteer who are already set in their ways as a result of having been trained elsewhere. He believes that Custer County has its own unique emergency challenges that call for training suited to these incidents and events. Another opportunity he would like to explore, if elected as a director, is to see more communications with the community at large in order to find out what their concerns are, what they wish to see in their fire department volunteers. He feels that they, as a department, can do a better job at making the community feel welcome at board meetings where residents can voice their opinions and thus help improve overall service to the community. Finally, Jeremiah is of the opinion that because of the number of hours required by the job, some key positions such as Fire Chief and Training Officer should be appropriately compensated. The rest of the company, because they are volunteers need no compensation.
Jeremiah welcomes hearing from the community and has given his email address:
jcoleman89@rocketmail.com

Dave Tonsing
Candidate for WMFD Board
As a forty-two-year resident in Custer County, over twenty of them in the fire department, few men, if any, can step up as candidates for the Board of the Fire Department with better qualifications than former Fire Chief Dave Tonsing. Dave’s decision not to seek re-election as Fire Chief came after having served two terms, two years per term, for a total of four years as Fire Chief, when day to day work evolved from a ten-hour week to a forty-hour week. At that point he figured he could have an even more powerful impact on the department, with less time, as a board director. The experience and expertise he brings to this demanding job is outstanding and, once in office, Dave will make a most positive impact with the priorities he brings to the table. Consider, for instance, some of the important issues he wishes to address as a board member:
• Return to a board seat tenure of maximum of two, four-year terms.
• Establish minimum fire run requirements for active firefighters so that call responses are spread more equitably among more personnel. At present 7 or 8 firefighters handle eighty percent (80%) of the call load. Currently firefighters with three runs get as many benefits as those with 100 or more runs.
• Create a culture of support and respect for the Operations Chief and recognize the liabilities and responsibilities inherent to that position.
• Recognize the need for and develop long range planning proactively looking forward five, ten and fifteen years.
• Support an active, ongoing annual commercial Fire and Life Safety Inspection for businesses in Silver Cliff and Westcliffe based on their adopted 2006 International Fire Code.
These are just some of the issues Dave Tonsing considers important and wants to have the board address. However, one issue which Dave considers urgent is to improve the parity for as many district taxpayers as possible. Parity is the term used by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) which is the worldwide body that determines the “rating” of areas seeking fire insurance. The rating determines whether the area gets insurance and it also determines the price. Parity is determined by how close the area to be insured is to a fire fighting station with proper equipment. In Custer County, the following areas have fire stations and equipment: Rosita, Boneyard Park, DeWeese and Hillside. The rating of “9” is given to taxpayers who live within a five-mile radius of a fire station. Dave wants to improve this situation, over time, by establishing substations (with a Class A Pumper firetruck) in more locations around the County. The more substations overlapping each other the better protection for the county. Indeed, with his experience and expertise, Dave is eminently qualified for the board.

Scott Virden
Candidate for WMFD Board
Speaking of qualified candidates, along comes a strapping, young looking Scott Virden, resident of the valley for twenty years and almost as long a volunteer at the fire department. Scott is a serious man who has been in the construction trade all his adult life. Over the years he has been involved in the day-to-day operations of the fire department, has worked closely with the different chiefs, attended countless board meetings, made more than the average number of emergency runs and has intimate knowledge of the workings of the local fire district. Always a hard worker, Scott earned his current position as Captain and lately was also Training Officer. If elected he comes prepared with a number of well thought out issues that he believes should be brought to the forefront in order to improve the overall operations of the fire district. Among them, Scott prioritizes in the order of importance: First and foremost is the establishment of a clear demarcation line between the administration and actual operations. This, after all, is the foundation of an effective enterprise that can then successfully meet its mission objectives. Secondly; an earnest and objective look has to be made at the practices and policies regarding board members who oversee the performance of the Fire Chief and his team and yet, these same board members work as volunteers under the chief. There would seem to be some conflict of interest.
Third; more clearly identify the management structure and organizational hierarchy with specific definition and clarification of the duties and responsibilities of all personnel. Finally, the time is long overdue for implementing a plan for full time employment of, at least, the key personnel who run the fire department and manage its resources. For instance, the Fire Chief and the Training Officer are full time jobs and yet draw only part time compensation. It seems that there is too much reliance on volunteers. If elected Scott brings to the board a unique passion for the fire department supplemented by hands on experience and expertise.