On Tuesday, May 2, the voters of Falcon will go to the polls and elect three members to serve on the Falcon Fire District Protection Board.Five people serve on the board for a term of four years. Currently, there are two four-year seats open and one two-year seat. Board members are responsible for policies and procedures and assuring that mill levy monies are used properly. They do not get involved with daily operations.Fire Chief Trent Harwig wants the public to know how important it is to cast a vote for the board.The operating budget for 2005 was $994,000, he said. Salaries and benefits for the 12 people on payroll took 45 percent of the budget, or $447,300. Lease purchase payments totaled $320,000, leaving $226,700 for maintenance, uniforms, utilities, gasoline, etc.”The board is facing some major challenges with the rapid growth within our district,” Harwig said.Two men are running for the vacant two-year seat: Daniel Kupferer and Casey L. Shifflet. Five men are running for two open seats: Thomas Cline, Richard Martin, Larry Robley, John Scorsine and Kerry Todd Smith.The NFH interviewed all candidates, and here’s what they had to say about their run for the board.NFH: Why are you running for the Falcon Fire Board?D. Kupferer: I was a volunteer with the district from 1980 through 1999. After retiring I ran for the board and was elected in May 2000. Halfway through my term, I bought a surveying company in southeastern Arizona and was spending a lot of time there getting the company operational. I was attending board meetings via telephone but felt I couldn’t devote the time needed so I did not run again in 2004. Now the business doesn’t require the time commitment it once did, and when a board member resigned last year, I was asked to fill in. I haven’t missed a meeting since, and I am running for the remainder of term in which I am currently serving. I feel I have the background and experience with the department to continue to contribute.C. Shifflet: It may sound clichÈ, but I feel it’s time to give something back to the community. I have worked as an emergency medical technician since 1976 and have had the opportunity to work with some great and not-so-great fire departments. I have been able to objectively observe these departments from the outside and note what the differences were.R. Martin: Two years ago, local agencies came together for an exercise of a pretend accident at Meadow Lake Airport that included spilled nuclear materials. It involved hundreds of people, including our local fire and rescue services. I was the liaison for the airport in the exercise. It brought home the importance of planning for the future of these services. I currently serve as vice president of the Meadow Lake Airport Association, and I want to actively participate in recommendations and solutions that meet the needs of the community and airport.K. Smith: I believe in civic duty, and I have many years of experience as a firefighter. I want to assist in the management of district assets and offer guidance in the operations of the department.L. Robley: I believe I can make a positive contribution. The Falcon Fire Protection District is currently experiencing rapid growth. My experience as an emergency responder as well as my administrative background will serve taxpayers well.J. Scorsine: As a member of the Falcon Fire Department, I have come to see a need on our board for strategic vision and leadership. Our board is comprised of very dedicated individuals who have given selflessly of their time and expertise. However, despite its best efforts, the board has lacked the vision necessary to position our community for the future. The current effort to increase the mill levy and debt of the district is a result of a failure to acknowledge and plan for our future as a community. I want to bring the board a more long-range focus. Through strategic planning and long-term vision, we can get ahead of the exponential growth our community has seen and will continue to experience.T. Cline: I am running for Falcon Fire Board because I feel the board needs more diversity. I am an accountant, not a firefighter.NFH: What qualifications do you feel you have to be a member of the board?D. Kupferer: I have been associated with the department for 26 years as an active volunteer and past board member. I retired as the assistant chief on Jan. 1, 2000. I was also a fire investigator with the Regional Fire Investigation Team during the 1980s. My work as a professional land surveyor and land use designer in El Paso County since 1971 gives me very good expertise in the current growth facing the district.C. Shifflet: I have served as a paramedic, a field supervisor, the bicycle emergency response team coordinator, and currently serve as a field training officer. I have also served on boards both in the military and emergency services.R. Martin: As a former owner of a small construction business and as a member of the Meadow Lake Airport Association board for the past six years, I have integrated skills that include budgeting, priority setting, contingency planning and effect communications.K. Smith: I have lived in the Falcon area for over 30 years and have been closely associated with the Falcon Fire Protection District for 10 years, including the day-to-day operations. I am currently employed with a local fire department as the Fire Marshall. As part of my regular duties I enforce the fire codes. I also manage budgetary line items affecting fire prevention and public education. I currently supervise 40 staff members.L. Robley: Prior to moving to Falcon in 1996, I served as a volunteer EMT for nine years. I was a volunteer firefighter with the Falcon Fire Protection District for more than two years and have retained my volunteer status with the department as their official photographer. My professional experience includes 13 years as a professor and chair of the department of engineering technology at Southwest State University in Marshall, Minn. While teaching in Minnesota, I was twice elected to the Marshall City Council.J. Scorsine: Since 1976, I have been involved in emergency services in one form or another. I have been a police officer, deputy sheriff, volunteer firefighter, EMT, rescue diver, member of the ski patrol and search and rescue. I have dedicated my adult life to participating in emergency services. As a lieutenant colonel in the Colorado National Guard, I have a strong understanding of both tactical and strategic decision-making. Service as a board member requires business judgment. As a lawyer and the full-time General Counsel for a technology research firm, I have a demonstrated track record of providing sound analysis and judgment to business decision-making. I also have past service on a community corrections board and the Wyoming State Board of Parole prior to moving to Falcon in 2003. Currently, I serve on the El Paso County Forestry and Weed Advisory Commission.T. Cline: As an active community member, I am president of the Falcon Professional Development League and also currently serve on the Falcon Exploratory Incorporation Committee. As an accountant, I have extensive financial experience.NFH: What do you feel is the most pressing issue facing the Falcon Fire Protection District?D. Kupferer: I believe Chief Harwig has done a very good job providing the leadership to get us through an extremely rapid growth period. Growth is the most pressing issue we have. My knowledge of land development and familiarity with developers will be beneficial in creating an atmosphere of cooperation with them to get their assistance in providing the fire protection infrastructure that is going to be needed in the future.C. Shifflet: I believe there are several issues that are important to the Falcon Fire Department and the citizens of Falcon. One of the most important is response time and staffing. I live with my family in Claremont Ranch and am acutely aware that the response time for a medical or fire response could be up to 15 minutes due to the proximity of the responding units. The passing of items A and B on the ballot would pave the way for a station to be built in Claremont Ranch. My other great concern is the compensation and benefits package that firefighters receive. The emerging urban development requires that our emergency services continue to develop and maintain proper training levels. If we give our firefighters the training and tools to excel, we will end up ahead of the game. I have intimate knowledge of this department due to my full-time position as a paramedic with the ambulance company that serves Falcon, and I can say without reservation that I am relieved to have the staff that we have. With that said, as with any endeavor, there is always room for improvement.R. Martin: Phenomenal growth is the most pressing issue. The challenge is one of meeting the demands of that growth with first responders that have the training, skills and equipment to deliver efficient and effective service. Like many in the community, I have never needed help from the Falcon Fire Protection district, so I do not want to find too late problems in getting a proper response to a fire emergency. While growth has brought numerous problems to the area, when the FFPD fails to meet its obligations, people can die.K. Smith: The vast increase in district population is the most pressing issue. The population is growing faster than staffing and resources can keep up with. Staffing, safety and salaries are all important issues the board needs to deal with.L. Robley: Clearly our growth is the most pressing issue and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. How we meet the needs of the citizens of this fire district is of critical importance. The planning and decisions made now will affect us for years to come.J. Scorsine: Clearly, the most pressing issue for our fire protection district is securing the necessary resources both for current operations and those operations we anticipate in the next five or 10 years. With 11,000 new homes planned and plotted for our district during the next few years, it is not nearly good enough to merely bring our resources to a level adequate for current needs as is sought by the ballot issues. We have to secure the resources today for use tomorrow. However, this future economic burden should not be placed upon current residents; it needs to be put squarely upon the shoulders of the developers that are profiting from the rapid development which strains our limited resources.Tax increase for fire district on ballot as wellThe Falcon Fire Protection District will ask voters to approve a bond for two new fire stations – one slated for Claremont Ranch and a new station to be built in the Falcon Town Center, replacing the current station at McLaughlin and Highway 24. The increase would also include the construction of living quarters at Falcon Station 2, located on Meridian Road just north of Murphy Road.The ballot issue is twofold, said Trent Harwig, Falcon Fire District fire chief. Voters also will be asked to approve a mill levy to support financing the staffing for the new facilities.”We have to hire a minimum of two people per shift, which is six people per day,” Harwig said. “The worst thing for us if one election issue goes and the other doesn’t.”He said that commitments from developers have helped, but running a fire department costs big bucks.”It costs $500,000 for a ladder truck, and fire engines run between $250,000 and $300, 000,” he said. Lease purchase payments add up to $330,000 a year. And the fire engines are fuel guzzlers. “We get five miles to the gallon, and we put 2,000 miles a month on the fire engine at Station 1.”Contrary to some apparent rumors, Harwig said the Falcon Fire Department is not trying to become an all-career fire department. “We continue to be primarily volunteer – 80 percent – and we do not have the funding to be an all-career department.”This May, there will be two polling places for voter convenience. Polling place No. 1 is at the Falcon Fire Station at 7030 N. Meridian Road at Hwy 24. Polling place No. 2 is at 2301 Springside Road, Colorado Springs, in the Claremont Ranch sub-division.
