Foothills Fire board candidates have di erent approaches to solve issues

Fire, having served as volunteer reghters and o cers for the department. Stephanie Troyer brings her fundraising experience and what she calls her bold problem-solving style.

positions: Stajcar, Miller, Hartman and Graf. Graf was appointed earlier this year to ll a vacant seat on the board. e top three voter-getters will serve on the board until 2027.

information.

BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e candidates for the Foothills Fire Protection District board of directors generally agreed on the department’s direction moving forward, though they bring di erent skill sets to the table and don’t see eye-to-eye on how to get there.

Seven of the eight candidates attended a forum on April 20 sponsored by the Canyon Courier and Foothills Fire. All seven said they would bring to the re board a different approach to decision-making.

Candidate Lee Chaisson did not attend the forum.

Stephanie Graf said she would bring her business management experience, while Dan Hartman brings his knowledge of how governments work. Both Steve Beck and Norm Kirsch say they have history with the department, having been part of the creation of the consolidated Foothills Fire 25 years ago.

Dave Stajcar and Seth Miller have extensive background in Foothills e candidates agreed the district needed to heal, especially after going through a contentious failed bond request last November. Several said they decided to run for the board because of how poorly the bond ask was handled by re district o cials. All opposed that bond that asked voters for $13 million to build a new re station in Paradise Hills. ey also agreed that Foothills Fire should not enter into an agreement with Northstar Ventures to swap the Rainbow Hills Fire Station property for land on the other side of the Observatory, and in exchange Northstar Ventures would build Foothills a new re station. ey agreed that open communication with volunteer re ghters and the community were important to the department’s success, learning from the past but moving forward rather than rehashing contentious issues.

Eight candidates are running for ve positions on the board.

Incumbent Beck and four others are running for three four-year ree people are running for two two-year positions: Chaisson, Troyer and Kirsch. Kirsch was appointed earlier this year to ll a vacant seat on the board. e two people with the most votes will serve on the board until 2025.

Rather than an in-person election, Foothills is using mail-in ballots, which must be returned by 7 p.m. May 2 by mail or be dropped o to the re department’s designated election o cial at Coaty Marchant Woods in Bergen Park.

To view a recording of the forum, visit https://foothills re.colorado. gov.

About the candidates

Incumbent Beck, who has served on the Foothills board since 2016, moved to the re district in 1986 and joined Lookout Mountain Fire Department. He was the re chief for three years of his 10-year tenure before the department merged into Foothills Fire Protection District.

Chaisson did not provide the Canyon Courier with biographical

Graf has lived on Lookout Mountain for 27 years. She serves as the Foothills Fire board’s president and is vice president of named account sales, North America Sales at Autodesk, Inc.

Hartman worked in public works for 43 years, including as the public works director for the city of Golden for 34 years. He’s lived in the Foothills Fire district since 1988.

Kirsch has lived in the Foothills district for 44 years and spent 22 years as a volunteer re ghter. He was appointed to the Foothills Fire board in January, the second time he has served on the board.

Miller, who has lived in the Foothills Fire district for 22 years, was a Foothills re ghter for 10 years, six of them as a lieutenant before retiring in 2021. He is a project manager for the state of Colorado.

Stajcar has lived in the re district since 1977 and was a Foothills volunteer re ghter, eventually becoming the operations captain. He resigned from the department in 2021.

Troyer has a background in fundraising, which she called a unique