The Sun Lakes Fire Board is a five-person board that supervises the Sun Lakes Fire Department. The most important duties of the Board are 1) hire a fire chief, 2) approve an annual budget, and 3) make sure the department is managed in a fiscally sound manner. The term of office is for four years and this year there are three vacancies and four candidates, three are already on the Board and are seeking re-election. These three candidates have been endorsed by the Sun Lakes Firefighters Association.
The candidates are as follows:
Bob Rouleau
Bob and his wife Doris moved to Sun Lakes in 2002 and soon after joined the Fire Department’s Community Assistance Program (CAP). He served as a member for nine years and was on the training committee for training new CAP members.
Bob’s reason for running is to ensure that the quality of service provided to the community continues in the excellent manner that Sun Lakes residents have become accustomed.
Forrest Kohler
Forrest and his wife Shelva have lived in Sun Lakes 20 years. He was elected to the Fire Board in 2000. He has earned a certificate from the Arizona Fire District Association recognizing him as a professional Board member. He currently serves as Clerk for the Fire Board. During his term in office he has seen the Sun Lakes Fire Department increase services, shorten response times and to be evaluated by the Insurance Services Office as one of the 10 best departments in Arizona. He wants to keep this department at a high level of service for all of Sun Lakes.
John Crawford
John Crawford is a retired professor from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at ASU. He and his wife, Merrie, have lived in Sun Lakes since 1998. John joined the Sun Lakes Fire Department Board of Directors six years ago and is now running for a new four year term. He is committed to helping the department maintain its reputation for outstanding service even in budget reductions.
All three candidates strongly support the five year budget override and urge voters to vote YES on the $.25 override.