Katherine Guenther, chair of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection Board, is running for re-election but two other board positions on the May 21 ballot have yet to draw any candidates.
Deadline for filing with the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office is 5 p.m. March 21. The filing fee is $10.
Guenther says she will file for re-election to Position 2, a four-year term.
The other seats up for election on the five-member board are Position 1, a four-year term, and Position 3, a two-year term. Position 1 is held by Cy Kauffman, who has attended two meetings the past five months because of health problems and is not seeking re-election. Position 3 became vacant last May when Donalee Pelovsky moved out of the district and the board did not fill the seat by appointment.
The district is also seeking approval May 21 of one of two operating levies it uses to fund day-to-day operations. The levy would raise from $330,000 to $371,000 a year for five years and carry a tax rate of 61 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, costing $152 a year for the owner of a property assessed at $250,000.
The district’s other operating levy, at 59 cents per $1,000, was renewed by voters last May. The district’s tax base, established in 1997, is 29 cents per $1,000.
Guenther said she and board member Ed Hallahan have been talking a handful of district residents about running, but so far without anyone committing to volunteering.
Guenther said she thought that disagreements over the district’s voter-approved $7.7 million bond to build a new fire station north of Yachats or recent YachatsNews.com stories about fire district and board struggles might get people to file.
“I have been trying to talk people into running,” she said.
Hallahan said he’s also had “a couple” of similar discussions.
The board meets at 10:30 a.m. the first Monday and last Thursday of each month, but Guenther said the board can adjust those times and dates if it would help draw more candidates.
The fire district’s boundaries are much larger than the city of Yachats’. It runs south along U.S. Highway 101, up the Yachats River valley and north to the Waldport city limits.
