Voters in the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District will have some choices May 21 when it comes to choosing members of the district’s five-person board.
Three positions up for election drew six candidates when filings with the Lincoln County Elections Division closed at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The board has struggled with site issues and resulting cost overruns of its $8.3 million fire station under construction on the north edge of Yachats, communicating with the public, the unionization of its firefighters, decreasing number of volunteers, a year-long board vacancy and board attendance. The district also has one of its two operating levies on the May 21 ballot.
Only one position is unopposed. Chair Katherine Guenther was the only person filing for Position 2’s four-year term.
Position 1 drew three candidates, including incumbent Cy Kauffman. Kauffman, who has been battling health issues, has missed all but two of twice-monthly board meetings since last October. Other candidates are Drew Tracy, a retired assistant chief of the Montgomery County, Md. police department and an anti-terrorism contractor for the U.S. State Department, and A’lyce Ruberg who has a college degree in fire administration, worked as a paramedic in Oakland, Calif., helped with emergency medical service and fire department integration and is a registered nurse.
Two people filed to fill the final two years of Position 3, which has been vacant for a year following a board member’s resignation. They are: Donald Tucker, a former Tektronix executive and current chair of the Southwest Lincoln County Water District, and Ernest Smith of Yachats. Smith is a former government worker and longtime bartender at the Drift Inn restaurant.
Two other members of the board, Ed Hallahan and Betty Johnston, are not up for election.
In addition to the city of Yachats, the district stretches from south of the city, up the Yachats River valley and north to the Waldport City limits. It has three stations, seven career firefighters, two administrators, two part-time employees and a yearly budget of $1.27 million.