South Lane Fire District incumbent won't defend seat.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

Political strife in the four-year-old South Lane Fire District is fueling another hot race for a seat on its five-member board of directors. At the same time, another seat is uncontested, thanks to a last-minute move by one incumbent.

With many Creswell residents saying their end of the district is underrepresented and under served, Jerry Settelmeyer of Cottage Grove withdrew as a candidate for his own Position 2 seat hours before a March filing deadline. The step effectively threw his support to the only remaining candidate, Creswell area resident Cynthia Knight.

Settelmeyer said he recognized the importance of Creswell representation on the board, and believed that Knight was committed to preserving and solving problems in the merged district.

Instead of withdrawing from the election altogether, however, he filed as a candidate for Position 4 against appointed incumbent Keith Folkman of Cottage Grove and challenger Thomas Carroll of Creswell.

Folkman is seeking election to the seat he won by appointment last year. He chose the fire district as a venue for volunteer involvement after moving to Cottage Grove in 2003. South Lane was "in a financial disaster" and he thought his professional expertise might be valuable, he said. But he became concerned that the board was too "politicized" when he was not appointed to the board after applying for a previous vacancy, he said.

Instead, Folkman said, the board appointed a Cottage Grove physician because he had a practice in Creswell.

"Board members admitted it was a political decision to appease the residents of Creswell," he said. That board member soon stepped down, and Folkman was appointed the second time around.

"I'm running on the basis that the board is not citizen-representative," he said. "It makes political decisions instead of decisions in the best interest of the fire district."

Carroll helped organize a new group, Creswell Area Citizens for Public Safety, that has investigated possible "dissolution" of the fire district. "This merger has not come to fruition for all parties, and this current board is to some extent responsible," he said.

Among what Carroll called poor decisions by Settelmeyer and others was the vote to reinstate Fire Chief Dan Olsen, who had been fired by the previous board of directors. (Folkman, appointed last year, was not on the board at the time of that decision.)

But Carroll said he's no longer certain that dissolving the district is the best answer.

"Now that I've read more, I think it can work, and in the best interest of everyone," he said. But he remains firm that Olsen needs to go, in light of such problems as a budget crisis, friction between some volunteers and professional firefighters, and the recent downgrading of the district's insurance rating, he said.

"I like the chief - he's a really nice guy, and I have trouble blasting him," Carroll said. "But the bottom line is that the district has some serious issues that affect 25,000 to 30,000 people, and he has proved himself ineffective. He really hasn't made himself present in Creswell."

Carroll charged that Olsen has failed to make strong recommendations to the board, instead "providing them with reports and documents that just create more confusion."

Settelmeyer, a part-time principal at Bohemia Elementary School, was among those who voted to return Olsen to his post. But he now says he is "extremely disappointed" that the chief has "not helped the district make greater progress toward harmonious operation."

"The discontent of some folks in the Creswell area has not gotten significantly better. It's almost like things have gotten worse."

But he remains committed to making the merger a success, Settelmeyer said.

"I don't think things need to change significantly for that to happen," he said. "There needs to be some clarification that people may or may not want to hear. But we need to be more respectful to each other."

Settelmeyer said there's been progress on some fronts during his tenure.

"We've seen some great growth in helping train and integrate our volunteers with our professional firefighters," he said. "We have better training and accountability for employees and volunteers."

E l e c t i o n 2 0 0 7

SOUTH LANE FIRE BOARD POSITION 4

Name: Thomas Carroll

Age: 43

Occupation: Construction foreman 

Civic experience: Former Creswell volunteer firefighter, including three years as president of volunteers

Name: Keith Folkman

Age: 70

Occupation: Retired Sears, Roebuck accounting manager

Civic experience: Fire district board member since 2006, served on district's Civil Service Commission and budget committee

Name: Jerry Settelmeyer

Age: 58

Occupation: Part-time elementary school administrator

Civic experience: Elected to Board Position 2 in 2005; former Cottage Grove volunteer firefighter

SOUTH LANE FIRE BOARD POSITION 2

Running unopposed: Cynthia Knight