Creve Coeur Fire Protection District Board Q&A: Full Term

Patch gave candidates a series of questions to answer as part of our Participate 2012 coverage.

Ron Olshwanger is running against Lili Goodman Lieberman. Goodman-Lieberman has expressed campaign concerns via . We will also link to responses given to the League of Women Voters and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Brief Biography

 My name is Ron Olshwanger. I am a retired business owner and a public servant. Before my tenure as Director for the Creve Coeur Fire District I was Auxiliary Police Chief for the City Of Olivette and Assistant Chief of the Red Cross Disaster Service. In total I have spent nearly forty years of my life dedicated to serving the public.

Why are you running for a seat on the board?

 I am running for re-election to ensure the work I have started continues, to make the Creve Coeur Fire District an elite entity, the envy of every other community in St. Louis County and beyond.

What are the two biggest issues facing the district?

Budget crunch: As with all public entities, money is tight. Through strict rules on spending we have faced this budget crunch head on, achieving a level of fiscal responsibility all residents of the fire district should feel proud of.

Increasing call volume: For years the call volume has continued to rise, especially the need for EMS personnel and ambulances. To counteract this trend we placed a second ambulance in service at house one during peak hours to better serve the community and reduce the need for mutual aid, all with no increase to the tax paying citizens of the District.

If elected, at the end of my term, voters could say ________about what I’ve accomplished?

At the end of my term the voters of the District will say he left the Fire District better than he found it, for the employees and citizens alike.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story indicated Goodman-Lieberman did not respond to a Patch request for answers to these questions. Patch did send out the questions with a Thursday 5 p.m. deadline. Goodman called to clarify Friday afternoon and said he did not receive the form. Patch apologizes for any miscommunication but did send out the forms to each candidate.