Issues

So many issues face Truckee. Roger Rintala can tackle them and make our community a better place.

What do you see as the most significant challenge facing the Truckee Fire Protection District over the next four years, and how would you address it? 

We must support our firefighters as we embrace the growth and evolution of our community while maintaining financial discipline. We operate at capacity and need more beds to increase staff. A new station with capabilities for basic and specialized operations will be a large capital project, alongside a long-sought training facility to serve our district and regional partners—I'd like to set this project on a path to realization. Our support for firefighters also means strengthening our internal processes and communication with our still-new union, a relationship that brings its own rules, structure, and capabilities to the team.

Wildfire prevention has become an increasingly important part of the District’s work. How should the District prioritize Measure T funding among defensible space, forest and fuels management, community grants, education, and other wildfire-prevention efforts?

Measure T–funded programs have been very successful over the first several years with strong community engagement. Our team has done excellent work planning and executing both large-area forestry projects, often paired with matching grants, and individual property owner-driven projects on private land. This mix addresses the community wildfire prevention priorities voters committed to fund with Measure T in 2021. I'd like our new board to review this mix and invest for effectiveness, as we would with any other investment. If changes are warranted, we should implement them well ahead our return to community voters for renewal.

As Truckee grows and new development is proposed, how should the District balance development needs with wildfire risk, evacuation capacity, emergency access, and the cost of providing fire and emergency services?

This is a shared responsibility. Our residents, businesses, and visitors deserve development that is safe and backed by essential services that are available and practical. Towns and counties should receive guidance from TFPD and other public safety agencies. The District should support future developments with high-quality impact and service-level assessments, going beyond code compliance reviews. Early input on risk, capacity, and access is essential, and development fees should cover the capability increases developments require. The board should work to deliver high-quality service to the community and ensure District budgets are protected from unfunded changes in scope.

 Truckee Fire estimates that it is currently underfunded by approximately $4 million annually for services provided to portions of Martis Valley and is suing Placer County over the allocation of property tax revenue. Because property tax allocations are a limited pool, a successful reallocation could reduce revenues to other local agencies, including schools, healthcare, sanitation, and other special districts. As a Truckee Fire Board member, what solution would you advocate for, and should resolving the District's funding shortfall come at the expense of other local public agencies?

It isn't right that part of the district contributes a lower share of taxes to the operating budget when those taxes are already paid by property owners. TFPD should stay engaged with Placer County to pursue this missing funding. It's also important to engage other districts relying on similar allocations and TFPD services to understand potential impacts. As a community member with limited public information, I don't yet know whether local tax funds are provided to other agencies above their prescribed allocations. If elected, I will evaluate in detail with information from outreach, historical review and discovery before advocating for a specific resolution.