Politics & Government

Candidate Mike Klund Unsatisfied With Current Mehlville Fire Board Leadership

Mike Klund is running for the Board Chairman position with the Mehlville Fire Protection District in April.

Mike Klund, a Mehlville resident, says he is unsatisfied with the current leadership of Board Chairman Aaron Hilmer. For years, Klund says he has been researching the fire district and after listening to concerns from community members, he has decided to run for Hilmer's position. If elected, Klund aims to curtail “out of control spending” and open the lines of communication.

Klund has lived in Mehlville since his birth in 1958, and now resides one mile away from where he was raised.

After attending Mehlville High School, Klund went to work as a mechanic specifically repairing steering columns on cars. He now has his own mechanic business, C&M Service, where he repairs columns and does locksmith work.

Klund also worked for the Mehlville School District for 12 years in the late 1980s as a mechanic. In 1979, he married his wife Cindy and the couple had two children. Michelle, 27, is a teacher in the Fox School District, while Jeff, 25, is a mechanic at Scott’s Auto Care in Oakville.

Klund’s interest in the Mehlville Fire Protection District stems from a concern in 2005 about high taxes. He said he originally voted for current chairman Aaron Hilmer’s reform policy because he felt there were a lot of improprieties going on—that the past board was too giving to the employees.

However, Klund started having concerns with the current board after speaking with fellow community members.

“I started paying attention and it opened my eyes up a little bit,” he said. “I read the Post and The Call and started making phone calls and since then, found out there’s problems.”

He considered running for the board in the 2009 election, but felt he was not adequately educated about the day-to-day activities of the district. Now, he feels he is more knowledgeable, saying he has been to almost every board meeting for the last 2 and a half years.

“I read and talk to people about what’s going on, including firemen,” he said. Klund said he has tried to contact the current board with questions about the district, but has received no response from its members.

Klund filed an ethics complaint against current board members Aaron Hilmer, Bonnie Stegman and Ed Ryan in February 2009. Klund felt the board was using taxpayer money to forward Bonnie Stegman’s re-election campaign. After an interview process, the Ethics Committee found the claim unsubstantiated and that the board’s actions were without intent.

If elected to the fire board, Klund said he would open the lines of communication between the board, the firemen and the community. He thinks the board should discuss items on the agenda more thoroughly before they pass them and encourage open comments from the community.

“There’s such a sterile environment at the board meetings now,” he said, saying Hilmer has a lack of respect during the meetings.

“You’ll see people present issues, you’ll see Bonnie (Stegman) and Ed (Ryan) listening. Aaron (Hilmer) will be playing with his phone, or his head will be down. It just ain’t right,” he said. “I’ve been watching it for years and there’s never been any discussion. They vote yes and you never know what the deal is. They’re supposed to talk about the issues and vote at the next meeting.”

Klund thinks a more transparent board that invites public conversation during meetings would improve the fire district’s morale. He said he wants firemen to feel like they can make careers out of the district—be hired and retire there. Klund believes that the current morale among firefighters is fearful.

“Do you want a happy medic coming to your house, or one that’s worried they’re going to do something wrong and get fired tomorrow?” Klund said.

Klund states that he has expertise to offer the board in his business sense and lack of political or personal agenda. Although he is not an accountant and has no medical training, he said he brings experience as a lifelong resident and common sense as a taxpayer.

Self-educated in his knowledge about the district, Klund says he has done research online as well as spoken with Sen. Jim Lembke and talked to past board members and firemen.

Klund sees several issues with the current district’s leadership, the first being irresponsible spending habits.

“Just because you have a dollar, you don’t spend a dollar,” he said. “I have a hard time paying my taxes, so I will watch if we can do without.”

Klund does not believe the district should have spent money to build three new firehouses in a bad economy. He disagrees with the decision to move House 3 farther out of Sunset Hills down Lindbergh and that House 4 should have been rebuilt by Wells Road. Concerned about the future, Klund worries about the tax rate that his posterity might have to bear when all three of the firehouses need to be replaced at the same time, saying a more staggered approach would have been better.

He also believes that the board did not follow the proper bidding processes for construction and land acquirements.

“I have a big problem with the spending, but also hiring and firing practices,” he said. “We’re losing experienced people at an alarming rate. We lost four or five deputy chiefs; they requested to be demoted to captain because they couldn’t stand the politics of being in administration.”

Klund cites the hiring of Chief Tim White as an example of improper hiring, stating that there was not an application process.

“When they hired him as chief, they already had one, so for a year, they paid two chiefs,” he said.

Building up the district’s reserves and balancing the budget would be Klund’s first priorities on the board. His proposed expenditures would lean toward putting more ambulances in the district, primarily in Oakville at the Becker Road firehouse.

Despite his issues with the district, if elected, Klund feels he would work cohesively with the other two members of the board, Stegman and Ryan.

“I think Bonnie (Stegman) and Ed (Ryan) have concerns with the district,” he said. “They don’t have hidden agendas, I believe I would work well with them. I’ve never had a conversation with them, but there’s a good working relationship to be had there.”

As a self-described strong-willed person, Klund states his weaknesses is never previously serving as a fireman or board member.

“I can’t imagine what they go though,” he said. “It’s just an unknown.”

Promising to control spending habits and open communications, Klund said he wants to “bring Mehlville back up off its knees.”


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