Leo Keeler for South Glastonbury Director | Glastonbury Community Forum

Leo Keeler for South Glastonbury Director Oct 8, 2016 13:30:49 GMT -7 zorro likes this

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Post by Admin on Oct 8, 2016 13:30:49 GMT -7

Leo Keeler for South Glastonbury Director

Numerous Landowners and Board members have asked me to run for the Board to help make it more responsive to and represent all Landowners, operate more efficiently, and be more transparent when making decisions. I hope to help reduce the frustration of dealing with the Board, by quickly addressing Landowners questions and concerns.

I moved to Emigrant in 2005 after spending 24 years in Alaska serving as Lands and Special Uses Program Manager for the Forest Service where I dealt with attorneys and wrote, interpreted, and applied federal land laws. While managing commercial and private land uses, I learned to guide people with different desires and ideas to reasonable and fair solutions.

I also served as Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Helena National Forest and received a $2,400 award for “significant contributions to the Helena National Forest Land Management Plan” for improving public participation in forest planning, developing a citizen focus group that improved participation in the forest decision-making process, and for my recommendations to modify the Forest budget process to better define and select priorities.

I was President of the Board of Friends of McNeil River for 10 years and succeeded in establishing the 119,000 acre McNeil River Refuge to be managed for grizzly bear viewing.

Former Alaska Governor Tony Knowles recognized my ability to work on controversial public resource issues and appointed me to the Alaska Board of Game and the McGrath Adaptive Management Team assigned to address the most contentious issue in Alaska, wolf management.
My ability to lead in controversial and politically driven issues resulted in my being featured on the CBS Evening News three separate times, and being invited to be one of 40 Founding Fellows of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) where I helped develop the group’s “Ethical Standards and Principles” guidelines.

Leo Keeler for South Glastonbury Director Oct 23, 2016 18:28:19 GMT -7

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Post by leokeeler on Oct 23, 2016 18:28:19 GMT -7

Candidates for the Board were limited to 300 words to introduce themselves and to describe objectives they would have a Board members. The following is in a letter I sent out to all South Glastonbury landowners.

Greetings,

It is the election time of year and, just like in our national elections, many landowners hope that Board actions and representation can be improved with new Directors. The following are my objectives and more information on my skills and abilities in hopes you will elect me to the GLA Board.

Roads: We need a long range plan to protect gravel and grading investments, and I believe the Board can help landowners maintain their subdivision roads by coordinating work when equipment is available.

Board Transparency: Every meeting must be in person at a public meeting facility, and all Director actions/communications must be available to landowners, excluding materials legally confidential under Montana laws. The Board must respond to landowners quickly so they know they are heard.

Financial Management: We must meet professional standards, simplify accounting practices, and make all discussions, decisions, and related data available to landowners in reports understandable by landowners. I feel GLA and landowners would benefit from an audit of GLA finances, financial management processes, and learning about possible improvements.

Governing Documents: I feel errors have been made by past Boards when enforcing/applying Covenant and Master Plan requirements, equal treatment/consideration has not been given to all landowners, and decisions have not always been in the best interest of all landowners. I plan on correcting that. Also, all opinions and recommendations from legal counsel must be in a written form and shared with landowners.

Improving Communications: Meeting agendas and written reports should be available a week before Board meetings, whenever possible. The audience should be asked for their concerns/comments immediately before all Board votes, but there should be no debates between Directors and Landowners.

Many items of my history could not be included in the 300 word limit of the GLA candidate announcements. I offer this additional information and hope you feel I am worthy of your vote. If you do not know the other candidates very well, I invite you to send me your proxy.

As a First Responder, I served as the Operations and Logistics Chief for the U.S. Forest Service Incident cvcv vccccCommand Team during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. I received a Service Award for “Excellent and outstanding contributions during Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Response.”

As Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Helena National Forest, I developed a public “Focus Group” for Travel Planning and developed a process to tie funding projects to specific Forest Plan objectives.

As Rural Community Assistance Coordinator, I worked with 12 communities to help identify goals that describe the lifestyle they desired in the future and assisted them in applying for grants.

As Special Uses Program manager, I developed a program where even customers whose requests were denied felt they had been provided good service by a considerate and responsive staff. I worked directly with attorneys to write laws and develop implementation strategies.

Thanks for your consideration. Leo Keeler, 3 Aquila Lane, P.O. Box 433, 333-4366