{"id":1315713,"date":"2019-10-16T14:41:50","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T20:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=989404"},"modified":"2019-10-16T14:41:50","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T20:41:50","slug":"meet-the-garfield-re-2-school-board-candidates-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/meet-the-garfield-re-2-school-board-candidates-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Garfield Re-2 school board candidates \u2014 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Garfield Re-2 Board of Education candidates introduce themselves to the publice gathered at last week\u2019s candidate forum put on by the West Garfield Education Association (WGEA) at the Rifle Library. Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram<\/strong>
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Voters had a chance last week to meet the Board of Education candidates for the four open seats in the Garfield Re-2 school district.<\/p>\n

The six candidates met with the public last Thursday during a forum held by the West Garfield Education Association at the library.<\/p>\n

With more than 30 people in attendance listened to the candidates answer a half-dozen questions during the nearly two-hour event.<\/p>\n

Katie Mackley, and Meriya Stickler are both running unopposed for Director District C and D respectively; both seats are for four-year terms.<\/p>\n

Chris Miller and Kirk Wilson are both vying for Director District B, which is also a four-year term.<\/p>\n

Seth McMillen is challenging incumbent Tom Slappey, Director District A, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year for the two-year term.<\/p>\n

For those who were unable to attend the forum, the Citizen Telegram sent out questions to all the candidates before the upcoming November election.<\/p>\n

Ballots were mailed out last Friday; they must be dropped at one of the drop boxes and in hand by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.<\/p>\n

Profession, how long have you lived here, and any relevant family or personal information you would like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Katie Mackley:<\/strong> I am the Executive Director of the Rifle Regional Economic Development Corporation, the Community Manager of Rifle Cowork and the Operations Manager for Align Multimedia. I was raised in Rifle, graduated from Rifle High School and CU Boulder, lived in Los Angeles for a while and have been back in Rifle for 18 years. I am married with three children who attend school in the Garfield Re-2 school district.<\/p>\n

Kirk Wilson: <\/strong>I have worked for the Rifle Police Department for 17 years. I am the Emergency Manager and Training Coordinator. My wife is a teacher at Highland Elementary School in Rifle and is in her 11th<\/sup> year with the school district. My son is a Kindergartner within the district.<\/p>\n

Meriya Stickler: <\/strong>Healthcare Compliance, born and raised in Colorado, lived in Garfield County for 23 years. Married with two boys who both attend Coal Ridge High School.<\/p>\n

Tom Slappey: <\/strong>I am a Sr. Account Manager for Ryerson, Inc. I also am part owner of Grand Junction Ice, LLC. I have lived and worked in the area since July 2008. I have several family members who also live and work in the Rifle area.<\/p>\n

Chris Miller: <\/strong>My wife, Brooke Miller, and I have lived in Rifle for 8 years, we have four children, with our fifth due in November. She teaches children who are blind or visually impaired from Parachute to Basalt. I worked at Rifle Middle School, for three years as a classroom teacher, and the five years as Athletic Director and Dean of Students. I am currently an Assistant Principal at Eagle Valley High School.<\/p>\n

Seth McMillen: <\/strong>I have been in the district for a year now, my daughter has been in the district for 10 years now starting in kindergarten. My wife is originally from this area and she has very strong roots here.<\/p>\n

Why are you running for the Re-2 Schools Board of Education?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Katie Mackley:<\/strong> I grew up in the Re-2 school district, have had children in the district for 11 years and care deeply about it. I think we are heading into a period of transformation for public schools and I would like to be part of it. This school board will be hiring a new superintendent; it\u2019s important that we find a superintendent who understands the complexities of the district and is prepared to meet them in an innovative and inspired way.<\/p>\n

Kirk Wilson: <\/strong>I am running for Re-2 School Board because I feel I have a deep desire to ensure that the children of our community receive the best education possible in a safe and secure manner.<\/p>\n

Meriya Stickler: <\/strong>To serve the community and Garfield Re-2 school district.<\/p>\n

Tom Slappey: <\/strong>I have two kids in the district and believe that with a vested interest in their education and that of the other children it\u2019s important to give back any way that I can. I also believe that we are going to be faced with several big challenges, funding the most difficult and believe that I can offer insight and direction that will help guide the District into the future.<\/p>\n

Chris Miller: <\/strong>I am running for the Re-2 school board because I am passionate about public education. I have seen public schools be very successful, and I have seen schools that are not. When schools thrive, the entire community does as well. I want to use my experience and understanding of the educational system to guide our district to hire a new superintendent that has values that align with our community.<\/p>\n

Seth McMillen: <\/strong>I am running for school board because I have a vested interest in how the schools are run and performing.<\/p>\n

What qualifications do you bring to the table, and how do you believe that will benefit the organization?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Katie Mackley: <\/strong>I believe that my time as a parent in the school district provides me significant insight into the workings of the district. I have developed relationships with numerous Re-2 staff members and feel that that is an important point of reference moving into the role of being a school board member. My professions also provide me with a strong understanding of business and finance, which is crucial to being a competent school board member.<\/p>\n

Kirk Wilson: <\/strong>I will graduate with my Master\u2019s in Public Administration this December. Combined with my 17 years as a professional law enforcement officer, emergency manager, father of a Re-2 student and husband of a Re-2 Teacher, I believe I offer my community a wealth of knowledge and experience in several valuable disciplines.<\/p>\n

Meriya Stickler: <\/strong>Before working in healthcare I worked in banking this experience will help me learn districts finance. I have Bachelor\u2019s degree with an emphasis in Human Resources from CCU a Certification in Healthcare Compliance, CHC and Society of Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional, SHRM-SCHP. My healthcare experience will help me learn my new role as a board member as healthcare is organized chaos, with complicated finances and as many acronyms as the school district.<\/p>\n

Tom Slappey: <\/strong>I have worked for the same company for 22 years, I have a strong background in the financial aspects of our business as well as great listening skills, all of my experience has been on the commercial side from entry-level sales to sales management. I work well in a team atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Chris Miller: <\/strong>Every great team is made up of people of various strengths. Our School Board needs someone with experience in public education. I have taught or been an administrator in the elementary, middle, and high school levels. I was the chair or vice-chair of the District Accountability Committee for five years, part of the district\u2019s negotiating body, Collaborative Solutions, for two years, and a member of numerous other committees throughout the district.<\/p>\n

Seth McMillen: <\/strong>I feel it\u2019s a way to give back to the community that I have now adopted as my home.<\/p>\n

kmills@postindependent.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garfield Re-2 Board of Education candidates introduce themselves to the publice gathered at last week\u2019s candidate forum put on by the West Garfield Education Association (WGEA) at the Rifle Library. Kyle Mills \/ Citizen Telegram Voters had a chance last week to meet the Board of Education candidates for the four open seats in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1315713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 18:20:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}