Recall candidate Kesten served with New York fire department

As a candidate in the recall election of four Evergreen Fire Protection District board members, Evergreen resident Jodi Kesten brings more than six years experience as a volunteer firefighter and EMT with a New York fire department.

Sandy Barnes

Jodi Kesten

Buy this photo

Along with her firefighter training, Kesten is certified for rescue operations, including the use of jaws-of-life, having received emergency medical education at a New York hospital. 

While serving with a New York rescue squad in the 1990s, Kesten said regularly went on calls and kept up to date with her training.

“The volunteer and paid staff trained together,” she said. “We drilled constantly, trained constantly.”

“I have such a passion for the fire department,” she said. “I think the firefighters are great.”

However, Kesten does object to the placement of a fire training facility at Evergreen Fire Station 2 in Bergen Park, a project that is under way.

“The first thing that bothered me was that it is too close to the school,” she said. “Is this really good for us?”

Having a fire training facility 100 feet from a school is not appropriate, Kesten said. 

“There are places for things — and there aren’t places for things,” she remarked.

“You have to have enough space around the building,” she said. “I care about the health and safety of the community.”

Kesten said that while the members of the Evergreen Fire Protection District board are good people, they need to be held accountable for their decision on the training facility.

“I have a problem with that. I think they’re wasting money,” she said of the $500,000 expenditure for the project.

Kesten said she is supportive of adequate training for firefighters, and is among those who believe that a viable option exists at the West Metro training facility in Lakewood. 

As a member of the fire district board, Kesten said she would work to get firefighters on a training program to ensure that they were well-trained and that the company was well-managed.

Kesten also said she is concerned about response times for Evergreen Fire/Rescue, which she says could be improved.

“Because of my passion and concerns for the community, I would like to make the fire department better,” she added. “If we were put on the board tomorrow, things would change for the better.”

“We should all stand together,” she said. “We should be united in the goal to keep our community safe.”

Kesten is a stay-at-home mother who previously has worked in marketing for Conde Nast publishing in New York.

As a long-term resident of Evergreen, Kesten as served the community in various roles, working for the Seniors’ Resource Center in Evergreen as well as the Life Care Center of Evergreen and on the PTA board of local schools. 

Contact Sandy Barnes at sandy@evergreenco.com or call 303-350-1042.