Three people are running for two open seats on the Warrenton Fire Protection District Board of Directors.

Incumbents Donald Owenby and James Sharp are being challenged by Rob Vogelgesang. 

Board members for the fire protection district are elected at-large. The two people who get the most votes out of those three candidates will fill the two open six-year seats.

Their profiles are below. 

Jim Sharp

Jim Sharp is the director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency and Floodplain administrator for Lincoln County.

He serves as deputy emergency operations center director, Warren County Emergency Management Agency, Missouri Region “C” Incident Support Team member; Gateway Electronic Crimes Task Force member; and is a training subcommittee member for the Missouri Incident Management System.

Sharp volunteers regularly in Warren County schools, working with administration on emergency preparedness and response and with students in classrooms on severe weather preparedness, earthquake safety and other topics.  He has written more than a dozen articles that have appeared in publications such as Emergency Management magazine, At the Ready magazine, Disaster Recovery journal and Homeland Security Today.

“In my mind, the Warrenton Fire Protection District is a service organization, and while being a good steward of the money entrusted to us by the public, I’d like to do my part to help make sure the people who live in, work in, and travel through our district are provided with the very best trained, best equipped, best managed, most highly skilled, and most motivated fire and rescue services possible,” he said. 

Sharp was appointed to this position in late 2017 to fill a vacancy on the board. He said the most significant policy change that he was involved with has been the restructuring of the training and certification for volunteer firefighters.

“I’d certainly like to see our staffing issues addressed, and I’d also like to see a long-range strategic plan developed that would address how we, as a fire protection district, will be able to maintain and increase the type and level of services we provide,” said Sharp. “The community we serve continues to grow and change; we need to be ahead of that curve, not playing catchup.”

He is married to Rosalind Sharp, a medical receptionist.

Donald Owenby

Donald Owenby is in the water/wastewater industry and is the public works director for Lake Sherwood Estates in Warren County. He maintains a water and wastewater system by working with pumps, fire hydrants, water and sewer mains. 

Owenby has served the Warrenton Fire Protection District Board of Directors for the last 16 years. He has served as vice president and is the president of the board. He is a Warren County Fair volunteer, a member of Schuetzen Company No. 1, the Schuetzenground Reception Hall on Schuetzenground Road, for more than 30 years. He has served as various officers there and currently serves as president.  

Owenby said he is running for re-election to ensure high-quality standards and services are met and resources are used to their maximum potential. 

“We have career staff and volunteer personnel and my goal is to help them interact and create a unified response to all emergency and nonemergency situations,” Owenby said. “I will continue to be transparent as a member of the district while continuing to provide tools and education necessary to keep emergency response at its highest level.”

During his time on the board, the district purchased property for and built a firehouse with living quarters that allowed the district to provide 24-hour services. The district added two new rescue pumpers. A recently added vehicle was built with a fire-ighting foam injection system that extinguishes fires faster and maneuvers faster than water hoses. 

“The board of directors has been very conscious of using funding as prudent as possible. My goals of the future are to help find a way to convince the public of the necessity of a tax increase,” Owenby said. “Our current funding is limited and we are on the verge of deficit spending. We also need to find a way to continue to attract volunteers to the organization because they are needed to provide multiple vehicles and personnel response to scenes on an as needed basis.”

Rob Vogelgesang

Rob Vogelgesang is in the roofing manufacturing business. He is a stillyard utility operator. He is a member of Holy Rosary Church and a volunteer with the Tribute to Veterans Memorial.

He is running because he believes it’s time for a change at the district.

“It is my belief that after three failed tax increase attempts by the fire district the people of this community have expressed their desire for new leadership,” he said. “My first priority is to bring that leadership to the community, to you.”

If elected, he has several goals to bring to the board. 

He said he will work with the other board members to improve the district’s financial stability and accountability; make certain the district’s staffing needs are met and that those career staff are paid a livable wage and benefits; build upon the volunteer staff; bring transparency to the district by making videos available of all board meetings as well as meeting minutes being available on the district’s website; operate with a balanced budget; and work with other taxing entities to help build a larger tax base.” 

He is married to Shelley Vogelgesang, who works in investments at Edward Jones.

Donald Owenby

Rob Vogelgesang