I’m Rich Sokol, and I want to represent you on the South Metro Fire District Board.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the men and women of South Metro Fire Rescue, one that I will forever strive to repay. When my daughter, Deanna, was two years old, she had an urgent issue at our home. My wife called 911, and South Metro came and rescued my daughter. Today, she is a happy and healthy 16-year-old at Littleton High School.
This is me on a training with SMFD firefighters.
Two years after my daughter’s health scare, I was elected to the South Metro Fire Rescue Board. I ran because I wanted to pay back my debt to the brave men and women of South Metro Fire, even if in a small way. It was the honor of my lifetime to serve my community in this way from 2010 until 2020 when, due to redistricting, I and one other Board member had to step aside, by law. The seat I held is now up for election, and I’d be honored to serve you once again.
Endorsements
“In the many years that I’ve known Rich, he has continually been a man of integrity and principle. I believe his experience and ability in the business world is exactly what we need on the South Metro Fire Board. I look forward to working with him to super serve the residents of Douglas County and my neighbors in Castle Pines.”
“As a firefighter, I knew how important it is to have dedicated Board Members who care about the community and have good fiscal sense. Firefighters appreciate dedicated Board Members, and that’s Rich Sokol. I heartily endorse him.”
“Rich Sokol cares about people, while maintaining fiscal discipline. As a mayor, I appreciate how hard he worked to better the fire and ambulance service for my constituents. We need him back on the Fire Board!”
“Rich will make sure that when an emergency arises, help will get to you quickly and our first responders will know what to do to save you and your property. On top of that, he is hardworking, fiscally disciplined, and has the collaborative style needed for effective leadership. I trust him to keep us safe and prudently manage the $170 million budget of the Fire Department. He has my vote!”
Who is Rich Sokol?
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During almost all my tenure on the South Metro Board, I was the Treasurer. During this time, South Metro Fire merged with several other fire districts, all of which were required to meet three important criteria, which I and my fellow Board members made sure were met:
a. We are able to better serve and protect our citizens – especially with quicker response times, as we can better utilize our fire trucks and ambulances
b. We save taxpayer money – we benefit from scale, as we can leverage our administrative resources, meaning we can grow the number of firefighters without the same growth in administrative staff
c. We better protect the health and safety of our firefighters, paramedics and other line personnel. We take their safety seriously.
Because of these mergers, we are able to better serve our constituents AND we cut the tax rate paid by many of our citizens – something near and dear to my heart as Treasurer!
In addition to meeting these goals, I also lobbied our state legislators in 2015 to help pass CO Bill 15-1348, which prevents urban renewal authorities from unfairly shifting costs for fire protection and ambulance service from their cities to taxpayers in other cities. Because of these efforts, I was honored to receive an award from the Special District Association of CO for my work.
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Professionally, I am now an entrepreneur after working in finance for many years. I am the founder and owner of Personicare Healthcare Network, which specializes in providing medical care for car accident victims who do not have health insurance. I started the business in my basement and it has grown to serve over three thousand Coloradoans.
In addition to my duties at Personicare, I have served as CFO for several organizations, and participated on the Board of Directors of several local companies. I have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, as well as the Denver Business Journal on matters of entrepreneurship and business strategy. I have been very involved in local community groups, and am a past Treasurer of the Autism Society of Colorado. Many years ago, I earned a Bachelor’s of Arts and was summa cum laude at Yale University, and I later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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My wife, Rochelle, and I have two teenage daughters, Deanna and Arielle. I hope my daughters will grow up to be good citizens and fanatic Denver Nuggets fans. When not working or shuttling my daughters around town, I can be found jogging or biking in Cherry Creek State Park.
