Missoula Dems to host forum for District 4 Public Service Commission candidates
Missoula County Democrats will host a forum for District 4 Public Service Commission (PSC) Democratic candidates Brett Rosenberg, Daniel Carlino, and Monica Tranel at the Roxy Theater in Missoula on Feb. 26.
Doors at 7 p.m. and the forum will start promptly at 7:20 p.m. and finish by 9 p.m. This event is open to the public and people are encouraged to attend to learn about this race. The Public Service Commission oversees privately held public utilities as well as interstate railroads, some motor carriers and natural gas pipeline safety.
The forum will be moderated by Bryan Von Lossberg.
MONICA TRANEL was raised in eastern Montana on a ranch with her nine siblings. Tranel is an alumna of Gonzaga University, where she attended the Gonzaga-in-Florence program. She is also a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. Tranel worked as a law clerk at the state and federal levels and also served as legislative counsel to Montana’s U.S. Senator Conrad Burns.
Tranel was a 2003 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Service for the State of Montana.
Tranel began rowing at Gonzaga University and went on to compete in two Olympic Games, rowing with the women’s eight in 1996 and the single scull in 2000. She won five world championship rowing medals including gold at the 1995 World Rowing Championships in Tampere, Finland.
Tranel is the only woman to row the eight and the single for the United States in the Olympic Games, and is a lifetime member of Philadelphia’s Vesper Boat Club, awarded only to world and Olympic champions. She served as a Trustee for the Montana State Bar Association and has been a board member of the Helena Symphony as well as the Missoula Youth Homes. She is married and has three daughters.
DANIEL CARLINO has always had a passion for nature. Following that passion, he moved to western Montana to study environmental studies and wildlife biology at the University of Montana. Working on the hantavirus project with deer mice he quickly found a path pursuing science to solve 21st century problems.
He recognizes climate change as the overarching issue and started a climate action student group at the University of Montana and wrote and successfully lobbied for a 100% clean electricity resolution in UM’s government which showed the University’s support for Missoula city/county’s 100% clean electricity resolution by 2030.
While working with the Sierra Club and Environment Montana on environmental justice projects, he has been a panelist on climate forums and organized a Green New Deal town hall in Missoula. He currently coordinates the Sunrise Movement.
BRETT ROSENBERG is a father of two young kids who lives in Missoula. He grew up in the Kansas City area with a single parent who sacrificed much on his behalf. He has worked since he was 15 years old, and he understands what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. He is sensitive to how difficult it can be to make ends meet, especially when the costs of simply living seem out of control.
Over the last 20 years, he has worked, at times literally, in the trenches to hold industry accountable to their environmental responsibilities. His first job out of college, based in Washington, DC, involved visiting sites around the US to advise clients on technical issues related to industrial wastewater treatment and management, and compliance with federal and state water regulations.
He had the opportunity to work with mayors nationwide to provide cities a unified, non-partisan voice in speaking to the federal government about infrastructure, energy, and environmental policy. Additionally, he was part of the team that launched the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which is the basis of so many local climate action plans nationwide.
He has also worked with architects and engineers from around the country to move the building industry toward better energy efficiency and resource stewardship