This free “happy hour” Zoom panel discussion will focus on what’s happening in Missoula and greater Montana to promote the decarbonization of our transportation system and ways for Montanans to make change in their personal lives, and beyond. This event is co-sponsored by Climate Smart Missoula.

Panelists

Amy Cilimburg, Executive Director of Climate Smart and Board Member, Mountain Line

Amy loves putting her passions to work leading Climate Smart, strengthening connections, initiating new programs, and building a resilient community.  She was part of the team that launched this organization and has been at the helm since its inception.  Amy has worked on climate and energy policy for the past decade, encouraging solutions at the local, state and federal levels. She did much of this through her work at Montana Audubon and by volunteering locally to help develop Missoula's Climate Action Plans. She lives in Missoula with her husband, teenage daughter, and dog. You might see her out running our trails with said dog, who keeps up just fine. Her daughter, meanwhile, runs way too fast.

Jim Coulter, Flannagan Motors

Jim is a long time resident of Western Montana. Over the last 35 years he has worked in either advertising sales management or auto sales at Flanagan Motors.  Although well-versed in advertising, Jim's passion is cars and has worked for the Flanagan family for over 10 years.  His first car, a 1969 Chevy Camaro obtained in the mid 70s, was for the most part just an affordable ($400) and functional used car. Since then he has personally purchased and resold over 30 cars in the last 45 years including convertibles, trucks, vans, wagons, sport cars, coupes and luxury sedans. Recently, Jim purchased a pre-owned 2016 Kia Soul EV.  Pre-owned EVs are quickly becoming the first choice for those looking to get their feet wet in the wonderful world of EV's without spending $40,000. Flanagan's has made the commitment to fill that need in Missoula by stocking used EVs from Fiat, VW, Nissan, Kia and Chevrolet starting at $7995. Today, Jim is an evangelist for the future of electric transportation and Flanagan Motors is your trusted resource for Electric Vehicle information.

Jessica Dougherty Goodburn

After 12 years out of state, Jessica moved back to Missoula and found bike and pedestrian advocacy to be the perfect way to reconnect to her hometown. She serves on the Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Board and her neighborhood leadership team. Her current projects center on creative ways to bring more community members into the decision making process for transportation projects around town. 

County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier

Dave Strohmaier and his wife, Gretchen, have called Missoula home since 1997. He currentlyserves on the Missoula Board of County Commissioners, to which he was elected in 2016, and chairs the Missoula Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Coordinating Committee. From 2006 to 2013, Dave represented Ward 1 on the Missoula City Council, where he chaired both the Public Safety and Health and Conservation committees. Prior to and during his time in elected office, Dave spent 18 years with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service in a variety of roles, and 13 years in the private sector as a public historian with Historical Research Associates, Inc., where he specialized in environmental and Native American history.

Dave holds an undergraduate degree from Seattle Pacific University in religion-philosophy and graduate degrees from Yale Divinity School (M.A.R., 1995, philosophy of religion) and the University of Montana (M.S., 1999, environmental studies). He is a published author, having written two books on the subject of fire—The Seasons of Fire: Reflections on Fire in the West (2001, University of Nevada Press) and Drift Smoke: Loss and Renewal in a Land of Fire (2005, University of Nevada Press).

Since his time on the Missoula City Council, Dave has been an outspoken advocate for sustainable transportation and passenger rail. In 2019, he spearheaded an effort to establish the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority as a means by which counties in Montana could collaborate on restoration of passenger rail service across the southern tier of the state. He also has actively participated in county efforts to address climate change, promote the arts, strengthen relations with tribal government, and steward cultural resources.

Outside of serving in local government, Dave enjoys big game hunting, fishing, writing, and spending time in the backcountry with his wife, son and daughter, and Labrador retriever.