Juanita Vero

Commissioner

District 1

Juanita Vero is a fourth-generation partner of the E Bar L Ranch in Greenough. In addition to running her family business, she has served on numerous community conservation-focused boards and committees, including as chair of Montana Conservation Voters, Missoula County Open Lands Committee, Big Blackfoot Chapter Trout Unlimited, Swan Valley Connections and Sunset School Board.

Juanita has a bachelor’s degree in English from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She enjoys horses, snowboarding, and backcountry wandering after game with her husband and his llamas. She used to play lacrosse, rugby and ultimate frisbee but is now relegated to spending more time on her yoga mat.

In June 2019, Juanita was appointed to fill the remainder of Nicole Rowley’s term, which ran through December 31, 2020. Juanita was elected for the open seat in the November 2020 election, and is serving her first six-year term.

In Sept. 2024, County commissioners from across the state elected Vero as the organization’s second vice president at its annual conference in Missoula. Being elected to this position means Vero will move up MACo’s leadership ranks each year, serving as president of the organization in 2027. In that role, she will lead MACo’s efforts advocating for all Montana counties during the 2027 legislative session.

Vero will be the first commissioner from Missoula County to serve in a MACo leadership role since the 1980s, and one of only a handful of women to serve in the upper ranks in the organization’s 115-year history.

Dave Strohmaier

Commissioner

District 2

Dave Strohmaier and his wife, Gretchen, have called Missoula home since 1997. From 2006 to 2013, Dave represented Ward 1 on the Missoula City Council. Prior to 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 also worked 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).

In January 2023, Dave began his second six-year term on the Missoula Board of County Commissioners. As an outspoken advocate of public transportation, Dave spearheaded an effort to establish a regional rail authority through the southern tier of Montana in 2019. This culminated with the establishment of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority in the fall of 2020. He currently serves as chairman of the Authority—now the largest transportation district in the state of Montana.

Beyond public service, Dave enjoys big game hunting, fishing, writing, and spending time in the backcountry with his wife, son and daughter, and Labrador retriever.

Josh Slotnick

Commissioner

District 3

Josh Slotnick moved to Missoula from Grand Forks, N.D., when he was 18 to attend the University of Montana, where he earned a philosophy degree. He then served in the Peace Corps in Thailand before furthering his education, first with a certificate in ecological horticulture from the University of California-Santa Cruz, and then by earning a master’s degree in agricultural extension from Cornell University.

Josh has been farming in Missoula with his wife on their family farm since 1992. In 1996, he co-founded Garden City Harvest and the PEAS Program in the Environmental Studies Program at UM. These entities have grown considerably since, and Josh's work, with many partners, has been well recognized. Josh also lectured at UM and received three awards from the university for service to students.

He has served on many voluntary boards of directors in Missoula, including the Missoula County Weed Control Board, the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board, Homeword, AERO and the Missoula Farmers Market. He has written articles, essays, book chapters and one book.

Josh’s family is his greatest source of pride: his wife, Kim who runs their family farm, Clark Fork Organics in the Orchard Homes area, and their kids, Quinn, Sophie and Tasha.