Municipal officials converge on Kalispell

The conference will be held at the WestCoast Outlaw Hotel today through Friday.

The Daily Inter Lake

Hundreds of city managers, council members and public officials from around Montana will be in Kalispell over the next few days participating in the Montana League of Cities and Towns annual conference.

Kalispell City Clerk Theresa White, who coordinated the event, said more than 300 people are expected to attend, including former City Manager Chris Kukulski, now the manager of Bozeman, and Kalispell's incoming manager, Jim Patrick of Vermillion, S.D.

The conference will be held at the WestCoast Outlaw Hotel today through Friday.

Harry Fritz, a former state senator and chairman of the University of Montana History Department, will present the keynote address Thursday morning at 9:20.

Additional sessions will be held on a variety of topics, including public efforts to acquire Northwestern Corporation's utility system in Montana, a new self-funded health insurance plan for cities, and economic development efforts in rural Montana.

Guest speakers include gubernatorial candidates Brian Schweitzer and Bob Brown.