New Whitefish chief has resort experience

The man who guided the resort town of Jackson, Wyo. through a growth surge in the early 1990s has been hired as the new planning and building director for the city of Whitefish.

Bob Horne of Sammamish, Wash., was the top pick from a dozen candidates vying to head Whitefish's new planning department. He will begin work May 2.

Earlier this year Whitefish opted to sever ties with the Tri-City Planning Office and create its own planning team.

"He's the right person at the right time," Whitefish City Manager Gary Marks said. "We're feeling good we have a [planning] veteran of our kind of resort community coming on board."

Horne served as planning director of Jackson from 1989 through 1997. He's also got Montana planning experience, having worked as planning director of Great Falls from 1997 through 2003. Horne also worked for a short time as planning director of Walla Walla, Wash.

During his time in Jackson, Horne worked on the Jackson-Teton County comprehensive plan. Many of the issues that arose during that process are similar issues for Whitefish, he said, such as preserving community character, affordable housing and maintaining open space.

"When I was in Whitefish, the phrase I kept hearing was 'We want to do it right,'" Horne said. "That's what a planner wants to hear."

The issues he tackled during his time in Great Falls were decidedly different, he said. Growth was about 1 percent when he was in Great Falls, and a key focus there was developing a meaningful economic development strategic plan.

A selection committee of Whitefish officials narrowed the field of applicants from 12 to five. It was a twist of fate that ultimately allowed the group to pick Horne, Marks said. Horne withdrew his application for a time because of a business opportunity his wife was pursuing.

"We went ahead and interviewed five candidates and identified the top guy," Marks said. "Then he dropped out, so we gave Bob a call back and found his situation had changed and he was again interested."

Once the committee interviewed Horne, the decision was unanimous, Marks said.

"He's highly regarded by his peers as one of the premier planners in the West," Marks commented. "The city of Whitefish is very fortunate to be able to hire such a top-notch planning professional."

The new planning and building department will be housed in leased space at the new Stampede Plaza building at the corner of Baker Avenue and 10th Street. Once the building department vacates its current premises at City Hall, the new legal services department and some public works personnel will fill the space.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com