Woodruff wants to preserve Whitefishs sense of community

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

The Daily Inter Lake

Editors note: Four candidates Shirley Jacobson, Norman Nelson, Nick Palmer and Nancy Woodruff are competing for three seats on the Whitefish City Council. The election is Nov. 8. This is the last of a series of stories on the candidates.

Nancy Woodruff sat through her fair share of City Council meetings during the decade she spent as a journalist in the Flathead Valley, and she liked the meeting beat.

I loved meetings, she said. I always thought some day I would take a turn sitting on the other side.

Woodruff moved to Whitefish 18 years ago and left for seven years from 1997 to 2004 to further her education and begin a career as a technical writer. When she came back to visit during her prolonged absence from Whitefish, friends would lament the changes underfoot in the resort community.

A year ago, Woodruff moved back to Whitefish and was able to see for herself how growth was affecting the city.

People warned me, Its not the same, she recalled. I think its more the same, though, than it is different. The essential character seems the same. A lot is how we interact, how you treat your neighbors.

Woodruff believes the next five to 10 years will be critical in Whitefishs future.

I feel like its an important time to be involved, she said.

The growth-policy update is at the top of the agenda, Woodruff said.

This is one of the most critical tasks coming up for the city, she said. Theres only a year left [to complete the update] and its important to have a thorough process and develop a plan for guided growth.

Woodruff commended the city for creating its own planning staff. She also likes the direction the downtown master plan is taking.

Whitefish is lucky to have a thriving downtown, and we need to make sure it stays strong, not to the detriment of businesses on the strip on U.S. 93 South, she said.

The downtown plan will give the city a valuable tool in negotiations with the state over U.S. 93 improvements pending through the downtown corridor, Woodruff continued. Concerning traffic, she doesnt want to see Second Avenue turned into a four-lane highway, but believes three lanes on Baker Avenue and a bridge at Seventh Street could help reduce congestion by moving truck traffic down Baker.

Public involvement will be a critical part of the [downtown] process, she said.

Preserving access to open lands is also high on Woodruffs agenda. The public-private partnership to create a trail system in the greater Whitefish area is a vital key to access, and she believes the councils decision to purchase the Park Side Credit Union Park near the depot was a good move.

Woodruff said the affordable-housing issue in Whitefish is huge.

Affordable housing has the potential to fundamentally change the kind of town Whitefish is, she said. I like that Whitefish is a real community, where people can raise families and live out their lives.

While the Whitefish Housing Authority has done a great job, Woodruff said, the city should look at how other resort towns, such as Jackson, Wyo., have handled the issue.

Were not the first community to face this, she said. I want to make sure Whitefish remains a place to live, not just a playground for people to come for a couple weeks a year.

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