Grants add up during Moyer's tenure: City development director retiring

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

When Susan Moyer drives around Kalispell, she frequently sees an apartment building or another affordable housing project for which she scrounged up grant money.

Moyer feels something of herself in those homes: a tingle of pride, a feeling of helping others.

Of all of her work during the past 28 years, housing is the closest to the heart of Moyer, 68, who will retire Dec. 29 as Kalispell's community development director.

She's proud of a few other major accomplishments, too:

. Obtaining $1.2 million to convert an apartment building into Samaritan House, a dorm for the homeless.

. Finding $500,000 to help set up Kalispell's Head Start program.

. Setting up a revolving loan program to bolster small businesses trying to create extra jobs.

. Getting $19.2 million in grant money for Kalispell over 28 years - roughly a third for economic development work and the rest for housing and other programs.

Moyer praised the numerous city councils, mayors and city managers with whom she has worked, saying they could look toward the future and make things happen.

"We have hustled all these years," Moyer said.

That hustling began in 1978 when Moyer, then 40, was first hired by the city. Moyer had been looking for a job after moving to the area with her 7-year-old daughter.

A U.S. Navy brat, Moyer was born in Rochester, N.Y., and finished growing up in California, where she earned a business degree at San Jose State University. She then got married and moved to Florida where she worked mostly for defense contractor Martin Marietta, and eventually was divorced.

Later, she and her daughter visited a friend in Lakeside and fell in love with Montana.

After working at a couple of temporary jobs In Kalispell, Moyer was hired by Kalispell Community Development Director Jim Brubaker as the city's redevelopment director. A little later, Brubaker was arrested for passing counterfeit money in Las Vegas.

That started Moyer's rise up the community development department's chain of command to her present post.

Much of her job has involved chasing federal money - and competing with other towns for that money.

"I'm very competitive. … You put [grant] dollar signs in front of me and my eyes go tilt," Moyer said.

Moyer is proud that her community development department has earned its own income for its own budget, never having to take money from the city's general fund.

Today, she sees the lack of local affordable housing as the biggest challenge ahead for her department.

Young families need starter homes - which are in short supply in the Flathead - which they then can improve and own for a few years to build up equity, she said.

Kalispell also should look into the Land Trust housing program, which has started up in Missoula and Bozeman, she said.

Under this concept, a nonprofit organization owns land and the houses on it. The organization sells the house but leases the land to the new homeowner, enabling a family to afford to buy and improve a house.

"I see no other way to keep the cost of housing down," Moyer said.

Moyer has no definite plans for retirement other than sleeping in late for a while.

And she looks back in satisfaction at her city career.

"It's been a fun 28 years."

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com