County candidates queried on priorities

Eleven of 12 commissioner hopefuls attend forum Tuesday in Kalispell

About 250 people packed the Red Lion Kalispell Center Hotel ballroom Tuesday for the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce candidate forum.

An hour-long "meet-and-greet" for all the candidates in the June 6 primary was followed by an hour-long forum specifically for the 12 Flathead County commissioner candidates.

Republican Dave Reynolds did not attend the forum, but the others did. There was time for three questions, including two about planning and growth, and one asking the candidates to discuss their three main priorities.

The priorities identified by each candidate, in order of presentation:

-Democrat Don Hines: Trying to improve city-county cooperation on planning and other issues was his first priority.

Hines said that during his two years as chairman of the Flathead County Planning Board, he was instrumental in opening the lines of communication with the Kalispell City Planning Board.

Protecting the unique qualities of the Flathead while managing growth and "watching over the budget" were his other two priorities.

"We need to work with the other communities and make sure the public interest is addressed," he said.

-Democrat Mark Crowley: Indicated that managing the county budget, managing growth and helping ensure that the valley remains a great place to live are his top issues.

"I think those three things all go hand-in-hand," he said. "The growth we're experiencing affects government services, which affects the county budget."

-Republican Kathy Robertson: Said all of her concerns are interconnected.

She listed the valley's heritage of natural resources usage as a major concern, together with the county budget and the need to take a cooperative approach on land-use issues.

"Neighborhood plans are really good, but I also don't want us to be a bunch of isolated communities," she said. "We need to be one community working together."

-Republican Dale Lauman: Cited growth and the growth policy as his first priority.

"I believe in quality growth, not quantity growth," he said. "Quality growth addresses all the issues, like sewer service, parks and streets."

Lauman said the budget was another priority, saying the county should start addressing the potential loss of certain federal payments now, rather than waiting until the money is gone.

He also thought the cities and county should cooperatively address the valley's wastewater-treatment needs.

-Republican Brian Fulford: Said prioritizing the budget, improving the valley's criminal-justice infrastructure and eliminating "turf wars" among various political bodies were his priorities.

Tremendous growth has left the Flathead "on the verge of an unprecedented increase in crime," Fulford said.

He wants to prioritize spending to ensure that the criminal-justice system is ready to address this increase. He also wants other growth-related infrastructure to be in place "so we aren't playing catch-up in the future."

-Democrat Don Avery: Said the security and safety of county employees was one of his top concerns.

The first thing he wants to do is move the employees out of the old courthouse into a new office building, because it might fall down in an earthquake.

Providing for the community's security by hiring a director for the Office of Emergency Services was his second priority, although he noted that the commissioners had recently done that.

Avery also cited the county budget as another priority.

-Republican Kim Fleming: Land-use was her first priority.

Given the number of disputes here related to land use, she thought more zoning would be appropriate.

"If we had a few more rules, I think those conflicts would start diminishing," she said.

Fleming indicated that infrastructure - particularly the need for a valleywide transportation plan - was another priority, together with water quality and quantity, and other natural-resource issues.

-Republican Pam Holmquist: Said the county budget was her first priority. She wants to look at spending before talking about additional taxes.

Water quality was another concern. She thinks the county needs its own sewage-treatment plant, possibly built in cooperation with Kalispell.

Forest and logging practices were her third priority.

"I think it's crucial that we manage our forests," she said. "It's not just a recreational issue; it's a safety issue."

-Republican Gerry Banzet: Indicated that he wanted to be involved with improving the road system near the new Glacier High School.

"West Reserve is going to be a major roadblock, and [Stillwater Road] west of the high school is one of the most dangerous roads in the county," he said. "I intend to work with the folks in Helena to see if we can get that taken care of."

Growth issues and working with young people to ensure that they don't end up in jail were Banzet's other two priorities.

-Republican Corey Pilsch: Said he's a working man for the working class who's running "because we need someone who will stand up for the citizens of Flathead County and do what's right."

"I'll say no when it isn't in the best interest of county residents and yes when it is," he said.

Ensuring that people can continue to do what they want with their property, as long as it doesn't hurt their neighbors, and planning for the long term were the other issues he wanted to tackle.

-Republican Kip Willis: Ensuring that the valley has appropriate infrastructure and safe roads were two of his priorities.

"I've seen 10-mile commutes take two hours" because of inadequate infrastructure, he said.

Growth issues were Willis' third priority.

"I've been trying to get all the neighborhood groups in the valley to get together and do new neighborhood plans," he said. "We need to try getting consensus and building teams."