Engineer says "professional distance" can be asset on council

For Mark McGlenn, the critical and complex issues facing the community of Whitefish boil down to an all-encompassing theme - growth.

"Growth is happening. At first it's always startling, but we shouldn't go into crisis mode," said McGlenn, one of the seven candidates vying for three open seats on the Whitefish City Council.

McGlenn said for years he has been begging his neighbors and friends to lend their expertise and time to local government and run for the City Council. But in April, after reading that the council candidate pool was wide open, he decided to step up and run for a seat himself.

With a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, McGlenn and his wife, Cindy, moved to the Whitefish area 12 years ago; he has worked as an engineer at Semitool since then.

While he lacks any previous experience in local government, McGlenn said what sets him apart from other candidates is his professional distance from the tourism and real-estate markets.

According to McGlenn, not having a conflict of interest is necessary to make fair decisions on issues where property rights and environmental preservation come into play.

One of those issues is Whitefish's hotly contested critical areas ordinance. The proposal to protect critical drainage areas in Whitefish has drawn a definitive line in the sand between property rights and environmental advocates.

McGlenn said Whitefish has done a good job of getting citizens involved in the process of creating the ordinance, though he said environmental advocates have had more of a voice. He said developers and property-rights advocates have been surprised by the proposed end result.

"This is a huge, divisive issue, it always has been," McGlenn said of the regulations proposed to protect waterways.

Another point of contention is the two-mile area around Whitefish city limits where the council exerts control without any representation, he said. McGlenn finds it troubling that landowners in the planning jurisdiction have no representation on the City Council, but concedes there's no going back now.

"We've already done it," he said of the city regulating development in the planning area. "What we need to do is ask those landowners for their continued participation."

As for the $47 million slated for improvement to the city's infrastructure, McGlenn said the total was a bit surprising.

"It's OK to build a new building when you need it," he said. "The plan is probably more ambitious than I would have wanted. I would have started out with just the fire and police departments."

McGlenn said eventually Whitefish may have to think about a bypass around the city to deal with the increasing traffic on U.S. 93.

"When you have a river and a train track running through your town, it's going to make traffic a little more complicated," he said. "My guess is we will eventually have to build more roads and perhaps a bypass."

In dealing with Whitefish's growth, McGlenn said it's important not to lose sight of what it is that makes the area unique and special.

"People come here because the [public] schools are as good as private schools. The neighborhoods are safer than gated communities. And the recreation is as good as can be found anywhere," he said.

Reporter Amy May can be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at amay@dailyinterlake.com