Ex-mayor says institutional memory, experience are assets

Mike Jenson has long been an advocate of citizen involvement in city government - that's why he's returning to local politics with a bid for mayor.

Jenson is one of three candidates for mayor in the mail-in election that begins today.

Jenson was Whitefish mayor from 1998-2000, but didn't run for re-election because his daughter was in junior high school and he wanted to spend more time at home. Now she's in college and he's ready to pick up where he left off.

The Whitefish native says he brings institutional memory, experience and knowledge of the resort community to the table. He sees the mayor's role as one of guidance, a mediator who can facilitate change by weighing both sides of an issue.

"If you come at people saying, 'Here's how you will develop your property,' it's instantly a fight," Jenson said. "You have to give property owners the right within the law to establish the business they want. [The city] establishes parameters through zoning."

City government can't operate effectively with an "us versus them" mentality, he said.

"We are the city. The city is people, and we need to bring down this polarization and understand we're all in this together," Jenson stated.

WHILE JENSON acknowledges the time has come for a critical areas ordinance to protect water quality, he believes the current proposal still needs some work.

"They may enact it and test areas of it in court," Jenson said, although he would like to see refinements made before it's passed. "The frustration with a lot of people is they still don't know how they're affected by it. It's unclear."

Certain parts of the proposed law are too arbitrary, the former mayor maintained, such as using JP Road to divide setbacks on the Whitefish River. Where existing development between Whitefish Lake and JP Road often is already within 75 feet of the river, the natural buffer would extend to the top of the bank. From JP Road downstream, the natural buffer would be 75 feet or the top of the bank, whichever is greater.

"They're both areas in the city," Jenson said.

He has mixed feelings about how the property-rights issue should be handled in the city's two-mile planning area. On one hand, it gives the city more control over commercial areas on the highway, and "the more the city can mesh" what's coming, the better.

"But it does put individual landowners in some difficult situations," he said, especially those in the far reaches of the planning area whose farmland may be restricted for development. "It's difficult for one council's vision to be everybody's solution."

WHEN IT comes to spending, Jenson believes it was appropriate for the city to make recent adjustments to its capital improvement plan. He advocates making sure the city has its spending priorities clearly defined so that the public understands what's most important for the city, whether it's a new City Hall, emergency-services building or other improvements.

"The public is willing to go along with an awful lot, but if they perceive the city trying to do it all at once," it raises questions, he said.

Jenson has an idea about how to ease the parking problem in downtown Whitefish. He would like to see the city eliminate leased parking and replace it with daytime residential parking permits that could be used on the city's side streets. Right now, entire lots are leased for private use, and that system was never intended to tie up that much space, Jenson said.

"I bet you could see 100 spaces open up" if parking for employees was shifted a few blocks away, he said.

Jenson doesn't favor pushing building height limits higher in Whitefish.

"There are an awful lot trying to read [the 35-foot limit] as three stories," he observed. "It was never intended to be three stories."

He doesn't want to see the "canyon effect" of four- or five-story buildings on Central Avenue, but vowed to keep an open mind and look at projects case by case.

"If there's an appropriate spot where a three- or four-story building won't block the viewshed and destroy neighboring property values, maybe we can take a look at it. Right now, I don't know where that is."

Jenson knows what it's like to tackle tough issues in the face of public criticism. During his time as mayor, water rates were raised significantly because "no one had done anything for 15 years.

"We built a new filtration system and put it on line. It was a huge issue but it had extremely positive results," he said.

Prior to his time as mayor, Jenson served on the committee that first published architectural design guidelines for Whitefish. He advocated using a voluntary approach and believes architectural guidelines have greatly helped Whitefish retain its character.

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