Transforming city's woes to wows

Inter Lake editorial

A collective sigh of relief no doubt went out last week as the Kalispell City Council resolved its city manager selection, authorizing the mayor to sign a contract with Jane Howington.

The pay agreement didn't quite get a unanimous endorsement, but a week earlier the council unanimously threw its support in favor of Howington - the assistant city manager for Dayton, Ohio - after a pending deal with a Kokomo, Ind., candidate fell through.

Council member Bob Hafferman, one of two members who voted against the contract, warned that "a resume and references are only the applicant putting their best foot forward, and only time will tell."

We agree that only time will tell how Howington adapts to her new job here, but we welcome her and give her every benefit of the doubt that she's up to the myriad challenges facing the city of Kalispell right now.

At the top of Howington's agenda will be dealing with the budget crunch bearing down on city coffers.

Cash reserves have dwindled to a mere 1.5 percent of the total general fund, when ideally that figure should be 15 percent. The fire and police departments are staffed below their authorized strengths and there isn't even enough money to mow all city parks this summer.

Howington also faces the challenge of rebuilding public trust in Kalispell government.

The boondoggle with the new City Hall (a project that went way over budget and was plagued by delays), the firing of the last city manager and the mysterious departure of the fire chief last year are among the incidents that lead to questions in citizens' minds about what's going on in city government.

None of these challenges are insurmountable, and we trust that Howington will lead the city administration with full transparency. We expect and citizens should demand full openness in city government.

Interim City Manager Myrt Webb pointed out that with Howington's impeccable qualifications, 'she could be city manager anywhere, but she wants to be here."

So we wish the new city manager well as she takes the reins of Kalispell city government next month, ever mindful that, indeed, "only time will tell" if she can transform the city's woes to wows.