Candidates vie for open Kalispell seat
Editor’s note: Early voting for the general election begins Monday, Oct. 4, the first day that absentee ballots will be available. Election Day is Nov. 2.
Randy Brodehl and Karen Reeves are vying to replace Republican Jon Sonju in House District 7, which includes northeast Kalispell and Evergreen.
Sonju is running for the state Senate District 4.
Brodehl, the Republican nominee, wants to get state government off the backs of businesses.
Brodehl said that’s the No. 1 issue he has heard from knocking on doors in the district.
Reeves, meanwhile, has lived in Montana for 40 years and said she knows what it means to live within one’s means.
Reeves, a Democrat, does not favor tax rate increases to make up any budget shortfall, but knows additional cuts likely will have to be made.
Brodehl, formerly the Kalispell fire chief, said he is concerned about the state regulating with little to no value to the taxpayer.
Some of the business-related fees seemingly are being collected just to keep government offices occupied in Helena, he said.
Brodehl cited examples of taxes and fees he pays in a business he co-owns with his wife, Joyce: The business equipment tax, 3-percent business tax on net income, business license and registration fees and a workers compensation exemption fee.
The Brodehls each pay several hundred dollars every two years to the state for various fees and taxes.
Brodehl, who defeated Steven Thompson in a close race in the GOP primary, would ask several questions when deciding where to cut state government, including, “Is it fiscally responsible? Is it good for Montana? Does it interfere with an individual’s freedom to make good decisions?”
Brodehl wants to look at combining state offices and not filling open state jobs through attrition.
He favors further regulation of the state’s medical marijuana industry. “We implemented it without appropriate regulation,” he said.
Reeves said she also believes the state’s voter-approved medical marijuana law needs adjustment.
“It needs more guidelines,” she said. “It needs more regulation. It’s here to stay. It’s what the people wanted.”
Reeves favors taxing marijuana in some way so it doesn’t cost the state money to regulate it.
Marijuana dispensaries need to be in storefronts and out of residential areas, she said.
In regard to DUI laws, Brodehl wants to put more teeth into state law.
“Offenders should be taken off the street,” he said. He favors taking away a driver’s license on the first offense and mandatory jail time for a second offense.
“The offender should be responsible for every cost,” he said, referring to the added costs of jail time. “We have to make it hurt. We can’t have them back on the street.”
Reeves also wants stronger enforcement of DUI laws.
“It’s unconscionable people are getting pulled over three, four or five times for DUI,” she said. “I would like to see more rehabilitation. The perpetrator would have to pay for it. I don’t want to be a police state, but I want people to get some help.”
On property taxes and appraisals, Brodehl wants to consider dropping the focus on single-family homes located on the water.
“We need to consider a better way of taxing them” up to a certain square footage, he said. He also would consider a cap on seniors’ rate increases.
Reeves said there should be some kind of cap on property-tax increases from year to year.
She doesn’t know what that limit should be, however. “I don’t want to see people get taxed out of their homes,” she said.
Reeves, 59, is the manager of Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park. She ran for public office once before as a county commissioner candidate in 2002.
She is running for the Legislature to give people a choice.
“I’m going in with the idea of doing no harm,” the Whitefish resident said, noting her belief that there are too many bills presented every two years.
Randy Brodehl
Republican
Age: 55
Family: Married with six grown children
Occupation: Business owner of R.J. Enterprises & Cabinet Shop for two years
Background: Bachelor of Science in Fire Service Management, Western Oregon University; Associate’s degree in Fire Science Technology; Kalispell fire chief, 2001-08; battalion chief, Corvallis, Ore., 1985-2001; fire lieutenant, Hermiston, Ore., 1978-1985; owner, hog farm, 1987-2001; owner, construction business.
Website: www.BrodehlforHD7.com
Karen Reeves
Democrat
Age: 59
Family: Married with two grown children
Occupation: Manager of Sperry Chalet in Glacier Park for three years; formerly a fire lookout, bartender, timber cruiser and retail manager of a coffee shop.
Background: Serves on the board of the Resource Advisory Committee for Flathead National Forest; Whitefish City/County Planning Board, Whitefish Lake Institute, and Montana PBS; ran for Flathead County commissioner in 2002.
Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.