Trustee candidates support college direction

Trustee candidates Tim Baldwin, Ed Berry, Michael Hebert, Roland Horst and Glenn Wehe take issue with the conduct of the Flathead Valley Community College elections — but most support the direction President Jane Karas has taken the college.

Citizens interested in hearing their views and those of the incumbents may attend a candidate forum Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the large community meeting room inside the college’s Arts and Technology Building. The Inter Lake will cover the event and the issues debated.

Two other candidate forums are planned: April 28 at a Freedom Action Rally meeting and April 29 from noon to 1 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell, sponsored by the Pachyderm Club.

Berry has also put up a website, www.fvcctrustees.com, where his group expects to post more information and invite comments. A brief summary of candidates follows with the exception of incumbent trustee Bob Nystuen, who has no challengers.

Hebert, a 2010 graduate of the college, said he feels a strong sense of family with the college. He supports Karas’ work with businesses to create training programs to answer job growth areas like nursing.

“I’m very pro-FVCC’s growth in business and entrepreneurship,” Hebert said.

He credits the college with helping him reinvent himself with a new career as a Farmers Insurance agent. Hebert said he would bring a fresh perspective of a recent graduate and contribute to keeping the momentum of success going.

Hebert and Baldwin have challenged incumbent Shannon Lund to finish the two years left in the trustee position representing the Kalispell High School District.

Baldwin, a lawyer, opened a legal practice in Kalispell in January but has had his own practice since 2006. He also worked as a prosecutor in Florida for two and half years.

He said education has been a large part of his life.

“I know the importance education can have on a young person’s life and some not so young,” he said.

Baldwin said he decided to run to have a chance to share his knowledge and expertise to make the college a better experience for students, teachers and staff.

Lund, the incumbent, was selected by the board from a field of six candidates in March to fill a vacant trustee position. She said she brings diversity to the board as a native Montanan with a degree in microbiology from Montana State University and two young adult daughters.

“I understand the challenges facing young people in this economy,” Lund said. “I can give a little different perspective.”

Now an account executive for Xerox, she has worked as a medical technologist and microbiologist. Lund has been very active with the college foundation arranging events and lecture series.

She said she has been extremely impressed with the partnerships the college has formed with businesses in the community to identify work-force needs.

“I wholeheartedly support what’s been done and I want to continue that,” Lund said.

Berry, Horst and Wehe filed for the two open trustee positions representing the high school districts of Bigfork, Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Incumbents Tom Harding and John Phelps filed to retain their seats in those districts.

Harding, a Whitefish native, attended the University of Montana and worked in his family’s lumber building materials business until it was sold in the early 1990s.

“I was Mr. Mom for 10 years, then finished my working career at Home Depot,” he said.

During his 21 years on the board, Harding said he has seen the college go from struggling with accreditation and financial issues to one with several staffers making accreditation visits and with a perfect audit with zero findings to correct.

“I’ve been there a long time and I believe I bring my long-term view of the institution and create some institutional memory,” he said.

Phelps, a former longtime city attorney for Whitefish and a practicing lawyer for more than 30 years, earned his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law.

He serves on the board of the Whitefish Community Foundation, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Whitefish Rotary Charitable Fund and Haskill Basin Watershed Committee.

He could not be reached for comment.

Berry, well-known for his vocal opposition to claims about man-induced climate change, said he didn’t want to make his run for the trustee position political, saying the decision should rest on the qualifications of the candidates.

Berry said he was concerned about the academic qualifications of current board members.

“They don’t have anyone with my talents,” he said. “No one has advanced degrees in engineering, mathematics and science.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from California Institute of Technology, a master’s in physics from Dartmouth College and a doctorate in physics from the University of Nevada.

Also an entrepreneurer, Berry founded a high-tech business as well as an atmospheric consulting firm. He cited his interest in targeting education toward entrepreneurship and high-tech innovation as another reason he filed.

He said the college has developed well so far but now needs to clarify its goals for the next decade and plan how to achieve them.

Horst said he put his name in for a trustee position to give voters a choice after learning about elections of the last few years in which only incumbents filed. Horst said he shares Berry’s views and added a few more.

“I think we have a terrific college here — I took a cross-section of classes,” he said. “There are things that could be improved. We could have higher standards — it varies by area.”

Horst wants to see nursing studies expanded to accept more students to eliminate long waiting lists for various programs.

A former middle school teacher, he worked a variety of private enterprise jobs before becoming the medical practice manager for his wife, Dr. Ann Bukacek.

Wehe has served as the technical director for the Evergreen School District for 11 years.

He came from a large technology company background on the East Coast and a career in banking and finance.

Like Horst, he got into the trustee election to provide a choice of candidates.

He also was concerned about what he considered “a lack of notice” that caught interested citizens unaware.

“I believe education is the cornerstone of our youth,” he said.

With the drastic enrollment increases recently at the college, Webe said wants to make sure the college continues with a quality curriculum for the students.

“I filed because I think we can help do things better,” he said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.