Incumbent wants to keep C.F. costs down

Editor’s note:  Absentee ballots for the Columbia Falls municipal election will be mailed out on Oct. 19. Regular voting will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at Columbia Falls City Hall from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Eight-year incumbent Harvey Reikofski Jr. is one of five candidates running for three open seats on the Columbia Falls City Council.

“The biggest thing is to continue to keep the cost of city operations down. We’ll have to toe the line and maintain services,” Reikofski said of the issues facing the city.

Reikofski, who is 61, works as a truck mechanic and has lived in Columbia Falls since 1984.

Originally from Washington and Oregon, Reikofski moved to Columbia Falls after living for a while in Missoula.

“The fellow I work for now, I met him in Oregon and he moved here in ‘75. We helped him move and fell in love with the place. It took a couple years to make things happen and get out here.”

Reikofski was appointed to the council to fill a vacancy in 2004, was elected to a term that ended in 2009 and was then appointed to finish another term that ends this December.

Reikofski, Julie Plevel and Doug Karper are the three incumbents who hope to hang on to their council seats. They are facing challenges by Darin Fisher and Sammi Johnson.

“It was a toss-up if I was going to run,” Reikofski said of the election and his low-key campaign.

“I’m doing it more or less just to keep the council moving in the same direction. It seems to be working well. We’re a pretty conservative council. We haven’t gone overboard and got into any financial trouble.”

One of the council’s biggest projects in recent years was the 2008 purchase of River’s Edge Park, a move Reikofski said he supported. He sat on a committee that oversaw the purchase and developed a plan for the park.

“I think that was an important thing to do. Down the road that’s going to be big. To have 28 acres on the river for city parks is huge.”

The city has tried to do as much road work as it could, and that includes an unexpected $80,000 resurfacing of the Truck Route paid for by the city after the county commissioners decided they didn’t want to maintain that stretch of road any more, Reikofski said.

A new equipment purchase made this year should help city crews get out and patch potholes each spring before the asphalt plants open, Reikofski said.

“We got a new piece of equipment so we can come up with our own hot patch. That’s going to let us get out earlier.”

Reikofski said he would like to see the council redouble efforts to work with the local organizations that are trying to bring new businesses to the area and foster economic development.

“We need to come up with ideas on types of businesses we can attract to the Columbia Falls area,” Reikofski said. “I don’t see it being a major industrial area again ... But if we could come up with different companies in other areas, that would be awesome.”

When asked about the potential struggles the city faces going forward, Reikofski said he thinks those will be mostly financial in nature.

“Realistically, we’re at the minimum as far as our police department goes. We can’t go any lower. We would like the ability to have some paid firefighters down the road, too,” Reikofski said, adding that the city has eliminated some city positions over the last year or two.

“I think we’re kind of blessed because we have a lot of community-minded people, so the volunteer fire department is working well, but I think down the road we’ll need more police and hopefully some paid personnel for the fire department. That’s going to be tough to do.”

Harvey Reikofsi Jr.

Age: 61

Family: Wife, Barbara; two grown daughters

Occupation: Mechanic

Background: Has lived in Columbia Falls since June 1984. Works as a mechanic at Dalen's Diesel. Has been on the Columbia Falls City Council for eight years. Reikofski wants to hold down costs, keep council moving in same direction

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.