Ben Stormes - County Commission District 1

Flathead County commissioner candidate Ben Stormes decided to run for the two-year District 1 position after realizing that “our country, state and county are in trouble. The overspending, over-regulation, over-taxation are about to cripple federal, state and county governments. I feel the need to help my fellow citizens and neighbors and will not turn a blind eye and leave this for my children.”

Stormes, who is semi-retired, says he has the time to do the job.

“I’m prepared to make the commitment. I want to serve my community,” he said.

Absentee balloting begins Monday, May 7. The primary election is June 5.

Regarding the Whitefish “doughnut,” Stormes said the battle between the city of Whitefish and Flathead County over planning jurisdiction “is an example of regulation without representation.” That, he says, is the same as taxation without representation that was “a main reason our founders revolted and founded this country.”

The fact the doughnut issue has gone to litigation is “sad,” Stormes said, although there’s not much a commissioner can do about the lawsuits.

Stormes was surprised when a doughnut resident recently told him she favors being regulated by the city of Whitefish.

“When I asked her why, she said when the county gave control of the doughnut to Whitefish, the county essentially said they didn’t have time to deal with the doughnut,” Stormes said. That resident told him she worries that Flathead County officials won’t pay close enough attention to her property rights if it is in control of the doughnut.

“When I’m a commissioner, if it comes out of litigation that the county has jurisdiction, I will make sure my constituents are represented fairly and properly,” Stormes said.

Flathead County has been involved in too many lawsuits, he said.

That bothers him because “it’s the people’s money against themselves when the county is in litigation” with another governmental entity.

Litigation wastes money and time and should be avoided, he said.

He said that if the county commissioners used the “coordination process” they could avoid being sued. That process brings both parties in to the discussion “on an equal basis with the obligation to negotiate in good faith,” he said.

“If I were a commissioner, I would look very hard to resolve any issue without getting to the point of litigation,” Stormes said.

Flathead County commissioners could possibly boost the efficiency of county government by moving away from the table when evaluating budgets, Stormes said.

“I believe that economic decisions which are generally established in the course of making a budget need to be done beyond the conference room table with the financial statements and reports on it,” he said.

“As a commissioner, I intend to physically look at and inspect every item that’s physically possible on the many budgets the commission is charged with approving,” he said. He said he also would also talk to constituents who are affected by the county budgets to hear their comments.

Stormes says it’s important to conduct both physical and paper reviews of budget issues. Those reviews are just that, he says, not attempts at micromanaging a department.

If elected, Stormes says he would be “fresh eyes and intends to use those fresh eyes not to just sit in the commissioner’s office and stare at a set of numbers.”

Since the 911 center operates through an interlocal agreement between the county and the three incorporated cities within Flathead County, its method of review and evaluation differ from that of a county department, Stormes said.

Safety and health must be a huge priority for the county, he said.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.