Candidates tested on issues at Kalispell forum

Primary candidates in districts that overlap Kalispell made their cases to the voters at a City Council forum Thursday evening — providing answers to questions on infrastructure, governance philosophy and the county’s struggle to manage its jail and 911 dispatch center.

The latter two questions were posed to incumbent county commissioner Pam Holmquist and her primary challenger, Tim Harmon. Like all the candidates in the contested races, they are Republicans.

Harmon criticized the current mill levy the county is using to save up money for a future jail and suggested the county should pressure the state to provide money for a new facility.

“I think we can use those mill levies as tax relief for citizens in the city,” Harmon said. “What we need to do, for one thing, is kick this ball back to the state. ... We’re housing inmates that should be in Deer Lodge [while] the state is sitting on a $300 million surplus.”

He said he would increase treatment options for drug offenders, saying that 70 to 80 percent of the jail’s inmates were being held on drug- or alcohol-related crimes.

Holmquist defended her record as a county commissioner for the past five years, and said she believes a new jail will take at least five more years to plan and build.

“The process is going to take probably three years of planning,” she said. “It’s not like opening a department store. You have to have a fully functioning building before you move into it.”

She added that there have also been successes during her tenure, pointing to debt restructuring that she said saved the county millions of dollars.

Both candidates also criticized the funding structure that taxes city residents at a higher rate for the 911 district.

The two Republican primary candidates for Senate District 3, Whitefish businessman Don “K” Kaltschmidt and Kalispell Rep. Keith Regier, both touted their decades-long ties to the Flathead Valley, offered differing views on how to fund an infrastructure bill next legislative session.

A massive spending bill to pay for infrastructure projects across the state failed to pass the 2015 Legislature after lawmakers were unable to find a compromise between using general fund cash or bonds to cover the $150 million cost.

Regier, who as the House Majority Leader helped to lead the opposition to the form the bill took before the Legislature adjourned last year, stood by his staunch opposition to using bonds.

“We had over $300 million in the bank. There wasn’t a reason to borrow the money when we had the money in the bank,” he said, referring to the general-fund ending balance.

Kaltschmidt, a political newcomer who has been critical of the current Republican leadership, indicated a less hard-line stance on the bonds-vs.-cash issue.

“There are times to borrow. As a businessman, I have a lot of inventory,” he said.

He recalled having a “rainy day fund” that helped him navigate his auto dealership business through the Great Recession, and said the state needs to keep a buffer of cash on its balance sheet.

“I do understand that bonding is a very important issue. ... Especially when the price is cheap. That being said, I have to be fiscally responsible.”

Both said they want an infrastructure bill to pass in 2017, however, and said they would work to pass legislation that would help fund Kalispell’s sewer, water and road needs.

House District 11, which extends from South Kalispell through Somers and Lakeside, also features two Republican candidates. Both said “no” to bonding, and indicated they would not be in favor of increasing non-discrimination laws for the LBGT community through statute.

Lakeside resident Jean Barragan said she wasn’t certain whether she would support such a measure, and said protections against discrimination were already authorized by state law. Kalispell resident Derek Skees, a former one-term state House representative, answered that those types of laws that single out one segment of the population have the effect of reverse discrimination.

Both candidates also focused on reducing taxes as their No. 1 priority, while drawing distinctions based on experience.

“The beautiful thing about me is everybody knows me,” Skees said. “The one comment I hear about me is that everybody knows how I’m going to vote.”

Barragan stressed her background as an educator who has lived in the district for decades, and understands the needs of her constituents.

While Skees technically resides just outside the district, he stressed his connections with leaders in the Legislature and his experience in Helena as proof that he’s a candidate who can deliver on his priorities.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.