Whitefish City Council candidate Kristen Riter

Kristen Riter is one of eight candidates running for a seat on the Whitefish City Council. The others are Ben Davis, Andy Feury, Giuseppe Caltabiano, Phil Boland, Vincent Dell'Omo, Judy Hessellund and Terry Petersen. Mark Owens' name also will appear on the November ballot, but he told the Daily Inter Lake he is no longer running, citing personal reasons.

Name: Kristen Riter

Age: 55

Family: Married, four children and two grandchildren.

Occupation: Business compliance auditor

Background: Grew up in a ranching family. Graduated from the University of California Davis after studying biology and political science. Worked in business, auditing, quality control, root cause analysis and the implementation of corporate corrective action procedures. As a consultant, traveled the U.S. and Europe auditing vendors to assess quality and compliance status. Volunteered as secretary of the American Society for Quality, president of the Bay Area Parenteral Drug Association, and a coordinator and trainer for the Center for Human Development, a youth drug and alcohol prevention and resiliency program. Also served as a youth soccer referee, a high school tennis coach, a classroom parent, and the legislative representative for a parent-teacher association. Active in the Pledge to Humanity and Homes of Hope programs addressing poverty and human trafficking.

Contact: Website: voteriter.com — Instagram: @whitefish_stumptown — Phone: 406-818-5050

Why do you want to serve on the Whitefish City Council?

I would be honored to serve Whitefish in the capacity of a City Council member as I feel my professional background, experience with listening and resolving issues, and love of our great outdoors will be a great addition to the City Council. Many people have voiced their concern about the direction of the city and pace at resolving issues. I will ensure that the residents, workforce and businesses of Whitefish feel heard and know their city is in good and discerning hands as we manage growth, address the housing imbalance and increasing traffic while protecting our special environment.

How should the city address its shortage of affordable housing, while responsibly managing growth and development?

Five years ago Whitefish city reported it had an annual need of 100 single-family and 150 multifamily units each year to simply meet normal economic job growth. Since 2016, we have failed to address this reality by not providing properly zoned land at densities for small lot single-family and multifamily units within our urban core, specifically targeted for local families, not second home or destination condos or townhomes. I will get to facts and root causes of our imbalance and focus on resolution. I believe it is a multipronged issue and solutions such as simplifying the ADU process, focusing on identifying existing infill sites for housing that will create the balance we need to provide, addressing short-term rental issues, supporting businesses' role in retaining employees, and discerning a new projects impact on our infrastructure, schools, emergency services and response times are all important actions the city should address expeditiously.

As a council member, how would you prioritize the implementation of the city's Climate Action Plan?

My general approach to manage the impacts on our critical city services is an orientation that supports the goals in the Climate Action Plan. Growth needs to make sense and not perpetuate sprawl and overuse of our current ability to provide a safe, beautiful place to live. I will prioritize minimizing forest fires, supporting our fire departments in fire prevention activities and educating property owners and visitors to mitigate fire. I will prioritize protecting our diverse populations during unhealthy smoky air days in our valley. I will prioritize keeping our lakes and rivers clean — with the growing population and use of our public waters, we need to be proactive in keeping our waters pristine for drinking, recreating and wildlife. I will be responsible with the implementation of recycling, ensuring that it is a solution that serves its purpose and is done in a way that beautifies Whitefish.

A measure on the November ballot will ask voters to renew Whitefish's 3% resort tax. Should the measure pass?

Yes — I believe in the merits and public benefit of the resort tax and hope the tax renewal will pass. I also feel that City Hall must create more confidence with our businesses and our residents to show we're effectively reinvesting those dollars for their intended use: regularly cleaning our streets and sidewalks, removing weeds, repairing potholes, replacing dead trees and fixing damaged signage. I will ensure that our resort tax money collected is spent judiciously and as approved and explore improvements in the resort tax structure to better serve our current needs. I will honor our businesses who work hard to contribute to this income source. I will work hard to ensure that our guests can see that our city welcomes them as we are well maintained, that things like the Depot Park signage don't sit all summer in disrepair ("DE T Park"), that our trash is removed in our high-visitation public spots as a result of their dollars spent here in Whitefish.

How should city officials continue to lead through the Covid-19 pandemic? There are many citizens who felt the city is falling short and many who feel the city over reached in their handling of the pandemic. One thing we all agree on is that it's created hardships unimaginable for individuals, families and businesses. It's created fear and division where there was once hope, security and communion. I will always honor the individual as a city leader, as there are as many stories and concerns as people here in Whitefish. City leaders are obligated to comply with state laws and be model citizens in honoring where our citizens feel further protections are needed. Our vulnerable populations need to feel protected and well informed. I will not perpetuate fear and will honor each individual and business' need for feeling safe and heard when interacting with them.