Meet Ward 2 candidate for Kalispell City Council Sam Nunnally

The Daily Inter Lake reached out to Kalispell City Council candidates running in the Nov. 7 municipal election. The information below was provided by the candidates and edited for spelling, punctuation and space.

Name: Sam Nunnally

Age: 49

Family: Wife, Krista Nunnally; daughter, Lexi Nunnally, and son, Sammy Nunnally

Occupation: Fairgrounds manager

Community involvement: 25 years in the Flathead County Posse/Reserve; Honorary Lifetime Flathead Search and Rescue member; Flathead County Fair board, 10 years with six of those as chair; Glacier County Pachyderm board member; National Federation of Pachyderm national vice president; served on various volunteer organizations and boards.

Why are you the right candidate for the position?

I feel I bring a wide base of knowledge and experience that helps with the decisions that need to be made to keep Kalispell safe in ever challenging and changing times.

How can Kalispell manage infrastructure needs amid rapid growth?

The challenge of rapid growth on all infrastructure, from water, sewer, roads, law enforcement and fire can be tough, but with a Growth Policy Plan that is worked on and the dedicated city staff who focus on our future, I feel Kalispell is set for the future. But it takes us all to play a part in our community.

Audits of the police and fire departments point out the need for additional staff and equipment. How should Kalispell address public safety?

WithsState law that caps property tax for local government, it is nearly impossible to keep up with inflation. This is a challenge when it comes to keeping up with law enforcement, fire and EMS needs. We need to find ways to maintain safe staffing levels for all our emergency services. We need to ensure when someone calls 911 that the emergency services are there to help. But as important is that the dedicated men and women of our emergency services go home at the end of every shift safe!

What is the role of the city in addressing homelessness and housing issues?

Affordability is tied to supply and demand. Today we face challenges of low supply but high demand, making affordability difficult for a lot of us. In a recent housing study, it showed the Flathead is 3,125 housing units short and to maintain conservative increase in growth, 1,500 housing units need to be built every year for the next 10 years. This means we need to have smart growth that addresses the shortcomings, but also preserves our community. Reviewing the Growth Policy to ensure it is accomplishing these needs of a growing community.

What other issues should the city be addressing?

The city is going to need to review the last Legislative session in Montana to ensure that the public voice is still heard and that the best government is local government where you can stop any local elected official in the grocery store, restaurant, or out in public and talk to them directly.