Meet Ward 3 candidate for Kalispell City Council Ryan Hunter

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: Ryan Hunter (Incumbent)

Age: 47

Family: My lovely wife, Eve, and inquisitive 11-year-old daughter

Occupation: Conservationist with the Flathead Land Trust

Community involvement: I serve with the Collaborative Housing Solutions partnership to address our housing and homelessness crisis and with the Flathead Trails Association to preserve and advance trails and paths in the Flathead.

Why are you the right candidate for the position?

In my first term on the Council, I have offered numerous new ideas and a fresh perspective to the challenges and opportunities facing our community. I’ve served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Slovakia working to steer international financing toward local and sustainable economic opportunities and earned a master’s degree in urban planning. I also previously worked on affordable housing and other development issues as a planner, providing me with valuable knowledge to creatively address Kalispell’s growth issues. My involvement in the community and communication with residents gives me good insight to the needs of my constituents.

How can Kalispell manage infrastructure needs amid rapid growth?

Rapid growth is significantly impacting our community and I’m committed to speaking up for fair and responsible growth. Affordable housing must be seen as needed infrastructure and doing more to increase affordable housing has been a priority of mine. We must also invest more in sidewalks, bike lanes and traffic calming measures, such as speed humps and curb extensions, to reduce traffic congestion and negative neighborhood traffic impacts. We must also make sure that developers pay their fair share for their impacts and not make residents pay higher water and sewer rates to pay for big cuts in developer fees.

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

Our first responders have struggled under the tremendous stresses resulting from our rapidly growing community. It is important that we support our first responders with the resources necessary to keep our community safe. I have supported responsible budgets funding additional hires in our police and fire departments and I also support giving Kalispell residents the opportunity to vote on additional resources for our police and fire departments.

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

We face a housing crisis in our community which, together with mental health and addiction issues, has increased our homeless population. I have joined my fellow city councilors in increasing housing supply to put downward pressure on housing prices, but this is not enough. I have proposed adopting an affordable housing plan, making surplus city property available for income-based affordable housing projects and adopting tighter restrictions on short-term vacation rentals. I have also proposed zoning reforms to allow a greater variety of housing. Moreover, I’ve proposed using marijuana tax revenue to put additional funding toward mental health services.

What other issues should the city be addressing?

To preserve our open space lands, wildlife habitat and clean water, we must push for more infill development so that we have less sprawling development on the outskirts of our community. More efficient infill development also reduces the amount of city resources needed to provide and maintain city services to our ever-growing community.

Learn more about my record at www.Hunter4Kalispell.com. I’d very much appreciate your support in this election.