Support local control: Let the people be free

Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson had some choice words for legislators in advance of the 2025 session. To anyone looking to seize more control from local municipalities: Back off.

“It’s an insidious cancer, taking away local governments’ ability, local citizens’ ability to craft their future at the community level,” Johnson said about the overreach from the Capitol last session. “All hail [Gov. Greg Gianforte], is what we are looking to.”  

Johnson specifically pointed to 2023’s Senate Bill 382, known as the Montana Land Use Planning Act. The new law demands that cities with 5,000 or more residents within a county exceeding 70,000 people adopt a new land-use plan. Once the plan is in place, public comment and Council input is limited, shifting authorization to the city’s Planning Department. Locally, it affects Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls, where much effort had already been put into land-use documents. 

“If you like being lazy 382 is a great thing,” Johnson said of the legislation.  

He also blasted how state law limits which municipalities can vote on a local option sales tax to help offset tourism’s impact on local infrastructure. While Whitefish and Columbia Falls voters have approved these taxes, Kalispell is ineligible due to its population size. It’s an issue that is high on the Council’s 2025 legislative priority list. 

Johnson found an unlikely ally in taking on the heavy-handed state Legislature. 

In reacting to the Daily Inter Lake story about Johnson’s comments, Whitefish City Councilor Ben Davis offered firm support. 

“The state Legislature spends far too much time trying to limit what local municipalities can do, which is a problem because the cities of Montana are very diverse and all have different needs,” Davis wrote on Facebook. “Why on earth should Columbia Falls or Whitefish be eligible to have a local option resort tax but not Kalispell? Why does the state insist on setting statewide zoning policy in a ham-handed and poorly thought out way? Makes no sense. Especially when the Republican Party platform expressly states that policy issues should be handled by the local government whenever possible (aka “local control”). Let the free people be free.” 

He’s right. Legislators talk a big game about local control on the campaign trail but seem to sing a different tune when they get to Helena. Far too often, the Legislature is dictating what’s best for communities far from the halls of the Capitol. 

Instead of looking for more opportunities to implement top-down demands, legislators should be supportive of local governments’ and constituents’ efforts to shape their future by simply staying out of the way.