Stevensville Mayor Brandon Dewey has filed for re-election. He filed on the first day.
Dewey acknowledges he’s been through a lot during the past three years, including a failed – but close – attempt to recall him, a complete turnover of council members, and a turnover of staff members. And a pandemic.
“Perhaps our biggest work is behind us,” says Dewey. “We are building consistency in our government. We’ve eliminated the controversy, contention and infighting that plagued us up until last November. Now we’ve been able to focus on projects. And the council has improved its communication with the administration.”
Some of the brick-and-mortar projects that are slated for this year include improvements on 3rd Street and 5th Streets to address pedestrian safety and parking issues. The council has also approved some renovations at Father Ravalli Park as well as the well-publicized splash pad project at Lewis & Clark Park.
“We’ve also upgraded a lot of our equipment,” said Dewey. “We intentionally prioritized capital improvement funds to replace a backhoe and bobcat, we purchased a new mini-excavator and we replaced two police cars.”
“Our whole focus is on an improved level of service,” said Dewey. He said that some people in the community have suggested that he’s “bankrupting” the town with reckless spending. That’s just plain wrong, according to Dewey. “We have cut waste, and redirected money to improve services.”
He points to the police department as another accomplishment during his tenure. “We’ve moved the police department to a new location, providing more accessibility by the public, and we’ve increased police personnel from two to four officers.” The newly hired police chief, Max Sosa, was expected to start this Monday.
Dewey also said he’s worked hard to increase government accountability. The council meetings and some board meetings are live streamed. Town staff is in the process of uploading as many of the town documents as possible onto the website, including contracts, codes, ordinances and resolutions, etc. Everything will be available to the public automatically.
“We’re trying to restore trust in city hall in Stevensville,” says Dewey, “and let people know we really do have the public’s trust in mind.”
The council recently adopted a Strategic Plan that emphasizes the importance of a common vision and good communication between the legislative and executive branches of government and all the departments. “We’re working on changing the culture at city hall,” said Dewey. “We’re still in the middle of it. It’s still very fragile.”
In terms of fiscal accountability, Dewey says the reserves in the general fund have been restored to 30-40%, a healthy amount. “That’s taking COVID into consideration. We didn’t have to pull from reserves to get through the pandemic. We were able to seek out and manage CARES relief funds without affecting the general fund.”
Dewey said that although the town lost some staff over the last three years, he’s proud of the current administrative staff. “They are very capable and professional,” he said. “Unfortunately, some have left but we’ve been able to replace them with competent, forward-thinking people.”
“I hope we have put all the negativity behind us,” said Dewey. “When I was elected in 2017, my hope was that I could outlast that negativity. There’s been a lot of sacrifice, a lot of harm and damage done. But now we’re at a place where we can only improve. We’re better today than we were on the first day of my tenure, even with the dips and darkness. No more focus on who has power in city hall – that’s silly. We’re looking forward. Together.”
Dewey sees the fact that he’s a hometown boy as a plus. “I didn’t come from somewhere else,” he said. “All my experience has been here and I’ve learned something from everyone here. These shared values are the foundation of this community. Everything we’re doing is based on what Stevensville means as a community.”
Dewey added, “It’s all about balance – where is the balance between varying opinions. I believe in a greater Stevensville – that’s what kept me in it is the idea that I make decisions on behalf of the community every day. I have to live with the impact of that for a long, long time. Me and my family plan to be here a long time. So I give a lot of attention to the impact of what I do. I want to enjoy the results of my decision making.”
The 30-year-old Dewey is Stevensville’s 34th mayor. Dewey did the math recently and found that if he serves through December of 2021, the average time served by a Stevensville mayor is 2-1/2 years.
“I’ve already beat the average,” says Dewey.