by John Dowd
Passed by a single vote, residents of the town of Darby elected to conduct a local government review. This will be the first review held in any Bitterroot municipality for nearly 20 years. According to Regina Plettenberg, Clerk and Recorder as well as Election Administrator for Ravalli County, the last time Darby held one of these reviews the town made some big changes. It will be interesting to see what kinds of suggestions result from the review.
These local government reviews are included statewide on ballots every 10 years, and allow communities to review details of their form of government by electing a study commission. These commissions then take a peek under the hood of their town’s inner workings, after which they can recommend changes they believe should be made. The recommendations are then put to a community vote in the next general election. Local government reviews often take a couple years, and the suggestions made by this particular study commission will need to appear no later than the 2026 general election ballot.
During the last review cycle that Bitterroot municipalities participated in, held in 1994, all the municipalities, including Stevensville, Hamilton, Pinesdale, Darby, as well as the county, decided to conduct reviews. The county also held a review again in 2004 and undid several of the previous review changes. Several of the municipalities made extensive changes to their governments. That year, Darby changed its town government, adopting a commission executive charter form of government, with a five-member town council and the mayor to serve two years.
According to Plettenberg, the circumstances of this most recent vote were quite unusual. (In 1994, Darby residents voted in favor of a review, 83 for and 43 against.) This year’s unofficial vote, determined by the machines, was 91 to 91. After the recount, the final official vote was determined to be 92 for and 91 against.
Plettenberg explained that the machine’s tabulations were perfect. However, there was a human element that determined the outcome.
“People say ‘my vote doesn’t matter,’ but here, one vote made all the difference,” said Plettenberg.
As explained by Plettenberg, ballot forms are placed into tabulation machines that count vote submissions by identifying markings in ovals on the forms. For ovals that are filled in correctly, votes are included in the count. However, if a form is not filled out correctly, due to an overvote, unclear or unreadable marks, has two options filled in or even the slightest mark on both ovals, the ballot is kicked out by the machine. In the vote determining a government review in Darby in this latest election, there was a ballot that was kicked out by the machine for one of these reasons.
Additionally, the count the machines recorded ended in a tie, which triggered a recount of the votes by hand. This standard procedure led to the county commissioners reviewing this particular ballot. Once reviewed, they determined the mark that caused the ballot to be kicked was a “hesitation mark.” This could be many things, including possibly where it appears the voter may have partially filled out one oval, then completely and clearly filled out the other. The commissioners determined that that ballot was voting for the local government review.
According to Plettenberg and the election office, interested candidates must be registered voters in Darby town limits, and must file no later than 5 p.m. on August 12. There is no filing fee and the candidates cannot be elected officials within the local government. There are three study commissioner positions and the top three candidates will be chosen. The ballot to vote on these candidates will appear in November.
Though the qualifications for candidates may be limited, elected study commissioners will undergo training before they begin their review. To help explain this, Dan Clark, director of the Montana State University Extension Local Government Center, spoke at length during an interview on the process the town will need to go through to facilitate the government review.
According to Clark, the Local Government Center is providing training statewide to all elected study commissioners in December. The training will be held in various locations around the state, both in person and with online options. This training will be available to the 43 municipalities and 12 counties that elected to conduct these reviews. Clark said this number is slightly up from the last review in 2014, but the number often fluctuates up and down.
Clark himself has been involved with three of these review cycles. He explained that the Montana Constitution mandates that these reviews be offered on ballots every 10 years. Also called a voter review, the process gives those eligible to hold public office the opportunity to dig into their governmental process. Clark said they can generally look at three things, including powers, form and plan.
Clark believes Darby in particular may address a few things. Currently, Darby has a self-governing power, which gives them slightly more freedom. This kind of power allows them to address issues utilizing both what is defined in Montana statute (Montana Code Annotated or MCA) and what the code does not specifically address.
“This gives you a little more flexibility to address local issues,” said Clark.
Next, when looking at the form of government, Darby has six different options available. Darby currently has a commission executive charter form of government which was approved by voters in 1996. In this form, both the mayor and the council are elected members of the community. Because of the inherent freedom afforded by their current elected form and powers, Clark believes the town may desire to keep these the same. He believes the big changes may come from looking at the town government plan.
Darby operates under a charter form of government. This charter is a written plan, similar to a constitution, that directs the powers, obligations and responsibilities of elected town officials in Darby. It spells out the process of electing, defines duties and, according to Clark, may be the focus of the Darby voter review this time around.
This is because, after nearly 20 years, the community may want to adjust and update the language in that charter. According to Clark, this also gives the town the option to readjust to modern interests, whatever those are.
“It allows the community, and its form of government, to evolve as the community evolves,” said Clark.
Once the study commission finishes its review, it will make suggestions that will appear on a following election ballot. If these suggestions pass, the study commissioners will stay on long enough to aid with the transition. According to Clark, the elected position of study commissioner essentially expires at the end of 2026.
Clark said these reviews are “a great example of the democratic process.” He also said that these government reviews are unique to Montana. He said constitutional conventions are common for many state governments, but something for county and municipal governments, defined within a state constitution, is quite a rare thing. Clark believes this goes back to the ethos of Montanans, and their drive to be independent and to do things their own way.
Interested parties can visit ravalli.us, the county website, for more information about the Darby local government review and how to file for candidacy. Plettenberg stated that parties looking for more in depth information can also look into the Montana Code Annotated, under MCA 7-3-101.