Board of realtors holds local forum

by John Dowd

The Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors (BVBR) held a candidate forum last Thursday. The event drew 16 candidates, including six local and 10 statewide. BVBR president Mike Kent moderated, and the Hamilton Elks Lodge hosted. 

Candidates were given two minutes for an opening and a minute to answer each question. 

At the county level, several questions posed to the candidates for Ravalli County Sheriff revolved around officer retention and training. 

Steve Holton, the incumbent sheriff, spoke on the department’s current struggles to retain deputies, which he described as “a constant problem, and you can’t blame it all on pay.” The department, Holton said, tries to hire residents over out-of-area applicants. For Holton, other pieces have been to try to get them the training they need and to “provide an atmosphere they want to be at.”

Ravalli County Sheriff candidate Nick Monaco responded to the same question, saying, “I don’t consider us to be a training ground for other agencies,” as the original question insinuated. Monaco expressed that, though the county does lose deputies, he would like to open it up to some out-of-area people, to give them a leg up in finding a home here and to grow the pool of applicants. “Folks are having difficulty finding residency down here.” 

As far as keeping deputies, Monaco wants to help the department “get back to that family culture.”

As for deputy training, Monaco hopes to put more effort into getting deputies trained. He said the public would see the benefit reflected in the level of service they receive. 

Holton spoke on the difficulties in getting deputies trained. In his experience, the trouble is not so much with the direct cost of training but in the per diem costs. According to Holton, the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Department budget for training is split between the actual training fee pot and a pot for everything involved with getting officers to training, including hotel fees, food and more.

“We spend the travel budget long before we spend that training money,” finished Holton.

The local candidates were also asked their views on housing costs, and all spoke about the difficulty and need for both affordable and standard housing options.

As far as efforts to address the need, Mathew Roth, a candidate for Ravalli County Commissioner District 1, answered saying officials do not and cannot control prices, that is for the economy to decide. This was a sentiment shared by all others who answered.

Jeff Burrows, incumbent Ravalli County Commissioner of District 3, added that the free market has to drive the price. Burrows is running unopposed but attended to help provide some context to the conversations from a sitting commissioner. 

Stephan Kowal, also running for Ravalli County Commissioner District 1, responded to the question of housing difficulty, saying, for him, the problem is not just the price for people moving in. Kowal added that these rising prices are also “pricing out people that have lived here a long time.” 

“I agree it’s not something the government can regulate, but I’m not willing to give up on something we could do to help,” said Kowal. 

Another question for the local panel was on how they planned to accommodate for growth. 

Monaco said they would need to “embrace growth responsibly.” Not to would be a “losing battle.” He added that Ravalli County has the lowest number of deputies per capita in the state. That would make responses to calls difficult as the population grows. 

Holton admitted that the area is “rapidly growing,” but added that “Law enforcement is by its nature reactive.” He explained that more officers would require more funding, but that would need to wait for a higher tax base. 

Scott Burlingham attended on behalf of Jennifer Ray. Burlingham is currently Justice Court Judge for Department 2 for Ravalli county and Ray is running for election for Justice Court judge of Department 1. For him, they would need to get ahead of the growth or lose what makes this community special.

Kowal echoed Holton’s comments, noting, “calls for service are just through the roof, right now,” but it is difficult to get ahead of some of the service based on the limited tax base.

Commissioner Burrows said commissioners are really not in control of whether people move to the area or not. They are also limited in the ways they can address growth without a growth policy. 

“It sounds like Burrows is passing the buck, but he’s not,” said Roth. According to him, they are confined by the Montana Code Annotated. Roth also commented on the attitudes of people moving to the area, which was a perceived fear by some. For Roth, it comes down to what the average person can do on a small scale. Public education is a big piece that everyone can use by communicating local values in a neighborly way to people moving into the area.

Finally, the local panel was asked about the biggest issues they will face in the coming term. 

Holton immediately responded that it was dealing with the “mental health crisis.” However, the department, county and local agencies have plans to address that problem.

Burlingham agreed with Colton and said the issue has been ongoing. They see a lot more of those cases than ever before. He also said one of the challenges comes from elected officials in Helena. He commented, speaking to the legislature, “Stop taking tools out of my belt.” He feels limited by what he can do to address those cases. 

For Kowal, the top issue is going to be affordability. “Things are becoming more expensive everywhere we look in Ravalli County.” said Kowal. 

For the state candidates, water rights was the topic of several questions. One concern voiced in the questions regarding a ban on exempt wells, both for the economy and growth.

Greg Overstreet, the Republican candidate for House District (HD) 88, said it could be devastating on the economy to see a ban on exempt wells. There are many businesses involved, even ones most people do not think about, that would be affected by such a policy. For him, the water may be less of a problem than some people think.

However, the Democrat candidate for HD88, Evan Schroedel, is concerned about the water. He said the county needs to do hydrostatic mapping.

For him, the priority is to take care of the people who live here first and have water now. He is less concerned about people wanting to move here.

A later question regarded standardized testing to verify where the water is located.

Kathy Love, a Republican candidate for Senate District (SD) 43, spoke about the need for such testing. She said a decision cannot be made “basin-wide,” as every part of the valley is different. Officials need to look at where the water and the aquifers are, then make decisions from there. That requires tests. 

David Bedey, the other Republican candidate for SD43, said the tests will require money. SD43 Democrat candidate Stephan Leuchtman allowed Bedey’s response saying he would love to sponsor a bill to do this. 

Another question posed to the panel was what they would cut from the state budget if they had the power to do so. 

Kim Dailey, a Republican candidate for HD85, said there were billions of dollars of surplus from the last tax collection, and that should be returned first.

Republican Kenneth Allen, a candidate for HD86, answered saying that he would create a committee to investigate any money coming in from out of state.

Wayne Rusk, another Republican running for HD86 said, “When you get right down to it, and ask to cut services people rely on, people go silent.” For him, it would be a tricky proposition to cut anything because someone relies on all these programs in some way. 

Archie Thomas, the Democrat candidate running for HD86, believes they should first stop wasting money investigating election fraud. 

Overstreet immediately said he would cut the Department of Health and Human Services, saying if people knew what they wasted money on, they would be appalled. Overstreets’s Democrat opponent, Schroedel, agreed with him. However, he does not know other areas to cut as he has not yet been elected yet. He plans to support those efforts if he gets into office. 

Bedey said the state government is run pretty efficiently, but there “are always bad actors.” Leuchtman, Democrat candidate for SD43, said the attorney general’s office would be a good place to start. Love also agreed with Overstreet. She added that the state gave an $18 million tax credit to the film industry. “Was that necessary?” she asked. For her, it is less about where to cut and more about addressing irresponsibility in spending habits.

Republican Michelle Binkley, candidate for HD85, running against Dailey, said, for 

her, it would come down to all the numerous “pet bills” people bring through that take funding and are unnecessary.

The discussion eventually got to data centers, and all agreed they do not need to be in Montana. Love said they are water-greedy, and water is already a problem in this valley. Bedey noted they would need to pay their way, and there is no need for state assistance to bring them here. Leuchtman outright said, “They have no business being in Montana.”

Another unanimous sentiment regarded the Sheep Creek Mine. Thomas believes there is no place to send the minerals in the U.S. to refine them on the required scale while still following environmental requirements. Otherwise, they will need to be sent to China, which he added nobody wants. 

One of the last questions candidates were asked was if they would support Medicaid expansion, which Schroedel was in full support. Bedey reminded people that Medicaid is only for the working poor and said he actually agrees with Schroedel, saying,“I’m not willing to make a political statement at the expense of working Montanans.” He added that he believes this program is a big part of supporting rural health care. Binkley agreed and said she also supports rural hospitals. 

However, for Love, “Nobody is addressing why is healthcare unaffordable.” She thinks these programs are “throwing money at the problem.”