By Joan Prather, Stevensville
Referencing the letter from Mr. Michalson regarding the $1200 wage plus $400 honorarium the Mayor earns: I am writing this in hopes that people will appreciate the efforts of the Mayor and Town Council of Stevensville. To do that, let me take you for a walk down memory lane.
Mr. Michalson, you have only recently been attending the Town Council meetings and you were not at the previous council meetings that were under a different mayor (3 to be specific) and town councils. You were not there when the town clerk and a constant present lawyer were relied upon for every decision. So you had a council and mayor that for the most part would not make a decision without consulting the lawyer and the town clerk. Basically these were the people running the town for you.
A legal counsel at every meeting cost the Town thousands of dollars. The poor clerk was unable to tend to such things as water bill collections, utility billing or other office duties as she was so busy taking care of many other duties and being the critical connection for the part-time mayor and council. The cost was exorbitant and ridiculous. Being the legal representative for the Town of Stevensville was a very lucrative job. They paid thousands to have the legal representative at every meeting. If a decision was to be made heads turned to the lawyer present at all meetings or to the town clerk. They had incredible power. But, for a part-time mayor who had a full time job, he had to rely on them as he could not be present. Projects were not taken on because the status quo was working and to change any of that would require more funds and time that the town did not have, why – possibly because of the exorbitant amount that was being expended on legal fees year after year. Not to mention one mayor who harassed the town staff to the point of a lawsuit and continued to harass until the then-current mayor resigned. This was not a good situation for the town taxpayers.
Now, after all of these years, the town has grown. Town population has increased, annexation has happened, service to residences has increased and industrial areas have to be addressed to maintain jobs and business in Stevensville. To not pursue economic development, maintenance of services to large employers, future strategies and planning for the town growth would be negligent. The town limits have spread and with all of this we are at a crossroads that requires a full time mayor and a town hall that is run in an organized fashion with duties divided out between treasurer, town clerk and utility billing clerk.
The town clerk is no longer responsible for the books, budget, billing, permits, and every problem that walks through the door. Why? Because the job has grown and with that division of duties and responsibilities becomes necessary.
The mayor ‘s involvement in the activities and projects of the Town are required in order to be able to be knowledgeable as well as providing an active point of contact for decisions that need to be acted upon in a timely fashion.
Gone are the days when decision making was tabled meeting after meeting. Requests for town services being ignored until the business waiting for the services was ready to pack up and leave town and only when that crisis arrived was there action taken. The people running the town government were part time and it was a reactionary entity, reacting when forced to by threat or lawsuit. Planning, strategizing, looking to the future was out of the question because there was already too much to deal with.
Were you at these meetings? No, you were not, because if you were, you would be singing a different tune now. You would be appreciating the way the meetings run smoothly, decisions getting made, council people being informed, the town government offices being run efficiently, projects being taken on, funding being sought, grants being written and successfully received, legal fees being cut from $50 some thousand dollars a year. (Paying the Mayor is far less than $50 + thousand and with the present approximately $15,000 allocated for legal fees, you still have money left – a better investment of tax dollars). We have a progressive town government for the most part in a time of growth where if you plant your feet and refuse to move, you will get run over. We have a mayor who is trying to keep us moving forward so that we don’t have problems left unaddressed to the point of crisis mode, which was common before.
Times have changed and with that, change has to be addressed, like it or not. There is always a respect for our history, culture and character and an active town government can help to protect that. I resent the fact that time has to be taken up by uninformed or ill-informed groups who have no idea as to the requirements that a town government has to deal with, does not recognize the increase in duties of the jobs of the Mayor, staff and council people. I think we have a town council that is intelligent enough to make informed votes on issues we face, they have financial savvy, they have talent on the council that knows about water and sewer, ones that can understand Tax Increment Finance Districts and issues that the airport is involved in. What in the world is wrong with that?
With the increasing responsibilities we have gone beyond a town that only requires a part time mayor and now we need a full time mayor with pay, a natural result of growth and responsibilities. What a pleasure it is, as well, that partnerships are being created and relationships made with the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority and to be able to know with confidence that we are represented at State meetings and activities requiring the Mayor’s presence to welcome, commend or acknowledge the good works of others, that we have an eloquent, educated speaker who represents our town with dignity and respect.
I hope this will help you rethink the position you have taken towards the mayor. You have no idea what is involved in the running of this Town and due to your past lack of involvement your newfound involvement is based on lack of information, understanding and education about what is required of a government for its citizens. Be supportive, appreciative of the time these people have to devote to public service once they are in office and be glad their sense of leadership is intact to make sure we are in good shape for the future. Picking at these people is time consuming and not productive. Present your program of how to make things better if you have one. Talk to the people in charge; get involved in something productive rather than tying up people’s time with innuendo, negativism, wanting things to be the way they used to be! Things will never be the way they used to be because if you go that direction we won’t exist because time does move on and far better to be abreast of it and making planned decisions rather than be forced to make a knee jerk reactive decision because you are forced into it. If you find a better way, go through the proper channels to work with others to make a positive difference.