Grammy Award-winning singer Huey Lewis has agreed to make a special appearance at Western Heritage Days in Stevensville on June 14. According to Joan Prather, executive director of the Stevensville Main Street Association, which sponsors the event, Lewis will make a guest appearance with the “Joan Zen” band during the Downtown Saturday Night street dance. “Blue to the Bone” will open from 4 to 6 p.m. with “Joan Zen” playing from 7 to 10 p.m. Lewis will perform with Joan Zen. The dance and food court will be on Third and Main in downtown Stevensville with an adjacent beer garden on the lawn of the Stevensville Hotel.

The Stevensville Main Street Association is thrilled that Huey Lewis has agreed to perform, according to Joan Prather, executive director.

“We’re really excited to have such quality bands this year, and that Huey will be here at our Downtown Saturday Night which will top off our Western Heritage Days event,” said Prather. “We really appreciate him supporting his hometown. We’re also really grateful to Joan Zen for helping make this happen. It means a lot and we look forward to a great event.”

According to Debra Hicks, lead singer with “Joan Zen,” when she asked Huey if he’d be interested in performing in Stevensville, he said, “You know that’s my home, right?”

“My general impression of Huey is he’s a community-oriented guy and he likes to do this when he can,” added Hicks. “I think he likes being a part of the community. He’s a really good guy.”

Primary elections next Tuesday

Primary elections in Ravalli County are scheduled for June 3. Two seats are up for election on the Ravalli County Board of Commissioners, one from District 2 and one from District 3. Although the candidates must live in the district which they will represent, every eligible voter in the county gets to vote for each seat. But voters in the primary must decide which ticket to vote on, either the Republican or the Democrat.

In the race for County Commission the Democrats, John Meakin in District 2 and Roger DeHaan in District 3, are each running unopposed. But on the Republican side it will be a contest, with Lady Jake Weitzel running against incumbent Greg Chilcott in District 2 and a three-way race in District 3 between Chuck Stranahan, Dave Dedmon, and J.R. Iman. Winners on the Republican side will face the two Democrats in November.

County Commissioner

District 2

Greg Chilcott, Republican

Greg Chilcott is the incumbent candidate for County Commissioner in District 2 on the Republican ticket. He is 49 years old and was born and raised in the Bitterroot Valley. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education and has spent most of his adult life in management positions. He is on the Board of Directors of Bitterroot Youth Homes, on the Executive Board of the Montana Association of Counties, on the Board of the Joint Powers Authority, and is a past board member of the Stevensville School District. He spent 12 years as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical responder. He and Vickie, his wife of six years, have seven kids and seven grandkids.

Chilcott has served as County Commissioner for about six years. He said that the hot button issue right now is zoning , but that is only a part of the job.

“To me the job of being a commissioner is not about zoning, it’s about management and conflict resolution,” he said.

He said that of the county’s $26 to $27 million dollar budget only about $7 million is discretionary. But that represents a significant responsibility. With about 210 fulltime and 40 part time or seasonal employees there are also significant management responsibilities as well. He said that there are four unions that require negotiated contracts.

“When I started,” said Chilcott, “there was a 4.5 percent reserve. Now it is about 9 percent. It should probably be up to 20 percent. But we also have a lot of services that are not keeping up with the demands of growth.” He said that striking a balance between fiscal responsibility and the desired level of services was “very tough.”

He said that currently the county depends largely on soft money from the federal government in the form of PILT payments and Secure Rural School Act funds to pad the budget.

“The thing we need to do is create an economic tax base that can support the level of desired services,” he said. “We need to recruit businesses that fit into the fabric of our valley.”

He said that the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority has been working hard for a long time on the arduous process of coordinating multiple agencies and branches of government to get the infrastructure required to attract new businesses along Old Corvallis Road, and that those efforts were close to fruition. He said that work was going in the right direction in incubating new businesses, but that already existing businesses also needed to be recruited.

Chilcott said that zoning was really a moot issue as far as the campaign for commissioner goes because it will have been decided by the time of the elections either by the Board of Commissioners or by a public vote.

He said that any zoning adopted, from his point of view, has to be “science based,” and the aims had to be clear. He said that his aim would be to address public, health and safety issues.

“It is my feeling in all zoning, all regulation, that we need to educate long before we attempt to regulate,” he said. “Ravalli County has a long history of good land stewardship. To over-regulate to address a few poor decisions is not my first choice.”

Chilcott also noted that the legislature has granted counties the authority to create a Tax Increment Finance District and offer tax deferral to new businesses as an incentive to move here.

“We need to work hard with our legislators to give the county more discretionary latitude and flexibility in this regard,” said Chilcott.

Chilcott said that he was well suited for the challenge of the job.

“I’ve made decisions that I would not make now. But I made the best decisions based on the best information at the time. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am passionate about the job.”

John Meakin, Democrat

John Meakin is running unopposed on the Democratic primary ticket for County Commissioner in District 2. He is 66 years old and has been living in Ravalli County for eleven years. After getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Miami University in Ohio in 1963, Meakin spent nine years in the U.S. Navy. After his service he returned to school and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Rhode Island in 1973. Afterwards he moved to California and worked for the federal government on the National Labor Relations Board for 23 years, as a Senior Labor Relations Examiner. He retired in January, 1997 and six months later moved to the Bitterroot Valley. Since living here he also worked for four years as personnel manager for Bitterroot Restoration, a company that produced plants for ecological restoration projects around the nation.

Meakin is a member of the American Legion, Chairperson of the Ravalli County Democratic Central Committee, serves as Chairperson of the Stevensville Community Planning Committee, and was appointed by the Commissioners to the county’s Impact Fee Advisory Committee, where he also serves as Chairperson. He has been married to his wife, Patricia, for 26 years and has two grown kids.

While living in California, Meakin served as City Councilor and Mayor in San Ramon. He saw San Ramon turn from an unincorporated area into its own town and served on the town’s Planning Commission for a number of years.

“We worked hard on planning there,” said Meakin. “And it was astounding to return there recently and see that after 20 years of development so much of what we planned for had become a reality. I saw trees and parks that were once just ideas and a system of community service that is working well.”

Meakin said that the divisiveness here over the issue of whether to have zoning or not was new to him. He said that many of those opposed to any zoning were probably just wanting to keep things the way they are, or the way they were.

“But nothing is going to stop change and development, the important thing is to plan for it,” he said.

A priority for Meakin would be to increase the county’s tax base. He sees zoning as an integral part of creating a place that is attractive for new industry.

“We need to make a place for industry and then go get it,” said Meakin, “It will take a concerted effort by the County and private groups.”

Meakin said that the cost of providing services is increasing faster than the revenue to pay for it.

“We will either have to pass a public safety levy or we will have to begin a public discussion about triaging of services and cut some out,” he said.

He said that creation of residential housing does not help since the cost of services required by new residences outstrips the taxes collected from them. He said that impact fees could play a role in helping fund the gap between construction of homes and collection of taxes, but the real problem is that residential taxes do not meet the needs for increased services. He said we need to concentrate on increasing office, commercial, and industrial businesses in the community.

Meakin said that preserving the Valley’s clean air and water was also going to take some regulations and enforcement. He called the failure of the recently proposed Water District the “classic case of a no-brainer that failed.”

He said one primary aim should be to reorganize county government procedure in a way that the Commissioners can be relieved of the day to day chores that dominate their time now and allow them to concentrate on policy issues.

About most of the County’s problems and hot issues, Meakin says, “The County Commissioners should have predicted all this about 10 years ago, but nothing was done. So now we are in crisis mode. It would be nice for a change if we could get out in front of issues instead of always being behind them.”

Lady Jake Weitzel, Republican

“Lady” Jake Weitzel is running on the Republican ticket for a seat on the County Commission in District 2. She is 54 years old and has lived in the Bitterroot Valley for the last 27 years. She is married and has three children and five grandchildren. She attended college for two-and-a-half years and has worked in the painting business, AM Painting and Design, for 17 years. She served on the Stevensville Town Council for five-and-a-half years.

In the past Weitzel has been a member of the Stevensville Main Street Association, the Stevensville Civic Club, and the League of Women Voters. She has been a Girl Scout leader and volunteered for many civic functions, such as the Weed Board’s annual Weed Pull and cooked for hundreds of people at the annual Clean Up Day celebration.

Weitzel said that she is for “reasonable” zoning. She does not consider the Draft A and Draft B of the current zoning regulations to be reasonable, but she supports the effort to come up with a Draft C.

Weitzel said that she supports reasonable streamside setback regulations as well, because they are needed to keep people from building right on the banks of the streams and river.

She believes that the County Commissioners need to work closely with the state legislators to get more funding for county roads and the Sheriff’s Office. She said that the County Commission over the last six years has let reserve funds slip to an all-time low. She would like to reverse that trend and accumulate some funds that could be used in matching state and federal grants for county infrastructure.

Weitzel also believes that the County Commissioners need to establish the position of Chief Financial Officer who could do the job of grant writing and work with the state legislators for better funding.

“When I worked on Stevensville’s budget we were never in the red,” said Weitzel. She said that, if elected to the County Commission, she would make the budget a top priority and allocate the funds where they are most needed.

“I am also very responsive to people,” said Weitzel. “If I don’t have the answers that people are looking for, I will get them.” She said that as Stevensville Town Councilor she spent time getting a firsthand look at the roads and alleys to see what condition they were in and help set priorities there.

“I’m not into the Good Old Boy’s Club. I’m not a baby rump kisser. I’m good at handling people’s money,” she said. “My record has been one of honesty and upstanding behavior.”

She believes that the sitting commissioners, including her opponent, have demonstrated an inability to handle the county’s problems in a decisive and reasonable fashion and she offers the people a chance for a change in that regard.

District 3

David Dedmon, Republican

David Dedmon is running on the Republican ticket for County Commissioner in District 3. He is 53 years old and has lived in Ravalli County for the last 19 years. He has some college experience, but most of his education came later in the fields of criminal justice and emergency medicine. He served three years in the U.S. Navy, doing active service in the Middle East in the early 1970s. After the service he worked in Maryland for the Carol County Sheriff’s Office. Then, in 1989, he moved to the Bitterroot Valley and began work under then Sheriff Jay Printz. He retired from the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office in 1999. He worked as a real estate broker for a few years and is currently self employed as a flyfishing outfitter. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Sharon, for 33 years.

Dedmon has been an active member of the American Legion, the Elks Lodge in Hamilton, and the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce, serving primarily on the tourism and natural resource committees. He is a past President and board member of the Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited. He is also a member of the Federation of Fly Fishers, primarily an educational organization. He is a lifetime member of both the National Rifle Association and the Hamilton Gun Club.

According to Dedmon, one of the biggest issues facing the County is adequate funding for public safety.

“We need to get on board with a levy for the Sheriff’s Department,” said Dedmon. “The department is funded by ‘soft’ money that we may well lose.”

He said that close to $400,000 in soft money goes into funding the Sheriff’s Office. While he hopes that the soft money will continue to roll in, it should more properly be viewed as a surplus for funding some capital expenditures such as new facilities that are much needed, but hard dollars, from the budget, need to be dedicated to the Sheriff and his deputies.

“I was the last deputy hired in 1989 using hard funds,” said Dedmon. “Every one hired since has been paid by either grants or soft money coming in from the federal government.”

Dedmon said that Ravalli County’s budget needs to be fixed and getting a Chief Financial Officer would help.

“In fact, getting a CFO who could streamline the budget could probably pay for his own salary and more with the savings that could be found,” said Dedmon.

Dedmon said that the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department needs to start looking for new materials to work with. He said the large amount of gravel roads in the county needs to be addressed as a health concern as it is a major contributor to air quality problems.

“I don’t think anyone is looking into the possibility of using new and better materials for construction right now,” said Dedmon.

Dedmon said that protection of the county’s natural resources and natural beauty needs to be a priority because it is at the root of the tourism industry which is a big part of the county’s economy. Hand in hand with this would be attracting green industry to the valley that would be able to boost our economy in a way that is not counter-productive with the tourism industry.

Dedmon said that if elected he would work hard with the local legislators to see that the state recognizes and supports the county’s needs.

“We need a good dialogue and strong communication with our legislators,” he said.

Roger DeHaan, Democrat

Roger DeHaan is running unopposed on the Democratic primary ticket for County Commissioner in District 3. He is 56 years old and has lived in the Bitterroot Valley since 1980, except for two years overseas in the Peace Corps and a 6-month tour working in Vietnamese refugee camps in Malaysia. He is a Professional Engineer specializing in water supply and sewage treatment and has owned and operated Pinnacle Engineering Consulting Engineers since 1986. His wife of 24 years, Nancy Spagnoli, is a teacher in Corvallis.

DeHaan has been active in community service for many years. He has been a member of the County Board of Health for 10 years. He is involved with the Countywide Zoning Community Planning Committee and represents the Health Board on the Streamside Setback Committee.

He represented Victor on the County Growth Policy, worked on the Highway 93 Focus Group and helped develop the Victor Park District. He was part of the Forest Consensus Council and he says he is a strong advocate of finding the common ground in the community among diverse viewpoints.

In his free time, he and Nancy like to hike, ski and backpack and work in their garden. He also likes to volunteer in the public schools.

DeHaan supports the current planning and zoning efforts. He believes that the county’s growth can be a valuable thing for local jobs and economy, but it needs to be managed so that taxpayers do not wind up paying for unintended consequences.

“You will hear me say over and over that what our county needs is predictability and consistency, fairness and sound logic, and accountability,” said DeHaan. “We need appropriate regulations that let everyone know what the rules are, and that make it easy to work with the County. We also need good enforcement and accountability from all sides.”

To lessen the cost of growth to the taxpayer, DeHaan said that he will work to develop fair and logical impact fees that require new construction to pay its fair share towards the schools, fire departments, sheriff’s department and roads that long time residents have been paying on for years. He will work to create a strong set of subdivision regulations that requires new development to install adequate facilities to serve its residents and minimize impacts on neighbors.

“To help our farmers and ranchers, who have such a vital role in our quality of life, I will work to create a variety of options that both protect a person’s right to farm and ranch, and allows the efficient sale of a portion of a person’s land for high quality development,” said DeHaan.

He said these options must include the ability to sell the rights for that development to others, allowing the owner to gain needed capital from their land, and continue their agricultural operation on the remaining area.

“I am a strong believer in the need for public service. It is not necessarily a fun job, but I believe I have skills and a temperament that would be valuable to the Commissioner’s office. You can count on my honesty, hard work and commitment. I am a good listener, have the skills and determination to research an issue, and the courage to implement a fair and reasonable solution to a problem,” said DeHaan.

J.R. Iman, Republican

James R. (J.R.) Iman is running in the primary election for County Commissioner in District 3 on the Republican ticket. Iman has lived in the Bitterroot Valley all his life. His great great grandfather opened a livery stable in Missoula in 1897 and the family moved to a ranch in Ravalli County not long afterwards. Iman went to school in Corvallis and then got some engineering training at Montana State University in Bozeman. He has been married to Sue Ann for 37 years and they have two children working as engineers in Missoula. He owns and operates a ranch and a real estate business. He is also a member of the Montana A Capella Society and the Rocky Mountain Barbershop Quartet.

Iman has always participated in public affairs. In the past he has served on the Corvallis School Board, the Highway 93 design committee, served as a volunteer on the Corvallis Fire Department, and served on local and state Realtor boards. He is a supervisor on the Bitterroot Conservation District, President of Painted Rocks Reservoir Water Users, and has served on the Ravalli County Planning Board for nine years.

“The big issue right now is countywide zoning,” said Iman, “I think everybody wants to be committed to it.” He said that the current Interim Zoning, with restrictions of one dwelling per two acres, is not a good plan. It requires the County to consider countywide zoning, but Iman cannot support the current draft of countywide zoning regulations. He believes they suffer from being rushed through.

“If you get in a rush and leave people out,” he said, “it will just lead to more lawsuits.”

The main shortcoming of the current draft, he said, is that it provides no way to compensate landowners who are giving up their rights to develop.

He also believes that any form of countywide zoning regulations should be put up to a vote of the people.

Iman said that streamside setbacks was another hot issue. But, he said, there is currently no need for any “emergency” regulations. He said that the 100-year floodplain designations on the river were sufficient to protect the public safety and could be used to establish building envelopes. He said that some regulations may be required on the small tributaries, where floodplains have not been mapped, but those restrictions should simply be prohibiting construction of homes within a certain distance of the creek banks. He said that it was especially important to deal with potential flooding issues below our dams or the use of those dams may be lost.

Iman said that the county is currently ignoring essentials as far as the budget goes. He noted that the County Planning Office has seen its budget tripled in the last three years, but the county is lagging behind in law enforcement.

“Right now the Planning Department has only two less employees than the Sheriff’s office,” said Iman. He said a public levy to support law enforcement may be the answer.

Iman calls himself a fiscal conservative.

“I believe in individual private property rights and those rights need to tempered by the needs of government, not the other way around,” he said.

He said that impact fees need to be based upon actual costs and we need some sort of formula. But right now, he said, he is not in favor of them because we don’t have a logical amount to assess.

He was critical of the current Commissioners for taking off in some directions where they don’t know what they are doing.

“Why did Darby get to opt out of zoning but no one else?” he asks.

Iman believes that he has the experience and the qualifications to make some good decisions on some tough issues and would serve well if elected.

Chuck Stranahan, Republican

Chuck Stranahan is running on the Republican ticket for County Commissioner in District 3. He is 66 years old and has lived in the Valley since 1986. Stranahan got his Badchelor of Arts Degree in English at California State University at San Fransisco. He then did advanced study at several universities around the state in education and education administration. He gained certification to teach in California and then in Montana.

Upon arriving in Montana, Stranahan opened a flyfishing shop and guide service. He still runs the shop but uses outside outfitters for guiding services. His writing has been published nationally in the fields of flyfishing and children’s literature. He is a member of Trout Unlimited and the Federation of Flyfishers and is also involved in both church and youth activities.

His wife, Jan, is a school principal in Corvallis, and they have four grown children and three grandchildren.

“The single most important issue right now,” said Stranahan, “is what kind of a valley do we want to be living in 30 years from now, or 10 years from now, or two years from now. The next question is, are we heading in that direction? What must we do to head in that direction? Zoning, done right, is an important planning tool.”

But he also said that he was interested in planning that goes beyond zoning, “planning that will give us a solid prosperous future and still give us a quality of life here that is unique and certainly worth living.”

Stranahan said he had his own view of what he’d like to see and it included thriving communities filled with prosperous small businesses, with well-planned residential development located adjacent to centralized services. The whole thing funded by a new era of economic development and prosperity based in new medical-related production. He said that the developments at Rocky Mountain Lab and GSK were a good start and needed to be built upon.

“This could give us the tax base needed to support the kind of services and the way of life we all want,” he said. He also noted that he had the kind of experience and education to do that kind of recruitment, development and planning. He said that he worked closely with the author, doing a lot of the writing himself, of the program “So Your Town Wants a Payroll?” that was adopted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“He knew how to do it right, and I learned from him,” said Stranahan.

He said that the tax base had to be built on a stable, longterm business model, not on a boom and bust model like apples, sugar beets, or residential development.

Stranahan noted that there was no trained administrator on the Republican ticket for Commissioner other than himself.

“We need administrative training on that Board,” he said.

He said that once the proper industrial and commercial tax base was established, his first priority would be to provide some tax relief for seniors and for agricultural producers.

He supports impact fees if they are “fair, equitable, and graduated so small developers and independent businesses don’t take a nose bleed at the start.” He also supports preservation of open space and an effort to respect the farmer’s right to farm and also his right to sell off some high value pieces with appropriate cluster development.

“While we are working on long term economic development we can still act now to preserve what is best for our valley,” he said. He said that the county government to date has shown an inability to manage for the rapid growth besetting the Valley.

“I would bring the County fresh leadership that has no strings attached to the old system or to special interests,” said Stranahan.

State House of Representatives

House District 87

Julian “Al” Milton: House District 87, Republican

Age: 64

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? Five years.

Occupation: Small business owner – Canyon Springs Log Homes. Previously an educator, coach and administrator in central Florida.

Groups/organizations: Realtor, Darby School Board, academic advisory council for Trapper Creek Job Corps.

Interests/hobbies: Hunting, fishing and almost anything outdoors.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

“I think you have to look at education,” Milton said. “I think that’s something the state of Montana needs to take a very serious look at.”

The problem with the current system is the money isn’t getting where it needs to go – the classroom and the kids, he said.

The funding system has to be more equitable throughout the state.

Milton would also look at ways of stimulating and supporting small businesses in Montana.

“I think small business is a very, very critical area that we’ve got to take care,” he said.

One thing that would help small businesses is repealing the property inventory tax, Milton said.

The third priority would be developing natural resources responsibly, he said.

Responsible development of natural resources will provide needed capital for communities around Montana, while protecting the ever-growing tourism industry.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

“I think the state has to kind of keep an eye on what’s going on, but I think most of that process is where the individual cities and counties have to take the lead,” Milton said. “I think the local people ought to be making decisions on what is happening in the communities and their counties.”

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Milton’s top three priorities are consistent with what is most needed for Ravalli County, he said.

“I think the three main issues that affect the state are equally important here,” Milton said. “If it’s good for Ravalli County, when you figure we’ve got little towns like Darby and bigger towns like Hamilton, it’s probably good for the state.”

Peter Rosten: House District 87, Democrat

Age: 59

How long have you lived in Ravalli County: Permanent since 2002, seasonally since 1985.

Occupation: Movie and Television producer, semi-retired.

Groups/organizations: Media Arts in Public Schools (MAPS)

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

Economic development is crucial to Montana, said Peter Rosten.

“I think economic development can really solve a lot of problems,” he said, pointing to his background with Media Arts in Public Schools, a program he started 2004.

The goal of MAPS was to bring film and television production to high schools around the state, Rosten said. But out of that goal came real jobs for people in Montana. The program has commercials it produced running all over the country.

A focus on economic development in Montana would also help keep students here after they graduate, he said.

“Our best and brightest are leaving the state because it’s hard to earn a living here,” he said.

Finding common ground on how the natural resources of Montana should be managed is another priority for Rosten.

“My neighbor is a logger and been on this ground forever and he has to work outside the state for nine months and year so that means his family doesn’t have a dad for that time and that just sucks,” he said.

Rosten knows there are many different methods of taking timber out of the forest responsibly, but it’s going to take some leadership to bring people together to get it done, he said.

Other priorities would be education and tax fairness.

“I try to approach everything with common sense and fairness. Those are the litmus tests with which I try to view all the issues,” Rosten said.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

Growth, for Rosten, is largely an issue that local governments should take the lead on. However, there are things the state legislature could assist with, he said.

A big thing the legislature could do if find ways to make implementing impact fees a clearer process for county governments.

“We have to include impact fees as part of the conversations,” Rosten said.

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Again, Rosten points to the importance of small businesses and economic development. Both are important to Montana and particularly to Ravalli County, he said.

Another change that’s coming to Montana and the Bitterroot Valley is the aging of the population, Rosten said.

The statistics show that the retirees are becoming an every growing portion of the population, he said. This will make issues like affordable housing and health care very important in the coming years.

But whatever the issues are he faces in Helena, Rosten said he won’t be afraid to cross the aisle and get things done.

“I’ll cross party lines in a heartbeat if it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “My loyalty is not for sale – common sense doesn’t have a price on it.”

Ron Stoker, 3rd term incumbent House District 87, Republican

Age: 71

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 14 years

Occupation: Real estate broker, previously work in veterinary pharmaceuticals for 30 years.

Groups/organizations: Member of National Rifle Association and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Interests/hobbies: Hunting, fishing and exploring the outdoors.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

“The single top priority is and always is balancing the budget,” Stoker said. “The sooner we get a look at the governor’s proposed budget along with the revenue projections, we’ll be determining where legislative adjustments would be appropriate.”

Beyond the budget, a typical session sees more than 2,000 bills introduced, he said. Stoker is the vice chairman of the judiciary committee and chairman of the human services committee.

The judiciary committee sees the highest volume of bills, Stoker said.

Plus the human services committee oversees all the policies that concern the biggest segment of state government, the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Beyond his commitment to his committee assignment, Stoker is determined to get a revised education funding formula through the legislature. Last year, House Bill 701 would have shifted the burden of paying for schools from the local taxpayer to the state general fund, Stoker said.

Plus it would have based funding on a classroom formula, rather than on school enrollment, as it is done currently, he said.

That bill failed, but he is adamant about putting forth a revised draft.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

From a state government level, addressing growth is a challenge, Stoker said. The fact is the vast majority of counties in Montana are not seeing the rapid growth that Ravalli, Flathead and Gallatin Counties are experiencing.

“There are 53 other counties that outvote those three and are reluctant to have standards the high-growth counties want to impose statewide,” he said. “When someone like our county commissioners here have asked that the subdivision laws be changed at the state level, or the streamside setback laws be changed at the state level, that is very difficult to do.”

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

“I would favor voting for reducing private property taxes,” Stoker said. “And being that 60 to 80 percent of the county property tax is in school funding, I would like to shift that on a more fair distribution basis to the sate. I think that’s the single largest tax issue that would impact on Ravalli County.”

House District 88

Patrick Boylan: House District 88, Democrat

Age: 31

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? Eight years.

Occupation: Process Development Engineer at GlaxoSmithKline.

Groups/organizations: Soccer coach.

Interests/hobbies: Music, soccer, hiking.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

Boylan’s top priority would be to fix the school funding formula.

“It’s not funding small school districts in an equal manner as large school districts and it’s not adequately funding the schools because they’re having to ask for school levies almost annually,” he said.

Right now the primary factor in funding is enrollment, Boylan said. Enrollment should still be considered, but should be only a part of the equation.

“It’s certainly not going to be easy,” he said. “People have been trying this for years and haven’t been very successful at it. But it’s something we’re going to have to solve.”

Another priority would be equipping counties dealing with increasing population growth and the associated development.

“There are state laws that prevent people like our county commissioners from properly assessing new development and I believe in local control,” Boylan said.

For instance, the process for instituting impact fees is convoluted, expensive and time consuming, he said.

“The process for determining impact fees needs to be spelled out and probably simplified a great deal,” Boylan said.

Ravalli County also needs to a community college, he said. The citizens support the idea, now it’s time for the legislature to put funding forward.

A community college could help with economic development and training a workforce for new employment opportunities, Boylan said.

“I think that it’s absolutely something we need in this valley and we would benefit a great deal from it,” he said.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

Again, making it simpler for county commissioners to assess subdivision and make the implementing impact fees easier.

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Working on the growth issues mention above and securing the funding to build the community college.

Bob Lake: Third term incumbent, House District 88.

Age: 70

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 40 years

Occupation: Semi retired commercial real estate agent.

Groups/organizations: Local business groups and organizations.

Interests/hobbies: Golf and fly-fishing.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

Lake is chairman of the house taxation committee and this session, like last session, he’ll be carrying a bill to reduce the taxes on business equipment, he said.

As chairman of the committee, Lake has also been involved with the Project 2030 joint subcommittee. This committee is looking at ways to give some consistency to the Montana tax code, which seems to be tweaked every two years.

“Montana is famous for having continual change in the tax code,” Lake said.

This makes it hard for businesses to move to Montana because the tax climate is unpredictable, he said.

The Project 2030 subcommittee is also looking at where revenue will come from over the next 20 years, Lake said. They’re also looking at how state expenditures will change during that time as the Montana population trends more toward retirees.

Another priority will be school funding.

“Our school funding is just perpetually in trouble and we’ve got to find a new source of that funding without going back to the property owners to get it,” Lake said.

He supports the responsible development of coal under the school trust lands in eastern Montana.

“We generate a huge amount of revenue that would go straight to the funding of our schools,” he said.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

The legislature can help fast growing counties in Montana, but it’s power will be limited somewhat because most counties in Montana are growing slowly or even shrinking, Lake said.

“Do we need help? Yes we do. Do we need the state to participate? Yes we do. But the problem is the flat lands east of the mountains have more votes than we do,” he said. “The best thing we can do is take a look at what is holding back the counties from having the funds to do the planning and at least go in and try to get rid of some of the areas that are hurting them.”

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Lake expects the next legislature to take up some sort of streamside setback legislation, which he thinks will be particularly important to Ravalli County.

However, any legislation should allow the freedom for setbacks to be determined on a basin-by-basin level.

“There just is no one-size-fits-all answer to it,” Lake said. “Our job in the legislature is to really set the guidelines.”

Education is another issue important to Ravalli County, he said.

Lake is in favor of continuing to put more control in the hands of local school boards.

“Over the last number of years the state has just assumed more control, more control, more control and really the Office of Public Instruction is getting far too large and too restrictive for the local school boards to deal with,” he said.

House District 89

Gary MacLaren: incumbent House District 89, Republican

Age: 66

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 10 years.

Occupation: Retired network administrator for Electronic Data Systems

Groups/organizations: Member of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited and Order of DeMolay.

Interests/hobbies: Hunting, fishing and outdoors. Also a pilot and enjoys flying.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

One of MacLaren’s top priorities in the coming legislative sessions is changing the school funding formula.

“We need a new funding formula that will be more equitable for small schools and reduce our reliance on property taxes,” MacLaren said.

The current school funding formula is based on enrollment. That should change, he said.

School funding should be based on classrooms, so funding doesn’t fluctuate dramatically for rural schools when a few students come and go, MacLaren said.

Also, more money for schools should come out of the general fund, which is built up by income taxes, rather than from local property taxes, he said.

“We need to reduce the burden on our seniors and people on fixed income for whom property tax is a problem,” MacLaren said.

Another priority is getting rid of the business equipment tax, he said.

The strength of Montana’s economy is small businesses. It’s difficult for these businesses to continue to grow with a 3 percent business equipment tax, MacLaren said.

He equates it to a sales tax you pay on a vehicle, but rather than paying it once, you have to pay it over and over again each year.

“If they could keep that money, they could put it into their business and create more jobs,” he said.

MacLaren would also like to do something to help Montana’s uninsured citizens.

In Montana, many people work seasonal or part time jobs, he said. Those jobs often don’t provide insurance.

He would like to see tax credits given for people who buy their own health insurance.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

During the last session, a bill that would have given some one-time money to counties for planning was defeated, MacLaren said. He supported that bill and feels the state can help fund planning efforts in high-growth counties.

However, beyond that the decisions about how counties grow should be left up to individual counties, he said.

“The question we’re facing right now in Ravalli County is a local question,” MacLaren said. “It has to be decided by the voters and the commissioners.”

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

MacLaren points back to his top three priorities for the upcoming session. It’s important to understand that these statewide issues are also important to Ravalli County, he said.

Russell Vogel, House District 89, Republican

Age: 49

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 12 years.

Occupation: Does electrical/mechanical work on commercial machinery.

Groups/organizations: Gun Owners of America

Interests/hobbies: Reading, building models, working on cars, experimenting with electricity, astronomy and stamp and coin collecting.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

School funding is an issue that needs attention by the state legislature, Vogel said. Schools around the state need to have money to update textbooks, classroom supplies and pay teachers adequately.

Vogel also wants to look for ways the state legislature could halt countywide zoning. He’s particularly against the current zoning project in Ravalli County.

“I am not for zoning. I’d like to end it and let the people do what they wish with the property they own,” he said.

Countywide zoning is permitted under state law. As a legislator, Vogel would work to change that.

“Well what I could do is go up there (Helena) and take the law off the books and have it re-reviewed and possibly have it eliminated,” he said. “It doesn’t specify the county has to do it, it says they ‘may’ do it.”

Vogel would also like to see more money put toward emergency services around the state.

Law enforcement officers, ambulance personnel and fire fighters all around the state are suffering from lack of money, he said. That has to change.

“If they’re asking for more money there’s a reason for it and they should get what they need especially vehicles, weapons and protective gear,” Vogel said.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

Vogel supports voluntary zoning districts, which is a tool neighbors can use to limit growth in their particular neighborhood. Rather than legislated countywide zoning, Vogel would like to see an emphasis placed on the voluntary method.

“It should be the choice of the people,” he said.

As a legislator, Vogel would work to give more control to landowners.

“I would write a bill that would give people more control over what the county’s doing with their land, than vice-versa – the other way around,” he said.

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Vogel again points to the countywide zoning issue and working to stop Ravalli County’s ability to pass a zoning ordinance.

He would also like to see more money put into the county roads. The state could allocate more money for county road repairs and possibly create safer roads, he said.

House District 90

Yvonne Gritzner: House District 90, Democrat

Age: 67

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 18 years, but Gritzner is a native Montanan

Occupation: Retired after 16 years with the Montana Committee for the Humanities.

Groups/organizations: Co-vice chair of Friends of Montana PBS, on program committee for Montana Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

Improve Montana’s health care system is important to Gritzner. She is hopeful for a change in health care from a federal level and is hopeful it would make it easier for the uninsured to find insurance.

Everyone should have health care, Gritzner said.

Another priority for her is strengthening schools in Montana. This could be done, in part, by more adequately funding schools. Support should come from both the state and local levels, she said.

“We should support the teachers in their opposition to No Child Left Behind,” Gritzner said. “It doesn’t seem to be working for Montana.”

Her third top priority would be strengthening Montana’s economy by helping local food producers market their food locally. This could not only cut down on food transportation costs, but also give local communities an economic stimulus by providing healthy, local food, she said.

Gritzner would also look for ways to establish local processing centers where local produce and meat can be packaged and distributed.

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

Gritzner feels the local government officials, particularly in Ravalli County, have been working hard to gather public input about how to deal with growth. The state shouldn’t do anything to interrupt the process or dictate the outcome, she said.

“The state (should) work in concert with the local communities and certainly not to negate what good work they’ve accomplished,” Gritzner said.

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

With the Montana Committee for the Humanities, Gritzner traveled all across Montana. What sets the state apart is the willingness of neighbors and communities to help each other solve problems and work through change.

Her primary goal as a legislator would be to stimulate that atmosphere of cooperation integral to Montana’s people, Gritzner said.

Ray Hawk: Incumbent, House District 90, Republican

Age: 67

How long have you lived in Ravalli County? 38 years.

Occupation: retired auctioneer

Interests/hobbies: Skiing and bicycling.

1) What would be your top three priorities as a state legislator?

Getting rid of the business equipment tax would be a top priority for Hawk. The tax stymies growth, particularly for small businesses.

“They’re paying the tax rather than putting the money in their business,” he said.

Hawk would also address problems with mental health programs in Montana. One problem in particular is the costs county sheriff departments incur for transporting mental health inmates to Warm Springs and the state mental hospital.

When prisoners need a mental evaluation, the only secure place to do it in the state is in Warm Springs, Hawk said. That means counties have to pay to transport the prisoners.

One solution he sees working would be more community-based facilities that could house and evaluate mental health inmates.

Another priority for Hawk is providing Montanans with some property tax relief.

One way to do that would change the school funding formula and create a system that relies less on property taxes and more on general fund revenues.

“My personal opinion is that property taxes shouldn’t be used to fund schools,” Hawk said. “Property taxes should be used to fund things that are germane to your property.”

2) Growth has become a major issue in western Montana and Ravalli County. What are some ways the legislature can aid counties dealing with rapid population growth?

It’s important that local officials make decisions about growth, but the state can help, Hawk said.

“We need more money for planning,” he said. “We’ve got to fund these people. You can’t expect a county to do a proper job without the money.”

3) What issues are important to Ravalli County citizens that you would champion in the legislature?

Hawk referred back to his top three priorities.

“Anything important to Ravalli County is going to important to everyone else (in the state),” he said.

To vote, or not to vote, on zoning

By Michael Howell

The Ravalli County Commissioners, on a three to two vote, decided Tuesday not to consider putting to a public vote in November the Countywide Zoning regulations currently being formulated.

The Interim Zoning ballot initiative passed in November of 2006, that limited development to one dwelling per two acres, also mandated that the Commissioners consider enacting countywide zoning. As a result the Commissioners instituted Community Planning Committees (CPC) in each of the county’s school districts to insure public involvement in the process. They also hired a consulting firm to help with the process. The aim was to develop countywide zoning regulations that could be adopted by the County Commission in November, when the Interim Zoning Regulations are set to expire.

After some rowdy meetings replete with calls for no zoning, however, the Darby CPC members came to the Commissioners and asked that the Darby District be allowed to vote on whether or not to even participate any further in the zoning process. The appointed core members of the group told the Commissioners that it was hard to try and formulate zoning regulations when most everyone at the meeting was against any form of zoning at all. The Commissioners decided to allow the district to vote on whether to be a part of the countywide zoning effort or not. That measure will be on the June 3 ballot in the Darby District. Some people in other CPCs also called for removing their districts from the zoning process, but the Commissioners drew the line and declined to place the question on the ballot in any other districts.

The plan called for the Commissioners to vote on the zoning regulations once they were formulated. But last week Commissioner Greg Chilcott placed an item on the Commissioners’ agenda to hold a public meeting at the Fairgrounds to discuss and possibly decide on whether to place the countywide zoning regulations up to a public vote next November. Commission Chairperson Carlotta Grandstaff questioned that move and on Tuesday the Commissioners considered whether or not to hold that public meeting.

After Chilcott moved to hold the meeting, Grandstaff said immediately, “I do not approve. It’s exactly the wrong thing to do. All we are going to do is provide a forum for people to come and yell at each other and that’s exactly what we need to not be doing. We need to be bringing people together and this will not.”

“I suggest we are talking about the most aggressive land use regulations in Ravalli County,” countered Chilcott.

Grandstaff said that the matter had already been voted on three times. Once when voters approved the Growth Policy, secondly when they approved the Interim Zoning, and thirdly when they elected three new commissioners that were strongly in support of countywide zoning.

Chilcott said that by allowing a public vote on the final draft of the zoning regulations it would take that issue off the table so that they could focus more directly on formulating some good zoning regulations.

Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll said that the law allowed for a protest of the zoning regulations after they are formulated.

“We’re in a process and we need to stay in the process,” she said.

The commissioners then voted on the question of whether to hold a public meeting to consider placing it on the ballot for a public vote and the motion was defeated on a 3 to 2 vote. Commissioners Chilcott and Alan Thompson voted in favor of holding the meeting Commissioners Grandstaff, Driscoll and Jim Rokosch voted against the motion.

Draft B of Countywide zoning regs on the chopping block

By Michael Howell

As the public comment period on Draft B of the Countywide Zoning Regulations and zoning maps drew to a close, the County Commissioners held a meeting on May 22 to review the document. They all expressed strong reservations about the draft in its current form.

“This is way over the top,” said Commissioner Carlotta Grandstaff. She said that the document was overloaded with regulatory details, many of which she disagreed with, and was not what she had in mind in terms of a workable regulatory document. She suggested that the document could be pared down

Commissioner Greg Chilcott agreed and suggested that the process had gotten off track and they had lost sight of their original goals.

Commissioner Jim Rokosch suggested a wholesale elimination of the design standards in rural areas such as landscaping, screening, fencing and lighting. He said that would relieve a lot of people’s fears, concerns and objections about the draft proposal. He also suggested that requiring compliance permits for permitted uses should also be eliminated and permits be restricted to conditional uses.

Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll raised the question about zoning in rural areas that were adjacent to towns. She noted how concerned the municipal governments were about potential county zoning determinations in areas adjacent to their towns. She said that zoning in those areas needed to be congruent in some fashion with those municipal zoning codes to lessen conflict as the towns grow and annex outlying areas.

The Commissioners came to a general agreement that the Draft B regulations needed to be streamlined, simplified and more focused on the basic issues of land use and density. They discussed possibly reducing and simplifying the several zoning designations to a simple industrial/commercial, rural, and transition zones around cities.

The discussions were far ranging with many ideas being discussed, but the commissioners were in basic agreement that the draft had to be reduced to basics and simplified in its form to be acceptable.

A meeting to continue their review of the draft was set for Friday, May 30, from 9:30 to 5:00 in the 3rd floor conference room at the County Administration building.

The Planning Department issued a notice on May 23 cancelling upcoming Community Planning Committee meetings.

“While the Commissioners are heartened by the involvement of so many citizens in the discussion of zoning and the broad agreement about where to direct new growth, they heard loud and clear that the draft documents have significant room for improvement. We are committed to making sure the next round of maps and regulations reflect the changes residents have suggested,” stated the memo issued by the Planning Department.

As a result, according to the memo, there will be a shift in approach for the development of the next drafts. The Planning Staff proposes to produce a summary report of the public comments for public review in about a week. This will be followed by a meeting to discuss the summary and give direction on how to proceed with the next round of revisions.

After that the Planning Staff will work with Clarion, the consulting firm hired to help devise the zoning regulations, in an extended series of work sessions to make sure that the issues were clearly understood and that suggested revisions will address key issues. A new draft and maps would be produced and made available in July.

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