PAC back in Whitefish promoting conservation

Montana Conservation Voters (MCV), a statewide organization based in Billings, will play a role again in this year's Whitefish elections.

Candidate interviews have been held, and the group's political action committee chose to support Frank Sweeney.

"The Whitefish election is important — there's a lot at stake," MCV executive director Theresa Keaveny said.

The non-partisan, statewide organization, which works to protect Montana's air, land, water and conservation traditions, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Keaveny described MCV as a "grassroots' organization with a 'very democratic" process that does not include any "elite" committees, a fault she said is common to most political action committees. MCV's state board generally accepts the recommendation of the local chapter boards, which conduct candidate interviews, she said.

The Billings-based organization had 2,716 members statewide at the time of the 2007 Whitefish election, of which about 300 lived in the Flathead and 63 — about 2 percent of its membership — lived in Whitefish. In addition to volunteers using phones to get out the vote, MCV's political action committee spent $1,756 mailing cards in support of mayoral candidate Cris Coughlin and council candidates John Muhlfeld and Ryan Friel.

Two new political action committees also played a role in the 2007 Whitefish election. Quality Whitefish, with Bick Smith as treasurer and Dennis Konopatzke as executive director, did not support or oppose candidates. Rick Blake put up $3,000 of his own money for Common Sense in White-fish Government, a PAC that splintered off from Quality Whitefish so it could support candidates, but most of that money wasn't spent.

All told, the 10 candidates and two political action committees that supported candidates spent less than $17,000 in the 2007 election, according to the Office of Political Practices in Helena.

MCV interviewed three of this year's four council candidates. Phil Mitchell said he "tried to interview them" and then turned them down.

"I was told by people I would never get their endorsement, so why try?" he said.

MCV's interviewing panel included at times Jan Metzmaker, a former city councilor and current director of the Whitefish Convention and Visitor Bureau; Stephanie Sunshine, a local Realtor who has been engaged to city councilor John Muhlfeld; MCV Flathead Chapter co-chairman Dick Thrift, of Whitefish; MCV state board alternate Heidi Marcum, of Whitefish; Robert Heim, of Whitefish; and MCV Missoula office organizer Ross Prosperi.

City council candidate Bill Kahle, a local developer who served on the Whitefish Growth Policy Steering Committee, said he believed he had given the right answers and was surprised to find out he was not endorsed.

Kahle said two things might have cost him MCV's endorsement — his lack of a voting record as an elected official and his unwillingness "philosophically" to run as a slate with councilors Nick Palmer and Frank Sweeney. Palmer later dropped out of the race.

Kahle said he generally supports what MCV stands for — clean air and water, protecting critical areas — but he wants to see a protocol established that requires scientific evidence when private property rights are impacted by environmental regulations. Kahle said Metzmaker told him such a protocol would be too expensive.

"I'm a conservationist at core, and it irritates me that they didn't believe me," he said.

Chris Hyatt said he was irritated that he changed plans during his busy cherry harvest to accommodate MCV only to find four people on the interview panel, not six.

"Jan (Metzmaker) left 15 minutes after I got there," he said.

Hyatt said he felt MCV had made up their mind about an endorsement ahead of time.

"I'm a fan of protecting what we call paradise here," he said. "I'm trying to find out who they are. I had a higher opinion of them until they interviewed me."

Frank Sweeney, the only incumbent in the race, received MCV's endorsement. He said this was his first election interview ever, but he generally supports MCV's positions.

Both Hyatt and Sweeney said MCV never asked them to run as a slate with other city council candidates.

MCV's Flathead County chapter will hold its annual barbecue and membership meeting on Friday, Sept. 11, from 6-8 p.m. at City Beach. Whitefish city council candidates will be provided the opportunity to speak about their own conservation positions and priorities. For more information, visit online at www.mtvoters.org.